Relooking The So Called `Minor Sports`

Relooking The So Called `Minor Sports`

Perkins Tino Bare

The major aim of any sport organization is to be successful but in our local sport what defines the magnitude of a sport is not its successes but the backing it receives and its support base.

This has then resulted in the more successful sports which most people do not understand lacking a strong support base hence them being termed as minor sports.

It is however sarcastic and ironical for even looking at our sports the most successful team in our sporting history is the women`s hockey team which won gold at the 1960 Olympics yet the sport is constantly viewed as a minor sport.

Other sports also include Karate which is not far following Sincere Samson Muripo`s also winning gold at the world championships and Kirsty`s world dominance in swimming which landed her a slot in the IOC, the Blacks dominance in Tennis, and so on.

This year we had Luke Steyn who becoming the first Zimbabwean to qualify for the Winter Olympics, Rachel Goromonzi , a host of infamous basketball players plying their trade abroad and many more and by so doing not only marketed the country’s name.

Though these individuals are highly respected they only receive support as individuals and this does not stretch into developing the sport itself.

Is it that we are being led by people who lack an understanding of the opportunities that the country has as a whole just as a result of a team qualifying for a major tournament that they are so shallow minded as to look for a quick buck.

The sports themselves do not have the backing from both the corporate world and the fans themselves for most of them just get a glimpse of the sports during the Olympics which has seen a decline in the support base which usually only waits for the next star player to support again.

This has seen them being neglected with some of the worst cases being the national hockey teams having to fork out their own money for the rental of facilities yet the structures were meant to benefit the growth of the sport as a whole.

With the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, Sports and Recreation Committee, the Ministry itself and  various institutions being among the main culprits for constantly having double standards by spending time with the more established bigger sports to gain the credit they don`t deserve for they are failing to carry out their core mandate to develop sport in the country.

It is funny that the while complexes such as the National Sports Stadium, Mbare Netball Complex, City Sports Centre and so on they can accommodate a large number of sports, they are only being used for the popular sports which bring in the revenue.

Though this might seem noble in a sense the facilities are event free for most of the week with most of the facilities having separate training grounds such as the NSS which has two of them.

Corporates are also involved in this ploy for they basically wait on the sidelines for a sport to grow so that they can come on board like they did with motorsport which then questions their motive for they are merely fancying advertising opportunities and ways to get meaning that they do not have the sport at heart and this has been a constant problem for they are so quick to withdraw their sponsorship whenever a controversy arises.

This has resulted in the ‘haves’ strongly dominating the sports by ensuring that the talent is not wasted as in the case of have not`s whose lack of financial backing has been their greatest enemy in them failing to utilize fully their resources yet the major sports who are basically their awe in terms of resources are virtually failing to utilize the resources with the worst case being that of the nation`s most popular sport football who have been nothing but a constant disappointment since time immemorial (in exclusion of the Angolan tragedy)

The common excuse has been that unlike the `minor sports`, they (major sports) go through a tougher qualification process and face quality opposition as a result of the host of nations involved yet they struggle to even qualify for the continental tournaments tussling in the regional tourneys.

As Gibson Homela quite rightly pointed out regarding football, `As a nation, we are a member of Fifa and our mission is to compete and win games`, which then dismisses the excuse as not only petty but immaturity on the part of the administrators for failing to take responsibility for their failures. With him going further to show his shock at the nation`s celebration of failure at the Chan tournament.

What is rather mocking is that after the constant problems that the `so called` minor sports have to overcome first to compete let alone be successful, they are not even recognized hence the derogatory term `minor sports` (which has sadly become the norm).

It is well known that it is in lack that the greatest love is shown and therefore it is high time that people learn to appreciate the efforts and the merits that are being done for them.

A lot of lessons can indeed be drawn from the successes of these neglected sports for their key to success has mainly been the implementation of the basic recipe to success in sports (though they have not fully grasped it).

What has become typical is the cynical pleas for financial assistance and up till now they just utilize what they have such as implementing a decent junior policy by utilizing the invitations down the Limpopo with the squash team participating in the inter-provincial schools tournament in Cape Town in preparation for the Junior Men`s World Championships to be held in Windhoek Namibia from 4 August-21 August.

This is also dangerous for so many sportsmen have decided to cross the tide in search of recognition and this has resulted in the whole sporting world going through an exodus with rugby being arguably the most affected and other sports also equally affected and this has got in the way of us realizing our own talents.

Just as we all yearn for equality despite the guarantee that it will not perfect state of affairs but merely improve them, then surely it is now the picture perfect time that we change our attitude towards sport in general if we intend for the success and growth that make us all worthy of being called objective sportsmen.