The National Women Sports Day
SUNDAY greetings! On this beautiful day, which the Lord our God has made, the entire sporting movement should rejoice and be glad in it. As promised earlier on in the year, 2024 will be like no other. We have already hit the ground running. Already, we have delivered two top notch Shukuma outreach programmes at the Manzini South and the Dvokodveni Inkhundla respectively. Expect more. Expect much more. This is just the beginning.
The Shukuma outreach programme, which has evolved to become a premium platform for mass public engagement, is not our only programme at the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC). The outreach programme obviously seeks to encourage mass participation in physical activity by our people. One of the many other programmes we have is the Women in Sport programme.
This one seeks to encourage the members of the fairer sex to not only participate in sports, but to take a leading role. Women are among the most marginalised groups in our society. Just like people living with disabilities, they tend to struggle getting opportunities to partake in sports. Our programme seeks to end that and sway the perception that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. A woman’s place is no longer in the kitchen, no. As a result, the ESRC will host a National Women’s Sports Day in early April. It is billed for the Somhlolo National Stadium. It will be obviously free entry for all participants. We are sending formal invites to both our social and corporate partners to be part of the big day. No one should be left behind, really. It is an opportunity not to be missed for both the participants and partners.
The business fraternity should actually grab the opportunity with both hands. This is another chance for them to showcase what they are all about. They can register their teams with the ESRC for participation or simply set up their stalls to propagate their messages to a larger audience. We will be updating the nation weekly on the preparations for this big day. Women should stand up and be counted. We expect them to take a leading role in this.
CONGRATULATIONS FRASER
In our other platforms, we have already congratulated the up and coming swimming sensation, Luca Fraser for his stunning performance in Dubai during the Dubai Open Championships. He scooped a bronze and gold medals, to send a clear statement of intent. His achievement to be honest has not come as a surprise to us. We have silently watched in sheer delight the swimming association producing gems. We knew it was only a matter of time before these young guns shone brightest. Well, the best is yet to come ladies and gentlemen, rest assured.
Most often, the accolades are only reserved for the athlete, in this case being the young swimmer. Allow us however, to also congratulate Fraser’s long time mentor and coach, Welcome ‘Magejageja’ Nhlabatsi for his role in shaping up the swimmer. His club, Swimlab, has unveiled a number of promising youngsters, who have already captured the imagination.
Nhlabatsi’ contribution cannot be overlooked. He has done well. The future of the sport is so bright because of the number of emerging swimmers.
We have been encouraging our National Sports Associations to invest heavily on the youth. This is the same investment that is now coming to the fore. We are expecting more from our associations.
Having said that, this should be a challenge to the African Games team, which has recently been announced. They should know that they are not going to Accra, Ghana as tourists. We expect podium finishes from the team. It is surely high time that we bring back home medals from such completions.
Until next week,.sport for all; sports for life!