Rid sports administration of “goalkeepers”

Some years back a regional sports personality used the term Potato growers to describe sports administrators in a neighboring country. Matters were made worse when dailies ran cartoons of the administrators enjoying their favourite snack (read pork ribs) which is in some circles referred to as “past leaders”. The quote is a dailies’ favourite from a president’s speech that referred to former leaders as swine.In the newsroom, we call each other ‘goalkeepers’ to refer to a colleague who has no knowledge about a topic or subject he or she is supposed to have knowledge about.I hope the word does not offend the real goalkeepers out there and I apologise in advance if so. I mean no harm.In the 1980s and 1990s, the crisis that struck Africa had many consequences. The drought resulted in one of the worst famines Africa has known. The fall in the prices of major commodities like coffee, cotton and tea made foreign exchange very scarce and very expensive.Most African countries could not import enough goods or produce enough essential goods domestically. Countries found themselves in a tight and desperate situation, thus seeking financial assistance from the World Bank and the IMF mainly because they could not get any assistance elsewhere as the cold war was coming to an end. So the two financial institutions became primary lenders, naturally they made assistance available on their own terms.This was when the term Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) was adopted. These SAPs were mainly concerned with policies that would ensure that countries would, first of all, reduce on their expenditure. And one of the first victims of these programmes was governments pulling out of lending a hand to sports development. This is what our goalkeepers manning the sports federations haven’t come to grasps with. In simple terms, “goalkeepers” have failed to initiate sports progammes that can take Rwanda’s sports forward.I would like to ask, which “goalkeeper” came up with the idea of featuring the national U-17 team in the national football league? National team players in whatever sport are selected from clubs. Rwandan sports has struggled to bridge the gap left by a lost generation, with young players now coming through to fill the void, this group is not given all the chances at club level, frustrating the development of the national team. The national football and basket leagues have been dominated by the military side APR since 1995 mainly at the expense of local talent.Rwanda’s sports has reached a point where its full potential needs to be tapped. This is happening at a time when the entire economy is registering growth. With economic growth, various sports development progammes that are sustainable need to be initiated.Rwanda may not be one of the powerhouses of African sports, but on many occasions, football and basketball teams have punched over their weight. Rwanda’s chance in 2004 when she qualified for the African Nations Cup was not built on; many chances have passed. Of the team that featured in Tunisia, only Olivier Karekezi -undeservedly- still dons the national colours. The team wasn’t followed up to ensure continuity.The football administrators only looked at short time results without looking to the future.The clubs also have a hand in the decaying sports standards. Rwandan sports clubs have failed to live with the country’s development pace and the kind of goalkeeper management club managers are exercising has not helped. Youth development is on the lips of every sports administrator, backed by thousands of dollars in grants from government and international bodies. Rwandan sports over the last few years have not without fared very well in this project and this mess solely rests with administrators.They want short term results not looking to the future and they have failed to explore the golden talents that lay to waste in the country. This has also affected the national teams’ set-up, thus witnessing lukewarm performances.Being able to attract regional stars weighs tons, sports has moved a step further, however, this has suffocated the development of local talent. Clubs were mandated to have juniors’ teams, but few have adhered to this. And those that have, have not given the budding talent any chance to shine.Rwanda is quite different with a lot of commitment from the senior leadership of the country; a President who personally supports sports development. The creation of the Ferwafa Academy was a very good initiative not sanely thought through. Some individuals have come up with the concept of academies and this has created competition in identification of youth talent.However, the “goalkeeper” decision makers haven’t made good on their promise to support these initiatives.

Sports

Rid sports administration of “goalkeepers”