Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
WITH sport moving faster and getting sharper every year, the young athletes of Southern Africa are stepping into a world that expects more.
No shortcuts. No free passes. Just a clear push to compete at a level that forces everyone to grow.
That is the spirit driving the African union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 as it rolls out qualifying standards for the Youth Games, beginning with next year’s edition in Mozambique.
The move marks a firm break from the old way of doing things. It is no longer enough for countries to simply send a team.
They now need to build a system that produces athletes ready to earn their place. It means stronger grassroots structures, better domestic competitions and a more deliberate effort to guide young talent long before they reach a regional stage.
Region 5 covers Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe and all the 10 countries now face the same challenge: to lift the quality from the bottom up.
The decision was taken in 2023 and the countdown to its rollout has begun.
For AUSC Region 5 chief executive Stanley Mutoya, this is not just a tweak. It is a full reset meant to shift the region’s athletes towards true high-performance pathways.
To qualify, athletes now have several routes.
National Youth Games come first, acting as the most direct pathway. That alone brings new pressure to countries that still do not have their own youth games.
They will need to create them, which forces investment in development long before the regional stage.
Sport-specific national championships will also be considered and these events, usually run by federations, suddenly carry more weight. National schools championships make the list, together with the Confederation of Schools Sport Association of Southern Africa (COSSASA) Games, and regional sport-specific tournaments.
Each pathway strengthens the others.
Mutoya explained the thinking behind the system and how it is meant to reshape the entire sporting ladder.
“A couple of objectives that we bring along with it, apart from refining excellence at that level, but it’s also to say downstream, the whole ecosystem has got a ripple effect in terms of development,” he said.
“It means from the four qualifying events that are going to be used as qualifiers, number one is the national youth games that must be held at country level.
“If athletes don’t compete, don’t qualify using the national youth games, they will also use the sport-specific national championships. For example, if it’s athletics, they can qualify using the national athletics championships.
“If they don’t manage to do that, they can use the national schools’ championships. They can also use the COSSASA Games, which is the regional schools’ tournament. And ultimately, if they still can’t, they have an opportunity to use the regional sport-specific championships. That could be, for example, the FIBA Under-16 championships that can be held.”
From facility upgrades to timing systems to proper accreditation, the standards force countries to adjust.
The idea is simple: If the qualifiers are not strong enough, the Games will not improve. Raising the entry bar means raising every layer of the system.
“What it means is it strengthens the level of competition at country level. It strengthens the quality also of competitions. It means now you need, for example, an electronic timing system, you need proper accreditation by the confederations for the event to be a qualifier,” said Mutoya.
“It means it adds value and quality to the competitions that are being held at country level. So, apart from it just being a qualifier for the regional Games, it actually stimulates excellence at national level and it stimulates excellence of competitions at every level. That is what is driving us in terms of bringing the qualifying standards.”
Alongside qualifying standards, performance standards are coming too, including incentives for athletes who excel.
More details will follow, but the system will cover all sport codes on the official Games programme.
Team sports are being pulled into this new competitive world as well. There will be no automatic entry. Every team must earn its place.
“Team sports have also produced their own qualifying standards. With some, it’s going to be just the ranking from the age group level. For team sports, we are bringing only the top eight, which means the 10 countries they have got to fight to be in the top eight,” said Mutoya.
“When they play, for example, if it’s football, the Cosafa Under-17, we will use the ranking of the top eight in the Cosafa Unde-17. It means there has to be competition for teams to qualify and to compete in the Cosafa games because they are just not being the African qualifier, but they are also a qualifier to the Region 5 Youth Games, which is itself a qualifier to the African Cup of Nations.
“It is going to apply to all the sport codes that are on our official Games programme, to ensure that everybody has got a fair chance and we create competence and excellence at that level.”
Mutoya believes the change will create a long-term shift in the region’s sporting culture.
It’s not just about sending stronger teams to Mozambique next year. It’s about shaping a generation that understands competition from an early age.
“The ultimate goal of this move is to create impact on the quality of competition and in terms of development in the region. You can see the downstream effect that it brings, even down to the school sport competition level,” he said.
“It means countries are going to invest in equipment, for example, the timing system; they are going to invest in technical officials, because it’s going to be accredited technical officials that are going to be used.
“The member countries themselves, even as we spoke at the board level and at other commissions level, they are welcoming the idea. We think this is indeed a game-changer. Like we always say, Region 5 does not follow standards. We set them for others to follow.”
