National junior athletics team should prepare well for World U-18

29May 2017
Editor
Editorial
The Guardian
National junior athletics team should prepare well for World U-18

TANZANIA has, once again, secured an opportunity to prove its worth in international athletics competitions as the country is set to take part in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World U-18 Championship slated for July 12-16 in Kenya.

Tanzania landed the opportunity after the country’s athletes had excelled in the East Africa U-18 Championship that took place in Dar es Salaam recently.

Domestic athletes, undoubtedly, face an uphill task of vying for medals alongside competitors from more successful nations in the sport and the former, for that matter, need to prepare adequately for the event.

We insist on the need for sports stakeholders to full cooperate with Athletics Tanzania (AT) and ensure the national junior athletics team prepare intensively for the World U-18 Championship.

Achieving success in the forthcoming event will, obviously, be farfetched should there be no better preparations.A section of the domestic athletics fraternity has, for years, been accustomed to blaming AT for the country’s failure to excel in several major athletics events.

The athletics fraternity’s members, though, have either been doing little or nothing when it comes to seeing to it the national athletics teams prepare well for the international events.

We feel it is time domestic athletics followers stopped the blame game and work hand in hand with AT in overseeing the national athletics teams’ preparations for different major assignments.

We insist on the need for AT to find a lasting solution to access financial support for the national athletics teams, should there be any hopes for success in major competitions.

The national athletics governing body has, time and again, been citing lack of financial support as one of major reasons for the country’s dismal showing in competitive international events.

The association had, in the past, been enjoying financial support from major sports equipment manufacturing firms like Li Ning and Puma but leadership wrangles in the body forced the firms to terminate their support.

We also call on the national U-18 athletics team’s members to give their all in the World U-18 Championship, given the event is a crucial stepping stone to success in the sport.

National junior athletics team’s achievement in this year’s East Africa U-18 Championship should serve as motivation for the team’s quest for more success in the Kenya event.

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