HUNGER BITES ATHLETES AT NATIONAL YOUTH GAMES

CHAOTIC situation continues to dog the revised Zimbabwe National Youth Games in Matabeleland North with young athletes going for hours without being fed as a result of poor transport networking system.

This is despite the fact that a whopping 900 litres of fuel was gulped on the first day of the Games here in Hwange, with indications that some officials want to travel as individuals instead of getting into available team buses or shuttle cars as is the norm in competitions of such magnitude.

Young athletes were seen still roaming around the Edmund Davies Hall, venue for boxing as late as 11:30PM on Monday, while some officiating officials were literally dumped there with no transport to take them to their respective venues.

Despite the Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane revealing on Monday that they managed to source “23 carcases of beef” athletes were still spending hours on hungry stomachs.

Transport systems seems to be the worst hit with officers running the committee clearly overwhelmed.

“We surely can’t be talking of teething problems when Youth Games started in 2003 and this is the 15^th edition. What is it that we are not learning or rather learning on a yearly basis? 

The Sports and Recreation Commission is not doing enough because they remain the common denominator in all this because the games are held on rotational basis with new local organising committees all under the supervision of them (SRC) but come games time, we still have these clearly avoidable problems. Two days into the Games people are still being accredited, what for, what is missing?” said a member of the organising committee.

A drive around some of the Games Villages on Monday night as well as competition venues today by the Chronicle Sport news crew revealed a lax in security as well with beer finding its way into venues especially boxing and thus endangering athletes and officials. Chronicle

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