Regional
Rwanda: How about home-grown solutions in athletics?
The
World Athletics Championships ended in Eugene, Oregon, USA on Sunday, July 24.
It was a great ten-day sports spectacle of the world’s finest track and field
athletes.
I
don’t know how much they were watched here in Rwanda. Probably little. Except
for the real fanatics, addicts really, who will follow sports events wherever
they take place and at whatever ungodly hour.
There
are several reasons for this.
First,
track and field is not very big in this country. And so few would take notice
of such a championship even if it were near. Others who may, will give it scant
attention.
Second,
there was no Rwandan representation at the games. So there was no personal or
national interest in them.
Third,
they happened far away, in a different time zone, nine hours behind. Enough to
be in a different universe. Few would stay up late or all night to watch. It
was, after all, not the football World Cup. Who won what event and got what
medal at Eugene? The usual suspects took most of the honours.
The
Americans, Jamaicans and Brits shone in the sprints. But they no longer take
every medal on offer. The Canadians, other Caribbean nations, and some
Europeans have been muscling their way to the podium and stealing some of the
limelight.
West
Africans, especially Nigerians, Ivorians and Ghanaians, and South Africans,
too, are giving the traditional sprint kings/queens stiff competition and
something to think about when they next meet. Occasionally they snatch a gold
medal, like Tobi Amusan of Nigeria did in the women’s 100 metre hurdles. She
even set a world record on the way to the gold.
East
Africans have long ruled middle and distance running. It used to be Ethiopians
and Kenyans rivalling for dominance on the track or the road. No longer. The
Ugandans have demanded and got a say in the matter. Burundians are also trying
but they have not made much of an impression yet.
North
Africa, too, particularly Morocco and Algeria, continue to make life difficult
for the East Africans and from time to time take some of the top medals.
Africa
is well-represented at the elite level of world athletics, you might say. Not
exactly. It is only a thin outer ring of the continent that is. The rest of Africa
– the bigger, inside part – is not.
Why
is this so? What happens there that prevents their nationals from taking part
in global track and field athletics at the highest level?
Maybe
we should not be asking about what happens but talking about what does not
happen, even here in Rwanda.
In
all these places where winning medals is a habit, almost a national right,
sports development is a big thing. They invest a lot in it – build
infrastructure, spot and nurture talent right from primary school through college,
offer scholarships, and hold regular competitions at different levels.
Not
so here and in many of those countries outside that outer ring. Only the old,
established schools have any sports facilities. Even these are not put to
optimal use. New ones do not and there are no signs they ever will.
It
should not be like this. Something has changed, and for the worse. Sports
facilities used to be a requirement for a school to be licensed to operate.
Obviously that is not the case now.
The
high-achieving nations and the rest seem to have a different definition of
achievement and success, or even talent. In countries such as ours the measure
of success is excellence in academics. That is the only talent that counts.
Sometimes
sport is looked at only as a hobby, not a career option in its own right for
those with special aptitude. Of course, it is a leisure pastime or a fitness
exercise for most people, but a lot more for others.
Something
has to change if we want to be part of the global sporting community, not just
as spectators however enthusiastic or beneficiaries in other ways, but as
active participants.
That
should not be difficult. Rwandans love sports. The urban ones almost worship
it. Some inspiration could come out of this.
First
to change should be the attitude to sports so that it is seen as a worthwhile,
profitable pursuit, even profession, not something done as a by-the-way or only
for a short time or launchpad into more permanent occupation.
Second,
invest in it. Put in money in it, train, organise tourneys, and mobilise as
only Rwandans know how. This is both for sports authorities and athletes
themselves.
Athletes
from sporting superpowers do not wake up one morning to find themselves stars.
They earn it. It is a reward for hard work, perseverance, training and
discipline, and, above all, the desire to excel, to win.
We
are already doing well building world-class sports infrastructure and
attracting prestigious global tournaments and big names in sports to Rwanda.
That will probably inspire some young people. It would even be better if we had
local talent taking part in some of these tourneys.
Fourth,
we should identify a niche game where we have or had some sort of competitive
advantage and develop it. It should be easy. We have already found a niche in
cycling and basketball. We can revive disciplines where Rwandans used to excel.
High
jump, for instance. The pictures we see of men clearing heights close to three
metres should not remain a historical curiosity but spur a desire to emulate
them. They did it without expert training or reward beyond personal
satisfaction and community appreciation of their feat.
Think
of what they could have achieved with professional training, appropriate equipment
and a path to fame and wealth beyond Rwanda’s borders.
Or
javelin. Not too long ago (six decades) little boys on village squares
regularly tried to outdo each other on who would throw a spear the farthest and
also hit a target, often a moving one. Young men did the same in Itorero.
It
may have been target practice for a different purpose, but those skills can be
transferred and adapted to sport.
These
are in our history and culture. We can draw from them for our own sports
development – a sort of home-grown solution for athletics.
Source:
www.newtimes.co.rw