daniel chigunweSports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) held its first physical education graduation ceremony for the Advanced Diploma in Sports Management (ASMC) programme since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 at its headquarters in Belvedere on Saturday.
A total of 23 students took part in the programme and 16 graduated with diplomas in the advanced sports management course.
The course targets the main stakeholders of the National Olympic Committee (ZOC), athletes, sports managers, coaches, athlete support personnel, the media, sport delivery agents, sponsors, Government and their related organs personnel, among others.
Titus Zvomuya, one of the two programme directors for the course, said the class of 2021 joined a unique circle of trained sports administrators who had also undergone the same programme in the past.
“In attendance were ZOC board members, members of the ZOC secretariat, including the CEO Stephen Mudawarima, Sports Commission staff and former director general Charles Nhemachema.
“Several Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, among them the current director of Sports and Recreation and programme facilitator with the SASMC programme, Eugenia Chidhakwa, were also there.
“She was in the initial class of 2008,” said Zvomuya.
Zvomuya said the programme has been running since 2008.
“The programme has been running since 2008 and the purpose is to increase the effectiveness of sports administrators by equipping them with sound managerial skills.
“It covers core dimensions of managerial competencies that help participants manage their sports organisations effectively and efficiently.
“More than ever before, sport is an essential part of our modern society, which is more global and changing more rapidly than any previous time in history.
“In response to some of the new and complex challenges facing sport, sports organisations must develop more robust business models,” added Zvomuya.
“It is also essential that sports organisations demonstrate high standards of governance in order to create and maintain confidence in their activities and protect the integrity of sports.
“These challenges will require the next generation of sports administrators to be focused on the latest trends and as global in their outlooks as the world of sport itself.’’
The International Olympic Committee, through the Olympic Solidarity, provides the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee with the tools to take action and make a positive difference for the good of sport and our local community.
“Sport now needs the expertise of well-educated and dedicated sports managers,” Zvomuya said. One of the graduates, Munyaradzi Biggles Gwanzura, a sports administrator and MWC Sport director, said he was thankful to the Zimbabwe Volleyball Association for recommending him for the course.
“I thank Zimbabwe Volleyball Association for recommending me.
“Passion needs to be backed by knowledge. This knowledge fosters credibility. Beyond all that, implementation is what is important,” said Gwanzura.
He is currently in Olympia, Greece, attending the Young Olympic Ambassadors programme, a convention of young people in sport from different countries around the world. Speaking from Olympia, Gwanzura said: “We will be learning about the Olympic Movement and Olympism in digital era. The promotion of physical activity via digital engagement strategies and virtual sports as well as networking and exploring the different history in Greece.”
He is accompanied by Munashe Dangare, a youth Olympian who represented the country in hockey at the Argentina Youth Olympics.
She is also part of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee Athletes Commission.
Online Reporter