Local teachers have teamed up to establish an educator-oriented organisation with a thrust to equip the teachers with modern sports administration and sports coaching certification known as the Zimbabwe Teachers Sports Association (Zitsa).
By Munyaradzi Madzokere
A novel creation, which is also for teacher recreational purposes, Zitsa was launched a fortnight ago in Harare and has hit the ground running with a number of events already lined up.
The inaugural president and one of the originators of the idea Tapiwa Ndewere said he came up with the concept after realisation that many teachers in Zimbabwe take up sport roles yet they are not qualified.
“Every teacher is a sports administrator or coach by default because all sports begin in school, which is why it’s important to have this kind of association. It is basically for the greater good of sports in Zimbabwe,” Ndewere said in an interview with The Sports Hub.
“I also discovered that most teachers who have sporting qualifications are deployed in the urban centers. Also those who attend coaching clinics are from towns and cities, so we had to create opportunities for the teacher in the rural areas as well,” Ndewere added.
The association is meant to strengthen relationships among teachers falling under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education through coaching clinics, recreational and sporting activities.
Ndewere said the association was also meant to build team spirit through interaction in recreation and sporting activities as well as fostering relationships among teachers while aligning them to the demands of the updated curriculum
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Zitsa has identified sport disciplines such as soccer, netball, pool/snooker, darts, chess, handball, athletics, volleyball and table tennis as key in pushing the association’s agenda.
“We are going to create a national database that we are going to use to help us identify areas for coaching clinics and administrative courses. Our job is also to bargain with associations of football, table tennis, volleyball and netball, to mention a few so that they can reduce costs for us,” Ndewere said.
Last week Zitsa had friendly football matches between teacher teams from Nyanga, Goromonzi and Harare in Ruwa.
The association has lined up a Sports Leadership Common Core Course in conjunction with the Sports and Recreation Commission to equip Zitsa administrators with leadership skills and how district sports structures are run.
This course will be held at the Nationals Sports Stadium on November 3.
A table tennis tournament is also on the cards and has been penciled for November 10 at Hillside Sports Club in Mutare.
