ZAMBIA Athletics (ZA) president Elias Mpondela is surprised that athletics national team coach Douglas Kalembo could not win the 2019 coach of the year award but the runner he trains, Sydney Siame, was named the national sportsman of the year.

Osward Mutapa was given the coach of the year award for guiding the Under -17 and Under -20 national football teams to the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) titles ahead of Kalembo, who managed Siame to his gold medal at the African Games in Morocco last year.