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Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Olympic Committee will from today host the first Women’s Sport Leadership Academy-branded training in the country which will run until Friday in Harare.

A total of 25 participants from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Iran are expected to attend the four-day training which will focus on self- critical learning and development.

They have been drawn from national Olympic and Paralympic committee, international and national sport federations, sports departments in universities, sports clubs and media consultancy business.

The Women’s Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA) is a programme of the Anita White Foundation (AWF) at the University of Chichester, UK.

It has been developed and delivered in partnership with Females Achieving Brilliance (FAB) and the University of Hertfordshire.

WSLA Zimbabwe 2020 is an initiative of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee in partnership with the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sport.

And, according to a ZOC press release, the programme is dedicated to developing tomorrow’s leaders of sport with the aim of preparing and supporting them to step up and be part of an increased army of female leaders in sport.

“WSLA’s mission is to provide unique development opportunities for women leaders around the world with the aim of increasing the confidence and competence of women working in sport, in a range of leadership behaviour.

‘’WSLA also comprises facilitator training and support, graduate support, networking and mentoring, and research. Bespoke courses, using the WSLA brand and concept, have also been delivered under licence in the New Zealand Olympic Committee (with retired elite-level athletes), Women and Sport Botswana (with predominantly African leaders), and the University of Hertfordshire (with high-performance coaches).

“WSLA programmes are delivered by experienced and trained facilitators with appropriate skills, knowledge and experience in leadership in sport, business, as well as in the high-performance sporting and coaching environment,” read the statement.

Over 283 women based in 52 countries across the continents have become graduates of WSLA since 2014.

Previously, ZOC have successfully hosted a number of key events in the country such as the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa Athletes’ Commission Forum which was held in 2018 as well as the ANOCA executive committee sessions and regional meetings.