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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter

THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe Junior Championships, scheduled for this weekend in Harare, are expected to serve several purpose as athletes prepare for various competitions lined-up for the year.

The competition titled “NAAZ Gift Chigwere Junior Track and Field Championships” will be held at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.

Participants will compete in 100m, 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles, 800m, 1500m, 2000m steeplechase, 3000m, 5000m, 4x100m and 4x400m in track events.

Field events on offer include high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus and javelin.

National coach for youth and junior teams, Briad Nhubu, said they would want to gauge the progress athletes have made since the start of the season taking into account upcoming international competitions.

Some of the athletes expected to compete this weekend were in camp recently.

“The meet helps to gauge our level of performance vis-a-vis the international standards. This is a very crucial selection meet that gives us the current performance level of those athletes who will attend.

“I am looking at having a very competitive and high level of competition. Considering the zeal and thirsty for competition which those athletes in camp showed, l am optimistic that there is going to be fireworks.

“Now that sports have resumed on full scale bases, l expect us to have a very big turnout of juniors and youths and this will also ensure stiff competition from those other athletes who had not been able to make it to previous competitions.

“l also look up to some record breaking in most events considering the hard work that was displayed in camp. This extravaganza is a very important platform for us to select best athletes for the forthcoming international meets.

“This is competition gives us a transparent and holistic team building and as such, no potential athlete will be left out,” said Nhubu.

The national association indicated that the meet is serving as a qualifier for upcoming regional international competitions.

“Our preparation for the forthcoming competitions will be pivotal on the results that will come out.

“Up and above all, the athletes stand very high chances for qualifying for World Athletics Junior championships in Colombia.

“Top fliers in the youth category will also be able to be slotted in the prospective team for Malawi Region Five and Africa Youth Games in Egypt.

“The level of fitness change depending on training systems being implemented by individual athletes, so we wouldn’’t want to bank on previous performances but mainly we depend on what is current,” Nhubu said.

The juniors are expected to have periodic camps to ensure they are ready for various events lined up for this year.

The week-long camp held in Harare recently attracted 30 athletes from different provinces.

“The first segment of the camp was a very good platform for us as coaches to identify some mistakes from our athletes. Among others, these included problems of running mechanics, events combinations and lack of requisite technical and tactical knowledge of their events.

“I also managed to make a gap analysis in terms of critical training requirements which most athletes from rural areas and small towns are experiencing,” said Nhubu.

Among the challenges some of the athletes face include lack of proper training equipment, lack of standard facilities and time for training.