When sport leaders speak in forked tongues

Mqondisi Dube | Monday May 30, 2022 15:23

The code has proved to be the undoubted goose that lays the golden egg and a trusted conveyor belt of endless talent. The latest wonderkid is Letsile Tebogo who recently broke the world 100m Under-20 record. But is Botswana ready to make the next step up and turn sport into a truly rewarding career for scores of youngsters who want to pursue that route? Not long ago, senior karatekas who were due to represent the country in a regional competition in Durban, South Africa, were asked to contribute towards the trip. The Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) indicated it only had money to sponsor the juniors as this dovetails with their development policy. The seniors were not worth the trouble as they are already out of the ‘deserving athletes’ bracket. But still they had to make the trip to Durban, wearing the blue, black and white colours.

How will those young athletes waiting on the wings take such news? Will they find sport appealing if they hear that their peers are being asked to pop out P7,500 to go and represent the country at an international competition? Will they forgive the sport administrators for such a state of affairs? Budding athletes are always told how much investment is being put into sport and that sport is no longer a pastime but another employment creating avenue. But how will sport create jobs if athletes are still asked to pay for their trips? Is this not an apt definition of an amateur set-up? The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has been going around, cap-in-hand, asking for donations to assist adequately prepare the Mares for their debut Africa Women’s Nations Cup finals. The association needs P7.2million with the government indicating it was looking into the request, against a background of a financial squeeze. But this has always been the story, with or without budget constraints. Sport has always received shabby treatment and occupies the back seat.

The statements are different though; they project an image of a leadership that is keen to drive sport forward.

But the leaders are failing to put the money where their mouth is. The spirit might be willing, but clearly the flesh is weak. Around the continent, not even comparing beyond Africa, there are many countries that have committed to developing sport and that has been matched by action. Trips to competitions are fully paid for and athletes are flown to tournaments. Kids’ faces should light up when sport is mentioned. They should not be let to view sport as some detour for those who have failed in life. Globally, sport has some of the best remunerated individuals and this should serve a bait to attract budding athletes. As (Letsile) Tebogo said recently, not everyone is gifted academically. Leaders must therefore, make sport an attractive option. Surely it can’t be attractive when athletes still travel by road on long journeys while others are asked to fund trips to represent the country. Hardly ideal!