adminAs the nation slowly crawls towards attaining the age of 40, when life begins, the future of all sporting activities and sports persons looks bleak.
While the current generation of Kristy Coventry and their predecessors, Tracy Cox-Smith among others fought hard and long to make sure the nation was noticed among the best in sports, things do not look rosy as the nation looks into the future. Unfortunately age and injuries have finally caught up with most of our greats.
We salute these generations for representing the country with pride and honour.
However, as soon as the salute comes down a sudden cold and a feeling of fear runs down our spines. It is crystal clear that the nation does not have any soldiers on the sidelines to take over the baton and continue the struggle.
I remember vividly that back in the days there were youth centres. At these places youths pursued with vigour their favourite sports. Youths woke up everyday and made a visit to these centres to hone their God given talents under the watchful eyes of skilled trainers.
At Pumula there was Isilwane Youth Club where Ambrose Mlilo and the hard hitting Modercai Donga came from. At Tshabalala there was Tshabalala Youth Centre; in Mtapa, Gweru, came good boxers and several others dotted across this great nation.
All these centres churned athletes of the highest calibre who went on to represent their country in many events with success leaving multitudes of fans with joy.
Even in schools it was the same case. At Milton Boys High in Bulawayo, there was javelin, shot put and squash among other sporting disciplines. From this place came out Arnold Payne who sprinted his way to the United States. He is now a renowned coach for the sport that gave him fame and fortune. Methembe Ndlovu a former Highlanders great also went through the same grinding mill.
At Prince Edward School in Harare the nation received a brand of vibrant young soccer players who went on to don the Warriors jersey.
The moment we turn the hands of time to today, we are confronted with nothing but a headache as we search painfully for able men and women to take us to the next level in terms of sport.
As the nation heads towards 40 it is time to go back to the drawing board and see where we have gone astray.
To make matters worse the so-called majority of scholarships have a bias towards the academic side leaving only a few to cater for selected sports.
Another factor is that the way they are awarded is not known by many across the nation. This sad scenario is a wake up call to all those who manage sport to take a look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are doing the nation any good or otherwise.
Our fame and success in major sporting events has largely rested on the shoulders of the few, Lewis Banda, Kirsty, Tracy, Sakala and the Black siblings to name but a few great patriots of the nation.
While countries like Kenya are known for producing world class long distance runners it is refreshing to see them also compete in javelin and shot put.
Mandla Moyo.
Online Reporter