Zambia Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA) president Elias Mpondela has bemoaned the level of competition in the athletics fraternity saying competitions have become too predictable.
Mpondela revealed that all local competitions in the country were won by Green Buffaloes with abnormal point-differences, thereby making it hard for the association to make a balanced national team.
In an interview with Goal Diggers! Mpondela appealed to club officials and executives to scout for new athletes that would cushion the fall in competition, especially in field and track events.
“Local competitions have become boring. In every competition we are sure Green Buffaloes will win and that was not the case long time ago. I can tell you that in more than six years, Buffaloes have been scooping the first position in all competitions,” Mpondela noted.
He further blamed the fall in competition on club executives’ reluctance in recruiting new and younger athletes.
“We have these club officials and executives that keep receiving poor results from competitions but are not doing anything about it. They have the capacity to train younger ones but they want to keep recording poor results. It is one of the reasons we keep calling the same people to represent the country at international level,” said Mpodela.
Green Buffaloes athletics team scooped its 15th first position in the ZAAA closing season competition on Sunday at the competition held in Solwezi. The club only descended to second position earlier this year during the All New Comers competition that featured Kenyan and Zimbabwean clubs.