Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Collin Matiza
7 October 2009
Harare — TWO of Zimbabwe's most promising young athletes Happy Zingunzi and Hillary Ngani have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of representing the country at the Youth Olympic Games Friendship Camp in Singapore in December.
Female basketballer Zingunzi and male soccer player Ngani were recently picked by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee to be the country's flagbearers during the youth camp which is set to run from December 8-12 in the Asian country.
Stanley Mutoya, the ZOC general manager, said the youth camp is part of Singapore's preparations for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, which will be hosted by the Asian country next year.
Zimbabwe will join the other National Olympic Committees from all over the world in participating in the first Youth Olympic Games to be hosted by Singapore from August 14 to 26, 2010.
"The Games are unique both as an offering and in their structure, with special focus on exposing athletes to Olympic Values Education through a well-designed Culture and Education Programme (CEP).
"The Culture and Education Programme seeks to empower and re-energise youths from around the world with positive knowledge, attitudes and values through sport, based on the spirit of Olympism," Mutoya said.
One platform that has been designed for the young athletes, Mutoya said, is the Youth Olympic Games Friendship Camp, which will see two young athletes from each of the 205 NOCs gathering in Singapore for five days this December.
"The Singapore 2010 Friendship Camp is a special part of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and its goal is to promote the Olympic values among participants and providing them with a unique experience and opportunity to form life-long friendships."
The five-day camp for participants aged between 14 and 18 years will take place from December 8-12 December at the Singapore Sports School.
It is being organised by the Singapore Ministry of Education in partnership with the Singapore Sports School and the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC).
The organisers will bear the costs for the two participants from each National Olympic Committee, covering such expenses as round trip air fares, local transportation, accommodation, meals and general insurance coverage during the Camp.
"As the first Friendship Camp for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, the camp occupies a special place in the history of the Youth Olympic Games.
"Through the camp, participants will have the opportunity to participate in some of the Culture and Education Programme activities for the Youth Olympic Games in anticipation of the full Culture and Education Programme in August 2010," Mutoya said. The selection process for Zimbabwe's two representatives for this year's camp in Singapore involved national associations affiliated to ZOC being asked to send in nominations for candidates based on set criteria.
The two athletes successfully fulfilled the recommended criteria that included:
In conducting the final selection process, the ZOC Technical Commission under whose responsibility lies the preparations for the Youth Olympic Games, further considered whether the discipline was on the Youth Olympic Games programme.
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