Ezra Morale Boosts Schools’ Meet
Apr 17, 2003
THE national primary schools track and field championships will have more colour this year following a sh2m boost by athletics fan Michael Ezra.
By James Bakama
THE national primary schools track and field championships will have more colour this year following a sh2m boost by athletics fan Michael Ezra.
Ezra has donated sh2m in prizes towards the April 23 - 26 event in Tororo.
“I know what a T-shirt or a trophy can do to a youngster’s morale, so, that is what I will offer the championships’ outstanding athletes,†said businessman Ezra.
Ezra intends to revitalise cash-strapped Ugandan athletics, whose last world beater was John Akii-Bua with a world record in Munich in 1972.
Ezra, with a sh4m offer, was together with SN Brussels Airlines one of those who recently salvaged a trip by Uganda’s junior men’s team to the World Cross-country in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The teenagers paid back with Boniface Kiprop winning his country’s first ever-silver medal, which propped his team that also had James Kibet, Moses Kipsiro, Isaac Kiprop and Martin Kiplimo to a fourth consecutive bronze.
Ezra, a former sprinter, was amongst those thrilled by the performance of the cross-country team and offered to finance a $100,000 (sh197m) high altitude long-distance training camp in Kapchorwa.
The competition is an annual event jointly funded and organised by National Council of Sports (NCS) and the districts that field the teams.
The schools competition highlights the wealth of Uganda’s athletics talent. But most of these talents disappear after the competition due to poor follow up from Uganda Amateur Athletics Federation’s (UAAF) laxity.
It is this follow up that Ezra has promised partly through his camp that, for a start, will feature the world cross-country team and five other promising athletes.
Ends
THE national primary schools track and field championships will have more colour this year following a sh2m boost by athletics fan Michael Ezra.
Ezra has donated sh2m in prizes towards the April 23 - 26 event in Tororo.
“I know what a T-shirt or a trophy can do to a youngster’s morale, so, that is what I will offer the championships’ outstanding athletes,†said businessman Ezra.
Ezra intends to revitalise cash-strapped Ugandan athletics, whose last world beater was John Akii-Bua with a world record in Munich in 1972.
Ezra, with a sh4m offer, was together with SN Brussels Airlines one of those who recently salvaged a trip by Uganda’s junior men’s team to the World Cross-country in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The teenagers paid back with Boniface Kiprop winning his country’s first ever-silver medal, which propped his team that also had James Kibet, Moses Kipsiro, Isaac Kiprop and Martin Kiplimo to a fourth consecutive bronze.
Ezra, a former sprinter, was amongst those thrilled by the performance of the cross-country team and offered to finance a $100,000 (sh197m) high altitude long-distance training camp in Kapchorwa.
The competition is an annual event jointly funded and organised by National Council of Sports (NCS) and the districts that field the teams.
The schools competition highlights the wealth of Uganda’s athletics talent. But most of these talents disappear after the competition due to poor follow up from Uganda Amateur Athletics Federation’s (UAAF) laxity.
It is this follow up that Ezra has promised partly through his camp that, for a start, will feature the world cross-country team and five other promising athletes.
Ends