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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe Olympic Committee Athletes Commission chairperson, Abel Chimukoko, has lamented the state of local sports facilities.
He believes it’s among the obstacles limiting local athletes in realising their full potential.
The retired long-distance athlete represented Zimbabwe, at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in the men’s marathon.
“The first thing I will talk about is facilities. We had good sporting facilities, but they lacked maintenance.
“Most of our facilities are not internationally-certified, by international federations, and because of that, we cannot qualify locally, we need to go to other countries.
“It also means our athletes cannot judge themselves locally.
“I think the problem, I noted, as an athlete, I did most of my training in Madrid, Spain.
“The other issue is the cost of hiring those sporting facilities. The fees are exorbitant for our local athletes, so most people cannot afford them.
“We have very few sprinters, very few field events athletes and a lot of road runners, especially ultra-runners.
“You look at the quality of our stadiums, we only have four tartan tracks in Zimbabwe (at the National Sports Stadium, University of Zimbabwe, White City and NUST) and most of them, they are not in good condition. They are not good for training athletes.”
Facilities such as the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex and the City Sports Centre have been turned into venues for non-sports events and continue to deteriorate.
Magamba Hockey Stadium, which was once a world-class facility, is now in a sorry state.
Nothing much has been done to upgrade the Mbare Netball Complex, which is the main training facility for the national women’s netball teams.
City councils have also not helped the situation, with local football stadiums in bad shape.
Some of the sports clubs, which used to offer decent training facilities for local athletes, have also suffered from years of neglect.
Golf clubs like Sherwood, Warren Hills, Harare South and Mt. Pleasant have been converted into residential areas at the expense of sport.
“The other challenge is our training methods. Some of our coaches do not have proper training themselves, we need capacity development of coaches,’’ said Chimukoko.
“Some of them are not qualified coaches, they just do refresher courses and they come and say they are qualified.
“They have to go for proper coaching courses, go to school and, after that, you do refresher courses.
“We need to introduce sports science, check the diet of athletes, it’s very important.
“When local teams, and athletes, compete at such events as the Olympics, World Championships and continental games, there are huge expectations on them to win medals.
“However, there is need to acknowledge that while athletes have their own limitations, the environment plays a role.
“Most of the individuals that have done well at international level, it has been largely due to individual and parents’ efforts, when it comes to funding, particularly in individual sports.”
Chimukoko said without investing in sport, medals and podium finishes will remain scarce.
“We need to inject a lot of resources into sport. Our athletes are not getting enough to produce what they are supposed to.
“Most of them are self-sponsored, self-funded or it’s the parents. As a result, we cannot expect medals.
“Athletes need support from time to time, from when they are identified, during the training, competition and after.’’
He also called for the integration of former athletes into sporting systems, so that they also contribute from their past experience, in changing the sporting landscape for the better.
Online Reporter