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Crispen Mhike
I DON’t know how I can get this to the Minister of Sport or the Sports Commission.
We have now seen a clear trend where our sport cannot compete on the world stage — from the Olympics, the Davis Cup, the AFCON and of late international hockey where the women’s Under-21 field hockey team was humiliated 18-0 by the Netherlands, just to mention a few. The trend is so clear we can qualify but we will not make any impact.
According to John Maxwell’s 21 irrefutable Laws of leadership, “process looks at the work that has to be done to produce a positive outcome.”
I feel we are short-cutting the law of process, that is, if it exists in our sports bodies. Planning, preparation and execution of the process are key fundamentals if we are to succeed on the world stage.
This is what I think we should do with our sport if we are to improve. National Sport Associations need to take sports to the masses in Mbare, Rimuka, Pfupajena, Magwegwe, Sakubva, etc. We saw positive growth and competitiveness when Albert Nhamoyebonde took tennis to Mufakose, when Steve Mangongo took cricket to Highfield, when Victor Pekani took rugby to Mbare and when “Doc’’ took hockey to Triangle.
Many will say sports development needs money but the people I have mentioned above were not rich. They just had a passion and vision. Are we in leadership positions because we have a passion and vision or we just want the prestige and perks of being at the top?
Why should we send teams to compete on the World stage before we compete locally? Is there a proper field hockey league in Zimbabwe? We send athletes to the Olympics before they compete locally in Zimbabwe’s open competition. For example, who is Zimbabwe’s current 100m champion? Who is Zimbabwe’s male butterfly 100m champion? Who is Zimbabwe’s tennis champion? I am sure you can give me answers by looking at times and history.
I advocate for a scenario in which we send teams who have competed locally to the world stage.
Vimbai Maisvorewa should come and run the 400m race here in Zimbabwe before she can be considered for the Olympics although she is based in the United States where she has access to better facilities and all.
Our hockey, rugby, handball etc should have competitive teams locally before we compete internationally. Lastly, without proper high-performance centres, we are going nowhere.
Let’s establish high-performance centres in all our provinces. Our schools sport systems and clubs cannot look after the needs of elite sportsmen/ women.
Honourable Minister (Kirsty Coventry), I am available to chat and expand on these points.
I am a Zimbabwean who is proud of his country but I am embarrassed by the humiliation our sports teams face.
l Crispen Mhike is the headmaster for Heritage Senior School and was writing in his own capacity
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