No Youth Games for three years

IT is nearly four years without the National Youth Education through Sport (YES) games
being held.
The games were a platform for young sports persons for ball games competitions, to
mingle for friendship building, as well as quiz competitions.
They stood out as a scouting platform for young talent scouters and sports academies.
Usually, the games featured children in primary school and were held every June as a
precursor to the National Youth Games, traditionally held in August.
The games were held every until the advent of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and
induced lockdown, which saw a ban on all social gatherings, including sport events
being imposed in accordance to World Health Organisation regulations.
The National Youth Games have since also been halted ever since 2020.
The tournament would gather youth athletes from across the country under the age of
18 for ball and track games.
The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) provincial office said they are not yet
sure when the tournaments will return.
James Maganga, the provincial SRC co-ordinator said he was, however, happy that the
National Association of Primary Heads (NAPH) and the National Association of
Secondary Heads (NASH) had resumed their games.
“The unofficial position is that that there are no National Youth Games this year, the
same with the Paralympics,” he said.
He hailed NAPH and NASH for resuming games.
He said these in turn have helped in youths to compete though with a little exposure to
the wider market.
“Talent identification starts at the grassroots going up. We have NAPH and NASH
platforms and sport associations age group platforms for talent identification, exposure
and nurturing. The youth and para games is a missed platform for talent exposure,
testing and measurement.
“In terms of talent identification, I can say very minimal effect but in terms of continued
exposure and high performance, sport persons become affected,” added Maganga.