Is sports politics driving away capable leaders?
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday January 24, 2020 13:53
As a result, sport has suffered a reversal in fortunes, with a Sports Pitso mooted as critical in mapping the way forward.
Former Botswana Golf Union (BGU) president, Enoch Mushango said some people have lost interest in sport.
“We have a lot of unemployed and unhappy people who have lost enthusiasm in sport at both athlete and administration levels,” he said.
“When people volunteer, they are attacked from the word go and their tenure becomes a living hell as they focus on the criticism which is in most cases baseless.”
Mushango said the real business is then ignored until the end of the tenure and the cycle then continues when a new team takes over. He observed that usually when the whole team is removed there is no continuity, which results in the collapse of plans.
“These issues drive away capable, strategic thinking people, some of whom do not want to tarnish their image with sport. The bickering also drives away existing and potential partners. The financial situation leads to further decline in interest in sport,” argued Mushango. He said it was important to get the right people across the whole value chain of sport from the sports ministry through the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC), the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) to National Sport Associations and clubs.
“With such people, they would come up with facilities, plans and programmes that enable proper sport development. They would come up with ideas that turn sport into business and ensure that it is self sufficient,” Mushango added.
Botswana Wrestling Federation (BWF) president, Moagi Sharp shared the same thought adding that the country has to go back to the drawing board. He said people should stop treating sport like a hobby.
“Sport is a business, it is a way of life and should be treated as such. In this era we cannot afford to have people who do things like in the olden days,” he said.
Sharp added that grassroots development must be a priority. There has been a decline in the number of athletes competing at major competitions, like the Olympics. It is increasingly looking likely that the country will send fewer athletes to this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Observers believe there is need for an open and unstructured Pitso that is not led by BNSC or Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) nor BNOC but by an independent consultant.
Others feel the Sport Act should be overhauled and have an Act that gives powers to sport practitioners and not policy makers. MYSC Minister, Tumiso Rakgare has just appointed a new BNSC chairperson, Marumo Morule, who is expected to drive sports to new heights. However, Morule was not in a position to share his vision with Mmegi Sport, saying he was still being inducted.