Minister of Youth, Sport and Art Elvis Nkandu says his ministry is prioritising talent identification across different sports disciplines in the country.
Mr Nkandu has indicated that Zambia has talented sportsmen and women in different fields and that all it needs is identification across the country.
He told the media in an interview in Kasama district that there is a lot of untapped talent, especially in remote and peri-urban areas which the government wants to tap into and bring talent together in different sports fields.
“We have talented men and women even in remote areas, so what we need to do as a ministry is ensure we identify those so that they can actively be involved in sports, we believe that once this is done it will help improve different sports disciplines even further,” Nkandu said.
Mr, Nkandu disclosed that this is why the ministry has come up with an idea of sports festivals to help in talent identification.
“These sports festivals will allow competition in different disciplines, and it is from these activities that we will be able to identify those excelling in respective sports activities,” he added.
And Northern Province Football Association of Zambia FAZ Chairperson Chikonde Mbalazi says the association has taken steps to improve the skills of football administrators and coaches in the region.
Mr Mbalazi says the association has in the last few weeks conducted training courses for coaches which is aimed at increasing their knowledge and improving their coaching skills.
“As an association, we have coached over 46 coaches to empower them with the right skills and to ensure that they are upgraded, by doing so we believe this will also improve football in the region,” he explained.
He explained that the move is aimed at improving the quality of administrators, noting that if coaches and administrators lack skills, it affects sports development.
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