Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE African Union Sports Council Region 5 in partnership with the Bindura University of Science Education and the Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture are today scheduled to launch the Executive Sports Management Development Programme. The one-year programme is tailor-made for governments and sports commissions within the region.
The launch will take place at the BUSE main campus boardroom.
AUSC Region 5 chief executive, Stanley Mutoya, said with the region pushing for podium performance, they are looking at a holistic approach that will create an enabling environment.
“So, the African Union Sports Council Region 5, we have now six pillars in our strategic plan. The first pillar is a winning region. A winning region has got two elements.
“It has got the high performance. It has got capacity development.
“Under the capacity development, we have realised that we cannot have podium athletes when we don’t have podium administrators.
“As we conducted an organisational re-engineering process, we started in 2023 it also meant that we needed to look into the capacity in our system.
“One of the key areas that we realised was that because now all our commissions, we now appoint commissions on the basis of people’s competencies and qualifications and experience.
“It was apparent that most of the people that are serving in our sports structures, whether at ministry or at the sports commissions, they don’t have sports qualification or they have but from way back.
“So, we needed to find a way of ups-killing at management level.
“So, the management development programme then was established in partnership with the Bindura University which is going to be the regional hub,” said Mutoya.
The primary target for the programme is the government’s ministries of sport as well as the sports commissions who are part of the government.” The programme will include face to face engagement at BUSE, online training, and practical sessions that will be done in a country that will be hosting the AUSC Region 5 Youth Games.
It is designed to cover a number of areas ranging from governance, policy formulation, regulatory frameworks, safeguarding, anti-doping and budgeting processes.
Each of the 10 member countries is expected to enrol two participants in every intake.
The first intake, 2026-2027, has attracted 34 participants, and classes begin in November.
“The first is the face-to-face engagement, it happens at Bindura University which serves as an orientation and induction of the students.
