‘Shun corruption in sport’

as it brought short-lived glory and dire consequences.
Speaking during the official opening of the 2012 edition of the Zone B Zimbabwe Teachers’ Colleges Sports Association (ZITCOSA) Games at the National University of Science and Technology’s athletics track yesterday morning, Gumede said it was sad that commercialised sport has been characterised by deception, doctoring of results and outright cheating. The games end today.
“At school level cheats have participated in wrong age-groups with the full blessings of teachers and even headmasters.
“It is my sincere hope that at this level and beyond, such practices would not be found or tolerated. I often wonder whether through all this, sport is mutating into a monster that consumes its participants and horrifies its followers,” said Gumede.
Zone B comprises three colleges, Gweru-based Mkoba Teachers’ College, United College of Education and the hosts Hillside Teachers’ College.
Athletes will compete in athletics, netball, volleyball, basketball, lawn tennis, chess and darts.
Athletics will be held at Nust while all ball games will be at Hillside with indoor sports chess and darts at the college hall.
The games are being held under the theme: A healthy body with a healthy mind in a healthy sporting environment.
The former Highlanders chairman, a retired referee and mathematics teacher, reminded the trainee teachers that sport is all about winning and losing and as such they should learn to embrace the two aspects.
“Sport teaches us about failure but an individual participating in any competition would always want to do better than others. When we do not win we must not let that interfere with what we can do.
“I would like to encourage those that are going to win today to do so with maturity, humility and selflessness and know that great works are performed, not by strength and physical ability but also by perseverance and mental ability,” said Gumede, who was accompanied by the hosting college principal Elkanah Dube.
Gumede said sport was good if it reveals how powerful a human body is and when athletes are prepared to exert themselves.
“The greatest in boxing, Muhammad Ali, said: ‘It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges and sport should be naturally but not artificially driven. It should not cheat nature and should be composed of real competition of strength and will to overcome’,” said Gumede. In his opening remarks, Hillside Teachers’ College principal, Dube, promised that they would raise the quality of the competition during the two-day event.
“May I however remind everyone that any form of indiscipline will never be tolerated and if ever there are any disputes, they must be channelled through the relevant structures,” said Dube.
After the end of the games today, a select side will be announced that will represent Zone B at the ZITCOSA national finals at Belvedere College in Harare at the end of this month.
From the national finals, a team to represent teachers’ colleges against other colleges and universities in May will be selected.