Tue, 04 Jul 2017 10:03:00 +0000
By SANDRA MACHIMA
THE Netball Association of Zambia in conjuction with Kaoma district netball association has launched the Kazanga Netball Tournament in Kaoma to keep girls busy and prevent early marriages and pregnancies in rural areas.
And about 16 schools from various netball teams had gathered in Kaoma secondary school at the weekend and participated in support for the tournament.
Netball Association of Zambia (NAZ) President Getrude Mukumi told the Daily Nation in Kaoma it had spread its wheels to rural areas to prevent early pregnancies in school.
She said the Netball tournament was launched under the theme, “preventing pregnancies, school dropouts and early marriages through sports and engagement of traditional leaders.”
She said teenage pregnancies and early marriages were still high in rural areas, adding that the support for sports activities in rural areas would deter many young people to engage in illicit activties.
Ms Mukumi said netball was still faced with challenges of sponsorship as it was not adequately funded.
She appealed to various stakeholders to support sporting activities so that young girls could be kept busy with sports activities. Ms Mukumi further said a number of netball coaches held a workshop and were presented with certificates in netball basic coaching.
“We have launched this netball tournament in Kaoma and the first ever of its kind to help curb early pregnancies and marriages and we have sucessfully done it with the participants and teams that have managed to make it.
And the only challenge we have in netball is financing which is not over and we are appealing to various stakeholders to support the games of such, especially in rural areas,” she said.
And Provincial Netball Association chairman Chimeze Nyirenda said he had a task to reach all the rural areas and identify talented youths.
Mr Nyirenda said his association was keen to work with traditional leaders in their chiefdoms and custodian of land to fight early marriages.
“We cannot curb early marriages and pregnancies without the help from the chiefs and their engagement in this crusade will see the reduction in illicit activities,” he said.
