Regional competitions sanctioned by Heads of State

REGIONAL Games within the Sadc (Africa Union of Sport Council Region Five (AUSC Region 5)) were sanctioned by Heads of State in 2001.

This was a welcome development in the development of sport and fostering relations in Southern and Central Africa. It was a deliberate move by governments to ensure athletes from the region get international exposure and sport also promotes social integration and good relations.

“On 14 August 2001, the Sadc Heads of State and Governments at their summit signed a Sadc Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport. In Article 26 of the Protocol, Heads of State and Government tasked State Parties to collaborate in the organisation of regional tournaments in different sports codes whose modalities and frequency was to be agreed upon.

“Council of Ministers resolved that Member Countries were to host the Games biennially on a rotational basis in alphabetic order. The AUSC Region 5 Council of Ministers adopted a Five-Year Development Plan at their 23rd November 1997 meeting in Cabinda, Angola. One of the Projects in the Development Plan was the organisation and hosting of the then SCSA Zone VI/Sadc Games for the Under-20 age-group on a biennial basis,” reads an extract of the AUSC Region 5.

Earlier in Johannesburg, South Africa on September 7, 1999, at their special meeting the AUSC Region 5 Council of Ministers agreed that the hosting of the Games should be compulsory and on rotational basis.

The hosting was on the basis of the rotational Chairmanship.
“Thus, the country whose Minister is the Chairperson of the AUSC Region 5 Council of Ministers should host the Games.”
While events such as the Sadc and Zone Six Championships had been going on for a while, the first AUSC Games would have been hosted by Lesotho in 2002.

After Lesotho failed, the obligation was passed on to Malawi who were unable in 2003.
The two countries were fined for their failure to play host to the Games.
Mozambique stepped up and hosted the inaugural Games in Maputo for the 20 and Under age group.

Past hosts
2006 – Windhoek, Namibia
2008 – Potchefstroom, South Africa
2010 – Manzini, Eswatini
2012 – Lusaka, Zambia
2014 – Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2016 – Luanda, Angola
2018 – Gaborone, Botswana
2020 – Maseru, Lesotho (held in 2021 due to COVID-19)
2022 – Lilongwe, Malawi
2024 – Windhoek, Namibia
2026 – Maputo, Mozambique

Zimbabwe’s hosting of the Games in Bulawayo had legacy benefits in that a tartan track, electronic timing and wind gauge were made available for athletics, an all-weather court with terraces used for netball, volleyball, tennis and even boxing was erected at White City Stadium.
A B Arena with an incomplete athletics track has become a popular Division One football venue and is easing congestion.
The City Pool also got a facelift and a practice pool dug up.

Aims of the AUSC Games
The AUSC (Region 5) Games are meant to achieve the following aims:
1. Encourage young sportspersons to develop towards stages where they can in future represent their nations and the whole region;
2. Enable young people from different Member States to get together, mix and get to know each other thereby developing the required community spirit and regional integration;
3. To strengthen the solidarity within the Southern Africa Region and promote a community spirit, performance excellence and the ideals of peace, brotherhood and African Unity.
4. Develop a spirit of fair play, mutual respect and Olympism and Pan-Africanism, among young athletes of the Region;
5. Provide opportunities for countries of the Region to unite in working on an agreed common sports
programme including but not limited to infrastructure development, promoting sports tourism andathlete development.
6. To maximise revenue from the Games through a coordinated, well defined and executed commercialisation programme.
7. To make sport commercially attractive to corporate sponsors, television broadcasters and the media worldwide.
8. To ensure the widest possible public exposure of the Games through television, print and other media
9. To be a platform for the AUSC Region 5 High Performance Programme, the Podium PerformanceProgramme (PPP)
10. To use the Games for social cohesion, economic transformation and as qualifiers for other major International Junior Championships.