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Tobias Mandoreba in Hwange
The Matabeleland North provincial sports management committee has appointed Burzil Dube as the Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Officer for the upcoming Youth Education through Sport (YES Games) and the National Youth Games to be held in Hwange this December and August next year, respectively.

Dube is the Corporate Identity and Public Relations Manager for Hwange Colliery Company Limited. The LOC Head of Secretariat Newman Masuku confirmed Dube’s appointment during the first predatory meeting at the Little Theatre as a follow up to the induction workshop held at the same venue on June 15, 2016.

“Firstly I would like to congratulate Burzil Dube on his appointment to this big office. It is pleasing to note he is not new to the system as he previous served as the Assistant General Manager for Marketing and Publicity during the Paralympics games here in 2012.

Since then he has been part of the provincial management committee in the province as our link between us and the Colliery as far as resources provision and other logistical support is concerned. His past experience will help harness resources and galvanise the whole Local Organising Committee,” said Masuku.

In his acceptance speech during the meeting, Dube pledged to work hard for the success of the games and called for teamwork within the committee.

“It is with great pleasure and immense humility that I accept the colossal responsibility of being CEO of these two big sporting events. I will work around the clock for the success of these national events, but it is not the prerogative of the CEO’s office only, but teamwork through the entire spectrum of the organising committee.

“I will also oversee the establishment of provincial and local transformation committees as we seek to put our sport on a developmental trajectory. To this end, there is also need to spearhead the urgent need to accelerate the revival of sport facility status survey. The constraints placed by lack of facilities in our communities pose a real threat and inhibiting our dream of universal access to sport facilities by all especially women and persons with disability,” said Dube.

According to Masuku, the YES Games, a youth life skills programme that uses sport and targets the Under-15s during competitions, started in 1999, in Harare and Manicaland provinces as a pilot project before being scaled up to all provinces on rotational basis.

The games, to be held from December 1-5 in Hwange this year, are anchored on three pillars namely sport, peer education and community service and their hosting always coincide with World Aids Day and National Tree Planting Day commemorations and they serve as a precursor to the bigger National Youth Games event.

Each province will each bring five clubs in the sporting disciplines of volleyball (both male and females), football (both males and females) and netball.

Mashonaland West and Manicaland provinces hosted the YES Games and National Youth Games respectively in 2015.

The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Mat North Province Ambassador Cain Mathema is the Games’ Patron.