HARARE - Zimbabwe will host this year’s edition of Confederation of Schools Sport Association of Southern Africa (Cossasa) athletics games in Harare in the last weekend of April.

Zimbabwe National Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) president Johnson Madhuku, who is also Cossasa vice president, said they have started to prepare for the event.

“Preparations to host this year’s edition of Cossasa games are going smoothly. It is my hope that all Zimbabweans will come together and support the hosting of the games,” Madhukutold the Daily News yesterday.

“Cossasa aims at ensuring the development of school sport in member countries to a level which suits international competitions like the Olympics and other World Cup tournaments.”

The team to represent the country at the games will be selected during the Nash national athletics competition.

“A comprehensive training programme for the athletes will be implemented to ensure that Zimbabwe win many medals at the event,” Madhuku said.

Cossasa competitions cater for both primary and secondary schools represented by the Under 13 and Under 17 age groups respectively.

“It was observed that at the London Olympics last year, most of those athletes who excelled were under the age of 20,” said Madhuku.

“This places them in the school going category. If some of them had left school, it is obvious that their talents were identified, nurtured and developed whilst still in school.”

Last year Team Zimbabwe finished on second position with 31 medals; seven gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze.

Namibia are the defending champions after finishing with a total of 58 medal; 23 gold, 22 silver and 13 bronze.

Countries that will take part at the games are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South-Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“I hope that SADC member states will all come together in athletics and ball games competitions lined up in various countries despite various forms of challenges some member countries could be facing at the moment,” Madhuku concluded. - Blessings Mashaya