By Evans Dakwa
Sport has grown in leaps and bounce to become a multi billion industry industry employing millions of people world wide. Careers have been built out of what in most cases started as recreational activity into a monetised ones. The commercialisation of the sport industry is rooted in it’s huge appeal to audiences thus attracting advertising billions of dollars from corporates riding on the numbers sport attract.
Thus sport and the corporate world have become Siamese twins, inseparable.In Zimbabwe our sport has by and large struggled to attract the much needed corporate support especially at grassroots level.
As we witnessed the Matebeleland South Provincial Schools Athletics Competitions held in Beitbridge, it was evident that talent is there , raw talent that if nurtured can make the country proud and a force to reckon in athletics.Unfortunatel , the talent is being lost along the value chain due to lack of support , financial support.
On the sidelines of the competition, Ziyah News Network spoke to Phakhamile Lisimathi-, the Director of Coaches for the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) who echoed the same sentiments on and urged the corporates to come on board and inject the much needed financial support to take Zimbabwean Athletics to the heights it’s potential deserves.
” We are losing these good young athletes as they choose other careers beacuse our sport is not offering them lucrative prospects to earn a living, it’s a livelihood matter.I have seen exciting good athletes who have produced good times at this competition that if well trained and coached they will go far, ” said Lisimathi.
“I wish to challenge the corporate world to embrace and support Athletics , an interesting sport with varied disciplines .The economic environment might be challenging but corporates can do something noble and adopt even a single athlete who they can support all the way to the pinnacle of the sport at the African Games ,Olympics and World Championships,” he added.
Athletics in Zimbabwe has struggled to shine especially at the international level with glimpses of success coming in long distance events where our runners have recorded wins and the Paralympics where the legend Elliott Mujaji has our only gold medal in the track and field sport.