Govt committed to support sport in rural areas: Hlongwane

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke, Harare Bureau
GOVERNMENT has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the nurturing and development of sports talent in rural communities in line with the Community Sport and Recreation Club system introduced earlier this year.

Speaking at a community sports gala held to mark the launch of the Community Sport and Recreation Club system in Buhera South on Sunday, Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane, said there was a lot of untapped talent in rural areas, which  should be utilised for the development of sport in Zimbabwe.

“President Mugabe said organised sport should not be concentrated in urban areas, but should also move into rural areas,” he said.

“That is what we have been doing. In having the Community Sport and Recreation Club system, we hope to increase the participation of rural communities in sport.”

The two-day sports gala saw teams from Buhera South taking on visitors from Mudzi South constituency and participating in several ball games, including football and netball.

Hlongwane said Government was planning to bring other games like cricket, tennis, rugby and hockey to the rural areas, which explained why the number of sporting disciplines played at the Zimbabwe National Youth Games increased from seven to 22 to ensure that all youths take part in such sports from an early age.

He said Manicaland had produced some prolific sportsmen and women and hoped more would come from the province’s rural areas.

“Not all kids in our rural schools excel academically, but you find that some of those who fail are good at sport,” he said. “These children have talent that needs to be nurtured so that they can fall back on sport and earn a living from it later in life.

“Young men and women from all over the country are getting the chance to play in our national teams, but only a handful are from rural areas.

“We want young people from Buhera and Mudzi, to come and play for the national teams. If that talent is groomed, it can uplift the whole community, not just the individuals.”

Hlongwane reiterated the importance of an all-inclusive new education curriculum that had seen sport playing an important role in producing a well rounded student. As part of the initiative, he said, Government designed a programme that would see each school in the country building a multi-purpose tennis court, which can be used for several sporting disciplines such as basketball and netball.

Speaking at the same event, Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Mandi Chimene said the games were a good way of bringing together people from Buhera South and Mudzi South.

“Sport unites people and this is what we want to see more,” she said.

“These Games should unite us whilst keeping us fit at the same time.”

Chimene urged women to take a more active role in the development of women’s soccer.

“Women need to take soccer seriously,” she said. “Don’t ever think that because you are a woman you cannot excel in soccer. You can actually do well.”

Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa, said there was need to augment the existing youth academies by incorporating the youths from rural areas.

“These children need to be included in such programmes,” he said. “But the problem is that academies do not have the capacity to cover all corners, so we have come in to help with the necessary equipment and technical assistance.

“Five years from now we want to keep churning out brilliant soccer stars for all the teams, so we need to have a thorough programme that helps us do that.

Look at how that has worked for Zambia.

Their Under 20 team is exceptional and it’s because of such programmes. We want the same for Zimbabwe.”

Chiyangwa donated soccer kits and 30 soccer balls for all the wards in Buhera South as part of efforts to encourage rural teams to take sport seriously. He promised to buy 59 more balls for the teams.

He also donated $1 400 prize money for all the winning teams at the gala.

“This is a programme that we agreed on with government, and Fifa is also on board, so we have to do everything we can to support it,” said Chiyangwa.

“Each ward in Buhera South should have three main soccer teams, one for men, for women and another for youths.”