Editorial Comment: This blundering simply has to stop! Minister Hlongwane
Minister Hlongwane

Minister Hlongwane

THIS year’s expanded National Youth Games were touted as a game-changer, divorced from the mediocrity that we have seen from other editions where such a noble initiative has been reduced to a farce, with the Ministry of Sport and Recreation promising major changes.

We were told this year’s Games will be a mini-Olympics, a festival of sport for our youth that every Zimbabwean can be proud of, and would run smoothly without the hitches that have beset other editions in the past.

We were told that, from this year, the rebranded Games will be serious stuff, a change from the largely social gatherings that have characterised previous editions, with the thrust being to stage a show that would be consistent with what is expected of a national sporting showcase.

They told us that it wouldn’t be business as usual and this would be a truly national sporting spectacle that would showcase the best youth talent that we have in this country where the next generation of athletes to represent our beautiful country would be spotted.

They told us that the challenges which had plagued the Games in the past, like transport, accommodation and food issues, would be a thing of the past and that Government — together with some private partners who want to see our sport develop — had come together to provide funding for all that.

That is why, they said, the Games had now been expanded, with more disciplines on show, more athletes taking part, more officials involved and the competition levels would be a notch higher than what we had seen in the past.

But, it appears, bad habits are difficult to shake off.

Reports coming from this year’s Games, where there have been complaints of a shortage of food for athletes, are depressing and shocking, to say the least.

We can’t understand how our next generation of sporting ambassadors can be plucked from their homes, in the name of representing their provinces, only for them to arrive at a place where there isn’t enough food to cater for them when they were promised everything would be in order.

It’s a shame, for the lack of a better word, that we hear some officials who were given the responsibility to ensure that there would be enough food to cater for the athletes chose to divert those funds to line their pockets as allowances first before taking care of the young sportsmen and women.

A report on the main ZTV news on Thursday evening made some depressing viewing as officials confirmed that their athletes were complaining of a shortage of food at the complexes housing them amid stunning allegations that some of the organisers had chosen to take care of their needs first.

A hungry athlete is a distracted athlete and can never be expected to produce his or her best and, in such a scenario, all the huge financial resources that were committed to these Games appear to be a waste because we are not going to get a true reflection of the athletic qualities of our young men and women.

What is even more worrying is the lack of proper medical facilities for athletes and, at a Games where boxing is one of the major events on show, this is very, very sad.

Even Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane, who, to his credit, has battled very hard to try and organise Games that we would all be proud of, appears disturbed by the negative attitudes of some of the officials who were expected to pull their weight to ensure this festival would be a success,

“We have this habit of pulling our legs, we don’t do things properly. What is the problem? You have everything at your disposal, but you just can’t execute,’’ he said at the official opening of the Games.

“It’s not good to have games where children are going without eating, especially when food is there, that is not correct. We should get out of this mentality of tolerating mediocrity, it can never be right.

“Make sure that every athlete, every technical official and every coach is where they are supposed to be on time and that they are fed on time, this is important. We need an attitude change in our country. It’s no longer business as usual, but it’s business unusual.

“Knowing and anticipating that these Games are going to be bigger and they are going to pose some logistical challenges, I went out of my way to get resources even from the private sector to make sure that there is enough food to feed the people, enough fuel to transport everybody from the provinces and back, but what becomes the problem, execution; all because somebody stationed in a particular section is not doing their job.’’

Hlongwane is right that athletes cannot compete on empty stomachs and it’s a shame that, in this country, we still have people — who would have been thrust into leading roles — who are more concerned about what they can get from their positions rather than what they can do for the betterment of our beautiful nation.

Sadly, sport hasn’t been spared and those who have been causing all the chaos at the Games, to try and enrich themselves, deserve to be condemned in the strongest way possible.

This mediocrity simply has to stop.

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