As a proud, patriotic citizen of this country and staunch sports lover, I feel obliged to contribute to the ongoing debate about the constituency tournaments. My intention is to raise issues that I believe may have been overlooked by all parties concerned when designing this programme.
I do not intend to point fingers at anyone but want to express my opinion on points that I believe should be considered in trying to reach common ground with regard to constituency tournaments vis a vis competitive sports or mainstream sports.
I want to believe that the objectives and the desired outcomes of constituency tournaments and those of competitive mainstream sport are quite similar. My concern therefore is not on the objectives of what these two are trying to achieve or offer but on the coordination and appropriation of funds to constituency tournaments as opposed to mainstream sports. If these are not well coordinated, they may end affecting the delivery of sport for all and the growth of competitive sport in the country.
I think the root cause of the outcry about constituency tournaments is not about the constituency tournament objectives, but because Sports Associations such as football are concerned that constituency tournaments are enjoying financial support at the expense of mainstream sport. It is reported that government has spent eighteen million pula (P18 000 000.00) in two years on Constituency Tournaments and this is where the main concern comes from because organized leagues in the regions run by some sports associations do not get anything.
It is not a secret that mainstream sport in this country is still grappling with a lot of challenges which need concerted support from everyone. We are aware that the Football Association has regional structures which are struggling financially and resource wise. The emergence of constituency tournaments in the regions where the BFA has clubs and leagues has compromised and will compromise the growth of the BFA and other sports discipline structures. Because these regions do not have adequate resources in terms of sports fields, personnel and finances we will continue to have this outcry from mainstream sport because they now feel that they are being overlooked at the expense of constituency tournaments.
Given the population of our country, it is quite obvious that the constituency tournaments will have a negative impact on our mainstream sport because sports people (officials) who have been developed by our National Sports Governing Bodies and Associations/Federations will end up being lured to the constituency tournaments. For these NGBs and Associations/Federations, it will be like “Go berekela mo kgetsing ee dutlang”! This will end up affecting the growth of mainstream sport and preventing our sport to professionalise or turning into a viable industry.
Have we taken into consideration that young people who are going to be taking part in constituency tournaments may miss the required development stages that are required if one has to develop into a renowned athlete like our Diphetogo Selolwane’s and Amantle Montsho’s who have gone through rigorous development training? I am pretty certain that the constituency tournaments do not have development structures that are as rigorous as those conducted within the mainstream sport because they do not have enough personnel that have been trained to develop athletes.
If we make constituency tournaments more attractive than mainstream sport we will definitely lose sportsmen and qualified sports officials to constituency tournaments. My question therefore is which between constituency tournaments and mainstream sport do we want to present as more attractive/interesting? And who exactly should be running and monitoring at District level? Is it government through the Department of Sports and Recreation or NSGBs through their affiliates?
In the recent media conference called by the Minister of Youth Sports and Culture, it was reported that government has indicated that it is running constituency tournaments because affiliates have no capacity to run these tournaments. My argument is, if Government has come to a realization that National Sport Governing Bodies (NSGB’s) and Associations do not have capacity to reach marginalized communities, why can’t they help to build capacity for these bodies?
Talent Identification
There has been an argument that constituency tournaments will unearth talent. I want to point out that talent should be unearthed at the right time and nurtured at the right time by those who have the expertise and competence to do so. I believe that such expertise is available within NA’s. Do people who are charged with responsibility of monitoring and running constituency tournament have the requisite knowledge to identify and nurture talent? I want to believe that their knowledge is minimal as opposed to those trained by NSGBs and NAs.
According to the National Sports Policy, National Sports Associations are charged with responsibility of talent identification, development and sport competitions. They should “work closely with institutional sport associations to establish talent identification programmes and offer specialized services on high performance sport to individuals from their respective codes. So, if National Associations are left out of constituency tournaments structures, how are they going to achieve their responsibility of identifying talent?
Without any doubt mass participation is quite important. Re Ba Bona Ha has both the mandate of unearthing talent and encouraging mass participation at a younger age. This programme (Re Ba Bona Ha) can be strengthened to ensure that no child is left out of taking part in sport. The money used in Constituency tournaments can be used to augment the Re Ba Bona Ha funds. I believe sports associations are well positioned to deliver this because they have personnel throughout the country who have been trained by government funds and funds from International Federations.
The children who do not make it to elite level can then be encouraged to participate in mass sport.
One other thing that also needs to be cleared by the Department of Sports and Recreation is whether some provisions of the national sports policy are being disregarded. The National Sports Policy clearly states that:
“The previous organizational structures responsible for providing services to sport and recreation have resulted in occasional duplication of services, wastage of resources and lack of coherence in the programs and strategies being pursued. As a result, there is need for structured linkages between agencies having responsibility for sport development, so as to ensure that all agencies act in accordance with a common set of strategies, towards common goals. Therefore, this Policy seeks to provide a focus for the provision and delivery on sport and recreation. In this connection, there is need for an appropriate institutional framework which will effectively coordinate, promote and ensure implementation of approved Government policies and strategies for sport and recreation. The Botswana National Sport Council (BNSC), Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), National Sport Associations and other sport structures, shall have defined mandates and roles as stipulated in the Annexes I to IX of this Policy”. Doesn’t the creation of constituency tournaments negate this objective?
I read with interest a press article that was recently released by the Department of Youth, Sport and Culture. The press statement raised quite valid points about “Sport for All’ which are also relevant when it comes to mainstream sport.
The press statement made references to programmes which are considered to be similar to the constituency tournaments. Of those mentioned was Let’s Play Siyadlala in South Africa. My research about Let’s Play Siyadlala revealed that though this programme may be similar to Constituency Tournaments, it a corporate responsibility programme sponsored by Supersport in collaboration with UNICEF.
I picked the above reference and that of the UK because I believe that though it is fair to compare ourselves with other countries – because that is the accepted norm, we must at the same time be careful in doing so because of the dynamics and situations that obtain in other countries. For instance, if we compare ourselves with South Africa, we should be mindful that South Africa is well ahead of us in terms of sports infrastructure and sports development. They could have the luxury to put more emphasis on mass participation in sport because they have done relatively enough when it comes to competitive or mainstream sport. In South Africa for instance they have many sports grounds/fields which are used for competitive sport and while other grounds are just used for recreation.
In the UK, Sport is funded by government and many private organizations. Sport in the UK is also funded through sports national lottery funds which are mainly used to drive community sports programmes. Sports England which is the equivalent of our National Sports Council here administers this lottery money to different sports
Although every sector, including government agencies, should encourage and advocate for ‘sport for all” we should ensure that this is being implemented and monitored by the relevant body that is charged with that responsibility, which in our case is Botswana National Olympic Committee. The National Sports Policy dictates that “The BNOC shall be directly responsible for encouragement of the development of high performance sport as well as sport for all”.
The IOC through its Sports for All Commission encourages that the Sport for All “can be achieved through cooperation via International Sports Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and national sports organizations”. So, why don’t we allow the relevant bodies to run sport for all in the country? I believe if the mandate of running constituency tournaments was left to BNOC as a body charged with that responsibility, the issue of constituency tournaments will not have attracted so much controversy because they would have reached sort of an agreeable understanding with their affiliates.
We should take cue from organisations such as the United Nations. The United Nations encourages its agencies to have programmes in place that will encourage participation in sport through the “Sport for All”. This is done through proper consultation with International Federations such as FIFA and IOC. Our government should also do the same, that is, consult with relevant bodies when encouraging citizens to take part in sport.
Above all NAs are responsible “for Sport Promotion by creating linkages with the media, sponsors, private sector and the entire target groups within the community to enable them to support and appreciate the value and role of sport towards socio-economic development of the country”.
So, my question is, why is this responsibility now being delegated to a different entity? Are our NA’s incapable of doing this through their various projects? If yes, what interventions have been made to address this problem?
Having mentioned all this, I plead with the Department of Sports and Recreation (which is a Government agency) to take responsibility and call a General Meeting of all the sports bodies and address the Constituency Tournaments matter. The National Policy dictates that: “The Department shall be the main focal point charged with the responsibility of facilitating and ensuring the development and implementation of national policies and strategies on sport and recreation in the country in liaison with all agencies charged with the responsibility of sport policy implementation. It shall work with and closely liaise with all sectors involved in sport development to effectively address issues affecting sport”.
If we want to emulate what other countries are doing well in promoting sport, why can’t government allow the BNSC and or BNOC to run these constituency tournaments and make it accountable to parliament through the DSR just like Sport England is accountable to Parliament through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport?
I have a few suggestions on how this controversy surrounding the constituency tournament can be addressed.
1. Government should handover the constituency tournaments to sport governing bodies such as BNOC and BNSC who have direct contact with sporting codes
2. Government should continue to lobby the private sector, NGOs and other relevant organisations to contribute meaningfully to mass participation in sport or sports for all
3. Since sport is considered by UN as a tool that directly contributes to the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Government should approach UN for assistance in a bid to enhance of mass participation in sport.
4. Sports codes should draw up comprehensive plans and strategies of how they can integrate constituency tournaments with the existing programmes and submit them to government.
5. Part of the money that is used in constituency be used to strengthen Re Ba Bona Ha programme
