Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Covid-19 pandemic has stifled the development of young athletes in Zimbabwe, with some losing interest in sport in the past two years.
While celebrating the return of sport, administrators are unanimous that the critical area of sports development is at the grassroots stage, an area that is extensively covered by schools.
The administrators feel that as much as senior or adult competitions have been given the green light to resume, reigniting interest in youngsters, especially those in school, will be enormous.
Arthur Maphosa, the National Association of Secondary Schools Heads (Nash) president said a generation of athletes has been lost due to the pandemic, adding that national sports associations have to assist his organisation in reigniting learners’ interest in sport.
“It’s quite a mammoth challenge to get kids’ interest in sports back because they’ve gone for two years without any activity. Obviously, some have found other ways of life and developed other interests.
“National associations have to work with us because schools cater for amateur competitions, a critical stage of sports development. It’s after kids are done with school that they proceed to clubs. So, right now there’s a gap that can only be closed by working together with various stakeholders, including the media, which can write exciting stories to pump up interest and motivation,” said Maphosa.
The Nash boss indicated that covering the gap caused by Covid-19 will not be done overnight.
“Obviously, making up for lost time won’t be instant. But having a fully-fledged calendar in 2022 will be a good start. Also, we have to come up with programmes, drum up support and get interested in sports,” Maphosa said.
He also spoke about the need to recapacitate and regenerate sports interest in headmasters and teachers.
Maphosa pleaded with Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to loosen up and avoid red tape, which he said affects flow of activities.
“If you recall, there was a time when the Sports Ministry gave green light to schools’ activities, but our parent Ministry blocked that. We are of the view that once such announcements like resumption of activities at schools are announced, the Ministry of Health and Child Care would have okayed it. It is our hope that there will be good inter-ministerial relations to facilitate the smooth flow of sport,” said Maphosa.
On lessons brought by Covid-19, Maphosa said: “Going forward, we need to be alert for natural disasters that can attack us anytime. We must have a disaster management fund so that when we’re faced with such things, we fight the disaster quickly.”
Experienced sports administrator and a Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) commissioner Titus Zvomuya said the road to get kids back to sport will be rough.
“We’ve lost a generation and it’s not going to be easy because you recall these are the people who were supposed to go for the Youth Olympics, Africa Youth Championships and the Olympics, but lost out. It will be difficult for them to qualify for such games.
“As for schools’ sports, they were closed for a considerable time and even if they were open, conditions were going to be strict and difficult. What needs to be done is to embrace new models of coaching, sports science as a basis for all coaching programmes and talent identification. We have to tap into talent from remote areas because we can’t afford to go urban only.
“There’s a need for a multi sectoral approach, to get Government, the SRC, corporate world and national associations involved in regenerating interest among kids. We have to move with the times, follow the concept of academies, which seems to be producing results globally, and the talent identification process has to be robust,” said Zvomuya.
He said Covid-19 taught the sports industry about the need to embrace technology, as coaching clinics, coaching programmes, meetings and competitions were held virtually.
Zvomuya pointed out that the majority of athletes at the Tokyo Olympics trained virtually, with coaches monitoring their progress online.
National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) president Tendai Tagara said without schools’ sports, the development of athletes is doomed.
“Schools’ sports should be activated because they are a key foundation of any discipline. Without schools’ sports, we have no future. There’s also a need to jumpstart competitions by revising our calendar and maybe have a longer period of competitions.
“Government must also deliberately inject money into key sporting codes. The past two years there were no sponsors, no income for national associations, which survive on subscriptions and partnerships. Partners like the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) must also assist,” Tagara said.
Joe Mujuru, Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) president said: “We’ve got to put in lots of resources in the schools’ sports system. Strength lies in primary and secondary schools. While we’re happy that sports opened, in reality we’re talking about seniors, yet schools, the critical stage of sports development, is far from resuming activities.” — @ZililoR
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