Sporting, recreational bodies must be registered

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) says all sporting and recreational organisations in the country must be legally registered so it can account for them.

These organisations include community sport and recreation clubs, academies, country and sports clubs, ward, district, provincial and national associations.

SRC acting director-general Joseph Muchechetere sought to clarify the role of the commission to remove any ambiguity following the misunderstanding of its role and functions.

He said the SRC was a statutory body and among some of its objectives and mandate is to coordinate, control, develop and foster the activities of sport and recreation in the country.

It’s the SRC’s duty to register all organisations undertaking the promotion of sport and recreation activities as well as to ensure the proper administration of organisations undertaking the promotion of sport and recreation; promote the highest standards of sportsmanship, authorise national and international sporting and recreational activities, register any sport and recreation facility, develop, supervise and manage sporting and recreational facilities and oversee training programmes for sportspersons.

Muchechetere said as the regulator of the sport and recreation sector, the SRC will ensure that all teams and individuals, who include administrators, coaches, athletes and volunteers, going out of or coming into the country for sport and recreation activities are cleared first, before proceeding on sport and recreation tours.

“Currently this has an implication on foreign currency, especially to the athletes that will be going out and we must therefore be assured that teams have enough funding to cater for their stay in foreign lands. Also as foreign teams come into the country, we also generate foreign currency for the nation,” said Muchechetere.

“We have observed that country and recreation clubs have abandoned their primary role of providing sport and recreation activities for communities surrounding them. As their regulator, we wish to place it on record that their role is to ensure that they grow their membership by providing them with sporting and recreational activities of their choice. The country and sports clubs are not meant to be beer halls or night clubs and as such we will be dispatching our teams to ensure that they revert to their core mandate,” he said.