The national women's boxing team has officially started off-camp training in preparation for the World Championship, which will take place from March 6 to 17 in Niš, Serbia.
The training camp began yesterday, with all the selected boxers reporting to camp at the Police Officers College in Dar es Salaam.
Speaking to The Respondent Online, the team's head coach, Samweli Kapungu, also known as 'Batman,' said that they kicked off the training program with physical fitness exercises.
He added that the next phase will focus on flexibility training and internal sparring matches to assess their strengths and identify areas that need improvement before their departure.
“The current training is focused on physical fitness to get the team in shape. The sparring and internal matches will help the technical bench determine where improvements are needed,” said Kapungu.
For now, the boxers train and return home while waiting for final arrangements from the federation. The Secretary-General of the Tanzania Boxing Federation (BFT), Makore Mashaga, stated that efforts are ongoing to secure funds for a full residential camp and travel expenses for the championship.
He called on sports stakeholders to come forward and support the team's preparations and travel arrangements.
The team comprises boxers across different weight categories, including Veronica Thomas (48kg), Zawadi Saidi and Sarafina Fusi (50kg), Zulfa Macho (52kg), Tatiana Ezekiel (54kg), Vumilia Kalinga, Zawadi Amos, and Halima Vunjabei (57kg), Doricas Daudi and Zulfa Idd (60kg), Najima Isike (63kg), Konsolata Laiza (66kg), Salma Michael (75kg), as well as Rechael Msingo and Mariamu Msabila in the 81kg category.