Avoid harmful substances NOCZ president Foloko urges athletes

National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) president Alfred Foloko has urged athletes to avoid harmful substances which end their sporting career.

Speaking during the launch of the 2021 OYDC Zambia sporting season Foloko disclosed that athletes are supposed to shun doping which has in the past years finished careers of many sportsperson.

He said clean sport is what will make many athletes excel and bring honours to the nation. He added that it was good that OYDC decided to revamp its sporting programme by adding more sports disciplines to the youthful competition which will be running every weekend.

Meanwhile OYDC Zambia Chief Executive Officer Dr Fredrick Chitangala appealed to sports federations to use the Teulings Youth Sports Challenge as a completion for talent identification.

He said the competition which has been running since 2011 has produced a number of athletes with some being Olympic heroes. Dr Chitangala further appealed to the corporate world to come on board and support other sports disciplines which currently have no support.

The launch saw the ignition of six sports disciplines namely; TeQball, Handball, Football, Rugby, Basketball, and Boxing to the other five Hockey, Netball, Taekwondo, Judo and Beach Volleyball which are under the Teulings Youth Sports Challenge.

The launch of the 2021 sporting season was attended by TeQBall Federation of Zambia president Dickson Jere, Handball Association of Zambia president Bwalya Banda, Zambia Boxing Federation president Dr Kennedy Mubita, and representatives from Zambia Rugby Union, Zambia Hockey Association, Zambia Basketball Federation among others.

The Centre will be hosting four sports programs every weekend under strict adherence to health guidelines to avoid any spread of the Covid-19 and this will culminate into the grand finale to be hosted at the end of the year where top deserving teams, athletes, coaches and umpires will be rewarded.

Meanwhile sports associations pledged to support the OYDC with different sports kit as the games commence.