Invest in inter-schools sports competitions

Editor, RE: “Tracing athlete Myasiro’s humble rise to fame” (The New Times, August 20). This incredible talent was discovered through inter-schools sports competitions. Imagine how the fortunes have changed for this young man. Imagine how many others are waiting to be discovered or sadly are lost due to lack of platforms like this (school athletics championships) that cost little but have significant gains for individuals but also for the country. I would urge the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sports and Culture to ride this and invest all necessary efforts to have school athletics and games competition, it should be a key priority for both ministries. To Jean Marie Vianney Myasiro: all the best and I hope you have motivated youngsters to follow in your footsteps. Kigali Girl ******************* Editor, In the article, the writer made a bold statement: “Rwanda has been credited as one of the countries where athletics is flourishing.” Come again? If what we have is “flourishing athletics”, God help we never experience what “stagnant” would look like – which is not to take anything away from the likes of Myasiro and Salome Nyirarukundo whose performance shows that our athletes are not inherently incapable, only that those who are responsible for nurturing their talents are not up to the job. Just imagine what Myasiro and his fellow athletes would have achieved had their talents been identified early and special efforts been put into supporting their development to their full potential, rather than leaving it all to their own meager efforts. That lack of well-organised institutional support to these exceptionally talented young athletes makes their performance even more impressive. Imagine their achievement had that talent been discovered, nurtured and supported from very early on as is the practice in countries with successful athletics and sporting traditions. Mwene Kalinda

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Invest in inter-schools sports competitions