adminTHE Youth Sports Exchange Programme (YSEP), run by the Sports and Recreation Commission, in partnership with sister bodies in Zambia, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympics Committee and Confederation of Sport (NIF) Norway has been instrumental in developing future sporting greats.
Bulawayo’s own Bekezela Ndlovu, a volunteer in the YSEP programme in 2010 in Namibia, made it into the history books by becoming the first Zimbabwean female volleyball international umpire.
She came up tops in the International Refereeing Candidate Course that was held in Kenya in March — a true indication of the fruits accruing from the programme.
Every year Zimbabwe sends two volunteers for a 12-month attachment in Norway and another two to countries within Africa for the same duration.
In return SRC hosts Norwegians and other volunteers from the South-South exchange programme for one year.
Now back in the country, a volunteer once attached to Norway, Thubaelihle Sibanda, described the experience as fruitful.
Having been in Norway for the past 10 months, Thuba was fully integrated into the community in Inderoy, which saw her being a part of the citizens as they took her in and virtually made her part of their familes.
While there, Sibanda was involved in a number of sport-related activities, which have greatly benefited her.
In a farewell message she wrote on Facebook, Thuba was grateful to the people she met, who included the volunteers from other countries whom she initially met during orientation back in August last year.
“It is good to see that Sigve Rørstad (a Norwegian volunteer who was attached in Bulawayo) enjoyed the City of Kings as much as I enjoyed Inderoy. Ten months passed really fast and as we put the programme to an end, I can only reflect back to the day we were first released and say – congrats guys, you survived the mountain and return home victorious.
“I will miss you and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Amon Willy (Tanzanian volunteer who was attached in Zimbabwe) — you rock, go and take Tanzania by storm. Thank you SRC Zimbabwe for the opportunity, cheers to a great programme, hope many more young sport enthusiasts like myself benefit from the programme and that the lives of many sports people will be changed through me because of it,” the message read.
In an interview with Sunday Leisure, Sibanda revealed some of the programmes she had been involved in.
“In the 10 months I lived in Norway as a volunteer, I was involved in a number of activities. I was doing community sports coaching 14-year-old boys and girls and it was just an opportunity to equip the young stars with skills that I have acquired over the years.
“I was also part of the facilitation of Kicking Aids Out workshops where we discussed how sport can be used as a tool to spread information about HIV and Aids and different life skills and teachings that can be integrated into a training session. I also did courses on children’s sport, basketball and football officiating,” she said.
Sibanda also had an opportunity of working on a sport project where she had the opportunity to interview eight organisations involved in sports administration, sponsorship, media and publicity, sports marketing and coaching in order to understand how sport is ran in Norway.
The 25-year-old Bulawayo girl said having gained the experience she did in Europe; she would be approaching sports organisations and institutions with initiatives and programmes which she intends to use for the benefit of the community.
“I am looking forward to conducting workshops and practical coaching sessions in Bulawayo schools. I also look forward to engaging the private sector and key stakeholders for input in the development of sport in the local scene,” she noted.
The YSEP has over the years helped to expose SRC volunteers from both the urban and remote rural parts of the country to greater sporting opportunities. Many of the volunteers have also been formally absorbed into the employment of the SRC and the sports industry at large.
According to the SRC website, some of the former volunteers are Newstein Chipoya who is now the provincial sport co-ordinator for Harare Province, Tellmore Chibanda Mashonaland East provincial sport co-ordinator, Isaiah Mpofu regional manager in Matabeleland North and Lindsay Tazvivinga, the provincial administration clerk Mashonaland Central.
About 50 young people have benefited from the programme whose participants should be below the age of 25.
Bongani Ndlovu