MUTARE Preparations for the Zimbabwe National Paralympics Games to be held in Mutare next March are at an advanced stage and organisers are already engaging the business community for assistance, officials told The Zimbabwean on Sunday last week.“There has been a very positive response from the business community that we have engaged, Local Organising Committee general manager (Technical) Kudzai Shava said. We are getting pledges from other business people and organisations and we hope that we will secure the necessary financial and material support needed to host the games.”
Shava added that the province was aiming to host a memorable event that would surpass the previous games hosted by Bulawayo and Masvingo.
“We have got the aim of surpassing the standards set in the past two editions. We are facing a number of challenges, but we hope we will be able to overcome them,” said Shava.
Prominent businessman Hlanganiso Matangaidze who is also part of the local organising committee said sport was important in national building.
“Manicaland has excelled beyond expectation each time the province is tasked to host some national events and the National Paralympic Games must be no exception,” Matangaidze said.
“These games, however, must be made a brand that attracts the corporate sector in terms of gaining mileage. Business must be jostling for advertising space in our local newspapers through the Paralympic Games and that’s the only way we can sustain ourselves,” he added.
People with disabilities will participate in different sporting disciplines that include athletics for the visually impaired and amputees. There will also be wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, netball for the deaf and five-aside soccer for the mentally challenged.
The previous two editions of the annual event were held in Bulawayo in 2007 and Masvingo last year. Masvingo has dominated the previous games, clinching the top position in both editions.
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News