Sports teachers and officials in Kilimanjaro Region have started a five-day intensive sports administration course facilitated by the Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC).
Speaking here on Monday, facilitator of the course that is conducted at the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) Northern Zone hall, Muharami Mchume said the committee is committed to bank on youths for sports development, that is why they have targeted the teachers.
He said sports teachers and officials from all six districts of Kilimanjaro region will receive special skills on how to identify talents from children, tap and develop them as it is practised in the Western world.
Mchume said the participants are specifically trained on leadership, communication, planning as well as HIV/ AIDS issues in sports. He said Tanzania lags behind in development of youth, noting that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched a new competition for the youth but the country has no such team in place.
“It is only through investing in youth that this nation can be aggressive in international competitions. Funds should be directed to children and youth in schools,” Mchume said.
He said there are a number of challenges in developing the sports sector, saying little is being done to tap talents from the National Primary School Games (UMITASHUMTA) as talents are buried once the children go back to school.
The course is organized and funded by the Olympic Solidarity, TOC and a local organizing committee. TOC values are joy of effort, fair play, respect for others, pursuit of excellence and balance between body, will and mind.
BY DEUS NGOWI, Tanzania Daily News