The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Vicky Kimaro
9 July 2009
President Jakaya Kikwete has fulfilled his pledge to promote boxing, athletics and judo as four qualified Cuban coaches arrived yesterday.
About four mouths ago, the president promised to hire professional coaches in a bid to revive plummeting sports.
The Cubans join a swelling number of foreign coaches who train various Tanzania's national teams.
Kikwete hired Taifa Stars' head coach-Marcio Maximo-three years ago and the team is faring well on the international stage.
Presenting the coaches to reporters, National Sports Council official Juliana Yasoda lavished praises on the coaches, saying they were competent.
She named them as Adres Edwardo Baro and Jorge Luis Bravo Rojas who will be in charge of athletics while Georvanis Hurtado Pimentel will be training the boxing team.
Jose Valdes Silva will take over as the judo national team head coach.
The official said the coaches would be responsible to devise suitable development programmes in their respective domains.
Cuba, one of the leading nations in boxing and middle distance races, has been performing well in various world-class tournaments, thus the local athletes stand a better chance to excel.
Tanzania employed her first athletics' coach in the 1970s. The coach was Ron Davis who later changed his name to Yusuf Masauni.
During the same period, Tanzania had employed a Cuban coach who trained legendary boxers such as Titus Simba who earned Tanzania the first boxing medal in the 1968 Commonwealth Games held in London.
The government also employed Tryphon Kantchev from Bulgaria who trained the boxers such as Emanuel Mlundwa, Aloyce Nuti, Neva Mkadala, Lukas Msomba, ISSAC Mabushi and Gerald Issac.
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