Africa-Press – Lesotho. For the first time, the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) through its Lepereng Olympafrica Centre, (LOC) is hosting the 2018 Olympafrica Directors Network bi-annual Meeting. The meeting started yesterday and will come to end on the 15th September 2018 at Botleng Guest House Ha Makhoathi.
Talking to Informative Sport, LOC Project Officer, Mr Khotso Mahloko said they were expecting participation of the Olympafrica Centre Directors from Comoros, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles, and Zimbabwe under the supervision of Ms. Ndiaté Sall- Diop from International Olympafrica Foundation (IOF) in Senegal. So, he said all did honour the meeting.
According to Mahloko they were also expecting participants from Zambia but unfortunately Zambia could not make it to Lesotho as they are still in mourning of the death of their country’s Olympafrica Centre director who died recently.
Mahloko said the meeting is organized with the assistance of the International Olympafrica Foundation and it is intended to provide Centre Directors of the participating countries a platform to reflect on their exploits.
He also indicated that the meeting gives the directors an opportunity to address challenges they have encountered in their respective countries and map out their resolutions as well as discuss new projects on offer for the upcoming two years.
The participants are also set to benefit from the Wrestling Technical Training under the auspices of the United World Wrestling which has partnered with the IOF.
According to Mahloko the reason behind the partnership is to equip the Olympafrica Centre Directors with skills that will enable them to introduce wrestling in their countries for sustainable sport development programs.
The training will be supervised by Mr. Juan Luis Maren Delis, a Cuban expert. Mahloko added that the training will also cater for six local participants comprising of LOC, Olympafrica Youth Ambassador Program (OYAP) teachers and community volunteers with interest in wrestling.
According to him, the inclusion of community volunteers with interest in wrestling is to avoid the opportunity to benefit only people within their bodies.
That he said will help them have people who they will use to expand the sport to other areas in the country in order to promote rapid growth of wrestling in the country.
This will be the first ever introduction of wrestling in the country, therefore Mahloko said as time goes on they hope there will be a national federation under this sporting code.
