JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) said Wednesday that they want to use the upcoming youth games to groom the athletes for the future international competitions.

SASCOC made the remarks while announcing the team to represent the country in the Africa Union Sport Council Region 5 U20 Games which will take place in Gaborone, Botswana on Dec. 7-16.

The bi-annual tournament comprises of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland and is held on a rotational basis.

"I have no doubt that these games will see more of our young stars putting their hands up on the big stage in the near future. I urge them to give their all on the field of play and also to act as great ambassadors for the rainbow nation," said project manager and Chef de Mission for the South African team, Isaac Mdaka.

He pointed out that Africa Union Sport Council Region 5 U20 Games have produced Olympic gold medalists like Caster Semenya and Wayde Van Niekerk. South Africa fielded a strong team comprising of the just-ended 2018 Youth Olympic Game medal winners, such as Dune Coetzee who won a silver medal in the women's 200m butterfly and Michael Houliegold in the men's 50m breaststroke.

The 220 athletes will take part in nine disciplines including basketball, boxing, football, judo, netball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.

SASCOC acting CEO Patience Shikwambana said they expect the team to build on the good performance of the past tournaments. In 2016, South Africa got 123 medals and came up first position when the tournament was held in Angola.

She said, "I want to echo well wishes to our last youth team for the year to the Region V Games and we hope the results obtained at the Youth Olympic Games will inspire this group to obtain more medals for us." Enditem