A delegation from the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) visited OYDC Zambia – Sports Development Centre earlier today as part of their efforts to inspect, monitor and evaluate sports facilities in African countries.
ANOCA Development Commission member and African Athletics Development Center Director, Hamdi Abdel Rahim, and ANOCA Technical Director Ezera Tshabangu, visited the Centre to evaluate the state of the leading multi-sport facility in the country.
Zambia was the next country visited by the ANOCA delegation after spending some time in South Africa yesterday, with visits to other countries like Egypt and Kenya scheduled to follow.
The ANOCA delegation's main objective is to recommend the best facilities in each country that help develop the African sports landscape.
“We have to focus on countries that need more development, we have different cases in Africa, some countries need more development while others are developed, and that is what we are aiming for,” Rahim said.
ANOCA Technical Director, Ezera Tshabangu, stated that ANOCA's strategy is to engage with training centers in Africa, and the ANOCA delegation was visiting different training centers in Africa, including Zambia.
The aim was to recognize the centers based on the services they provide and add them to the ANOCA-recognized centers list that the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) across the region can use.
“This would help alleviate the high costs of training in Europe for African athletes, ANOCA hopes that more centers would be recognized in the future, and the grading process would be completed within two months,” She added.
Meanwhile, National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) President and ANOCA Development Commission Member Alfred Foloko stated that OYDC Zambia – Sports Development Centre was identified as one of the centers to host athletes pursuing excellence in their quest to qualify for major games, along with Egypt and South Africa among others.
The ANOCA delegation's inspections and recommendations will be presented to the ANOCA Executive Committee to be held in Mauritania on the 2nd and 3rd of March.
“This will ensure that ANOCA and NOC engage other partners and stakeholders, such as the government and international federations, to ensure that the chosen sports codes using the facilities are well taken care of in both technical and administrative aspects,” he said.
The NOCZ President emphasized the importance of working with key stakeholders, such as the government and international federations, to achieve this goal.
“We are happy the athletics track will be resurfaced as part of Zambia hosting the under 20 and 18 African Athletics Championships later this year, Judo Hall is in good condition we just need to procure new mats and as for Boxing there is need for a new ring and the main hall will be used for training while the Beach volleyball Pitch is also in good condition,” he added.
The ANOCA Delegation met with Ministry of Youth, Sport, and Arts Assistant Director Elite Sports Gibson Muyaule, NOCZ Secretary General Boniface Kambikambi, Zambia Athletics President Elias Mpondela, Zambia Boxing Federation President Dan Chiteule, Netball Zambia President Martha Sichone, Zambia Volleyball Association President Nakaonga Kakoma, and OYDC Zambia Chief Executive Officer Frederick Chitangala among others during the visit.
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