Call for primary schools to register learners for ASA National Primary Schools Track and Field Championships

Aspiring athletes of primary schools in North Eastern Tribune’s distribution area have been urged to register to compete for national colours at the forthcoming Athletics South Africa (ASA) National Primary Schools Track and Field Championships.

The championships will be held in Pietermaritzburg on 20 and 21 March.

The call was made by ASA president Aleck Skhosana at a press conference at Athletics House in Houghton Estate. Shhosana urged schools and parents to help the learners to register for the championships, including children from schools that cater for learners with special educational needs (LSEN).

Skhosana, who said ASA had taken a leaf out of the success book of other countries to arrive at this new innovation of developing future champion athletes at an early age, said they were looking for boys and girls aged 13 years and above while those from LSEN schools should be 15 years and above.

He added that the talent that would be unearthed at the schools’ event, would be nurtured until maturity to create a crop of championship athletes that ASA will be able to track all the way to ensure that none of them fall through the cracks as has been the case before.

“We have learnt from other countries that the only way to create championship athletes is to go back to the foundation phase, which is our schools, and identify talent from an early age and then nurture and mould it into championship material.

“Only with hard work coupled with proper coaching and development, will South Africa produce the calibre of athletes who are championship material,” Skhosana said.

Talented athletes discovered at the championships will stand a chance of selection to the National Primary School Invitational Team and will be awarded Sub-Youth national colours.

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Those selected will go on to compete against the best of their peers from neighbouring countries, in an event that South Africa will host during the school holiday break in October this year at a venue that will be announced after the championships, he said.

To help schools meet the registration deadline of 9 March, ASA has made various outlets available for athletes to be registered which include the offices of the Department of Sport and Recreation in the nine provinces.

“We are flexible on the registration deadline of 9 March as we’re quite aware of the many challenges for the poor and remote communities. We’re not going to turn away children when they come to register even after the deadline date.

“These are exciting times for primary school athletics where there is now a clear road map of what the future brings, when schools, parents and athletes choose competitions that will benefit them. It is going to be a pleasure to see the step-by-step progression of the child athlete to elite global status.”

ASA and Jamaica are currently exploring ways of holding a competition that will open opportunities to primary school athletes and beyond within the school system. “We’re also learning from fellow African countries such as Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, who have successfully bred championship athletes. We want to know how they did it.”