What Muamba's collapse means to local sport

| Wednesday March 21, 2012 00:00

One may wonder how this overseas incident is of any relevance to Botswana. The incident raises the question of our readiness to deal with similar situations here at home.  To say that the problem of sport injury is under-appreciated in Botswana is a huge understatement.

We throng our stadia every weekend to watch our sportspersons and quickly forget about their wellbeing after the final whistle. Very little is said or done when they sustain injuries.  Just last Saturday, an Extension Gunners player, Maano Ditshupo sustained a head injury. He was rushed to the Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole where he was immediately referred to the Princess Marina Hospital, more than 40 kilometres away by road.

Athletes need to be assured of reliable, efficient transport and health facilities near sporting venues.    Local sports should be as interested in medicine technology as it is in the best coaching techniques the world's best thinkers have to offer.  Sports administrators should make understanding of the human physiology an integral part of the game.  Apart from the direct cost of treatment, injury in sports as is the case in any workplace results in loss of health, time, livelihoods, opportunity and productivity.

As sports grows in Botswana with athletes becoming competitive on the regional and international stage, it is time that the sector works on investing in cost-effective sports injury prevention policies. Such instruments have been found to be effective in other countries such as New Zealand where a central database on sports injury duly details why, how and when athletes were hurt in order to construct more comprehensive injury prevention programmes.

The Kiwis have reportedly managed to lower spinal injuries for rugby players thanks to the mandatory injury prevention programmes they have put in place.

We can only hope that our local football administrators are learning something from the Muamba tragedy.  We hope that they will put measures in place to ensure the fitness of their players and their safety during games.

Other sporting codes such as motor racing are clearly an exception as participants are usually the rich and famous who enjoy the patronage of  big companies.

They are often accompanied by highly trained doctors armed with helicopters that can fly the injured to state of the art medical facilities.

                              Today's thought

'Luck is what happens when  preparation meets opportunity.' - Seneca, Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)