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Sports Reporter
SPECIAL Olympics Zimbabwe have started preparations for the 2019 World Summer Games which will kick off with athletes’ selection from the 10 provinces through Provincial Games later this month.

The golf sporting code will be the first with the provincial games teeing off at Royal Harare next Thursday.

The Road to Abu Dhabi where the Summer Games will be held intensifies when all provincial winners meet at the National Games in April next year to choose Team Zimbabwe.

And the organisation, which seeks to help athletes with intellectual disability, are grateful that a recent donation they received from the National Social Security Authority will come in hand.

NSSA recently gave Special Olympics a cash injection of $5 000 with NSSA General Manager Liz Chitiga expressing their continued support to the organisation. “The overall objective of the NSSA Charity Golf Day was to donate to needy institutions and we are happy to report that we managed to donate amounts ranging from $500-$5000 to various charity organisations.

“The NSSA Charity Golf Day is now a permanent feature on our calendar.

‘‘Most corporates and individuals have no idea what Special Olympics is all about and who is involved but as NSSA we took it upon ourselves to give them a lifeline and celebrate their God-given talents,” said Chitiga.

And Special Olympics Zimbabwe national director Viola Musariri said the donation will help them kick start their selection process.

“As preparations for the World Summer Games gather momentum, we will be having the National Games in April but before that we will start this year to select the Zimbabwe team through provincial games.

“For us, this donation is something that will start us off, so we are really grateful for what NSSA did.

‘‘We are used to getting corporate support in kind, for instances T-shirts, food and so forth when we host competitions. In terms of cash it has become very difficult,” said Musariri.