We can turn Rwanda into an active and winning nation

Once commendable successes has been achieved with mass participation programme, it is better to move simultaneously beyond the mobilisation phase with more emphasis on developing and nurturing new talent within a holistic development continuum.In this regard it is important to link the mass participation and high performance programmes in an effort to eventually reflect a transformed society.To enable the Ministry of Sports achieve its identified outcomes, the strategic focus areas must be underpinned by a range of important enablers like financial resources, sports information centre, sports house, facilities, academy system, military and police, sport in school, tertiary institutions, education and training, international relations, coaches and athletes associations and volunteers.The benefits inherent to participating in school sport are not fully capitalised. The promotion of sport and physical education in schools plays an important role in creating motivation for, and commitment to life-long participation.Evidence exists that sport and physical activity can benefit education. Sport presents the child at school with life skills in a way unsurpassed by any other activity.Sport schools have the potential to maximise the sports potential of learners and to become the hub for sports development. Various initiatives with the private sector could assist in the implementation of sport in school projects.School sport has a valuable contribution to make to the development and transformation of sport but it not an all-encompassing solution.Existing facilities and infrastructure need to be upgraded to support talented children as well as advocacy and lobbying for the reintroduction of structured physical education in all schools so as to elevate sport in schools as a matter of priority and urgency.Tertiary institutions have a major role to play in the longer term by providing qualified teachers, sports technicians and professionals and by supporting talented athletes.The military and police services as well as the department of correctional services (DCS) can play an important role in developing talented athletes while also training them for a valuable career.The Ministry of Sports can make an important contribution to the Government’s priority of human empowerment through the education and training of people in the sport community.It is important for Rwanda’s education and training keeps abreast with global developments and standards.Coaching and the development of sporting skills are key elements in any successful sport system. In the highly competitive and demanding world of international sport, Rwanda needs to explore all possible means to ensure that our coaches are keeping abreast with latest technology, research, techniques and developments and providing our athletes with the competitive edge where possible.Given the enormous commitment top and their relatively short athletic careers, it is important to develop athletes holistically. Life skills are one of the important areas of an athlete’s development. Athletes who are broadly developed in the non-sports areas will perform better in sport.In Rwanda there is a major need for a job opportunity programme, similar to those programmes that were successfully launched in Australia and the United States.Such programmes will aim to place athletes with major businesses, with a commitment by the company to train them professionally and provide them with time off for training.Companies may find that having a household name or an elite athlete on their personnel could be of great value to their staff in terms of creating a role model of self-discipline and excellence.Sport depends heavily on the commitment of thousands of volunteers. In Rwanda the hosting of mega events has created a form of local “cultural capital” through the recruitment and employing a significant number of volunteers.Volunteering can offer individuals the opportunity to become involved in an exciting sporting event, which may act as a starting point for ongoing community involvement. This in turn may have economic and social benefits.Rwanda needs an academy system that will be part of a national unified approach with the main target of developing sporting talent at different levels.The overall objective of the academy system is to develop talented athletes through the provision of sport science, medical services and provide training opportunities to athletes, coaches, administrators and technical staff in line with a coordinated national plan.This will assist in addressing the demographics of our national teams by accelerating the development of talented athletes from the disadvantaged groups.The absence of sport facilities in the disadvantaged communities must rank as one of the cruelest legacies of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide. If the building of sports facilities is neglected, it will have serious consequences for the building of a better Rwanda and especially for the development of our young people.If the backlogs are not addressed it will be very difficult for Ministry of Sports to achieve its objective of involving more Rwandans in healthy physical activities with the subsequent loss of all the benefits that the country is attached to.The world has become a global village hence the function of international relations is becoming more and more important. Multilateralism becomes critical because no country can prosper on its own. So we need to strengthen international sporting relations with a view of securing more resources for Rwandan sport.