Story by Tamuka Charakupa
THE Sports Leaders Institute of Zimbabwe(SLIZ) recently hosted a forum for sports directors and physical education teachers at Mazvikadei Resort, focusing on the importance of early sports development.
The two-day workshop was aimed at empowering sports directors, physical education instructors, and arts teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary for effective sports development in schools.
The initiative comes in response to concerns that the country is struggling to compete and perform well on regional and international levels due to a lack of foundational sports principles.
“We have organised this event as part of efforts to capacitate sports directors, coaches, and physical education teachers on the fundamental principles of sports development as a backbone to revive the success and performance of sports disciplines in the country,” the president of the Sports Leaders Institute of Zimbabwe, Russell Mhiribidi said.
Participants who included sports science academics underscored the importance of the capacitation workshop.
“We have to consider long-term athlete development as a critical investment in growing the sports sector in the country as we are still lagging due to not implementing the latest models which advanced countries have already adopted,” NUST’s Sports Science lecturer, Mrs Precious Masaga said.
“We are also interrogating the symbiotic relationship between sports and economics, looking at how we can commercialise sports to its full potential, recognising its role in the economic development of the country,” business developer, Dr Lucy Chamba noted.
“Key priority areas for this workshop are highlighting to sports directors and teachers their roles in sports development, and how they should coordinate and conduct sporting activities in schools. They should have a positive working relationship with coaches and assist on critical areas needing expertise,” a lecturer at Mkoba Teachers College Mr Collen Daramachi added.
Meanwhile, the forum welcomed the introduction of the heritage-based curriculum as critical in promoting learner talents especially in the field of sports.
