‘Athletes first’

MUKWIMA CHILALA writes THE most important thing in Zambia Athletics are the athletes themselves and hence there is need for them to be given priority and make sure they benefit so that Zambia can start to produce the best athletes in the world, Samuel Matete has said. And Matete says it was time for new blood to take over the leadership of the Zambia Athletics (ZA) executive as the current executive had overstayed. The former 400 metres world champion said he had intensified his campaign for the ZA presidency and that councilors had been buying into his message. Matete said his confident that come the election, the Athletics body would usher in a new executive at the helm of the Association as the current one had already run its course. He said that it was now time to go back to the grassroots and revive the sport as it was now time to pave way for new ideas and for the athletes to adapt to new trends in the athletic world. “We have to ensure that change comes because we can’t keep individuals in office for twenty two years. What is it that you can do that you have not done since, so it’s time to pave way for new ideas and for the athletes to see what is trending today and tomorrow,” Matete said. “I have been in athletics for a long time and athletics has continued to be a part of my life, so the most important person in our organization is the athletes and we need to realize that they come first.” Matete said there was need to improve the coaching system in Zambia so as to produce the best quality athletes. “We need to go back to grassroots and engage the schools because all of us including myself came from the school system. We need to ensure that the young athletes have a good coaching system, exposed to good training system so that they are open to compete at international level,” he said. The ZA elections are slated to be held this year and Matete has expressed intention to run for presidency of the association. The Sun