Weighing impacts of disruptions

NOT so long ago the world was celebrating Zimbabwe-born South African rugby professional, Tendai “the Beast” Mtawarira, after he was part of the Springboks that won the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

It was not even long ago that soccer fans were celebrating the likes of Stewart “Shutto” Murisa, Alois Bunjira, Norman Maroto, among others who rose to become international stars.

Neither was it long ago that volleyball lovers celebrated power-hitter Douglas Choto, now based in Cyprus.

All these and many other players may have come from different backgrounds, but their talents were identified at earlier stages and they got sporting scholarships.

It is through scholarships that they were groomed into talents that saw them becoming established names in different countries.

This has seen many youngsters looking forward to getting scholarships year in year out. But will this year be the year for those that needed the chance?

The global outbreak of Covid-19 has left devastating effects on every facet of life and the school-going age groups have not been spared either.

Apart from time away from their classes, a disrupted social life, emerging sports-persons are among the worst hit. For some, this could have been their time to make a debut and shine, while for others, it could have been their chance to win scholarships.

Schools like Allan Wilson, Prince Edwards, Watershed, Pamushana, Cornway and Waddilove, among many, have been known to enrol students on sports-based scholarships and most of the students have risen to the dizzy heights of sports.

The selection processes vary from identifying potential talent during local competitions to references from different coaches.

However, for others like rugby professional, Mtawarira, they would approach the authorities and ask for a chance to prove themselves through trials. Simbarashe Mlambo, a teacher at Pamushana High has over the years gained fame as a netball talent scouting supremo. Of the 14 players who made up the 2019 Netball World Cup squad, eight were his protégés.

Mlambo scouts talent for the school — some of the students are admitted on scholarships, while others are offered automatic entry at the institution. Automatic entry is always highly sought after.

“This year is a very tricky one, because everything is on halt and without activity, we are helpless,” he explains.

“We would scout players from local games, be they school games (zonals, districts and provincials) or even social games so it makes everything tough.

“Others, however, came as references from other coaches or teachers but in the end we would give all of them chances to prove themselves through trials.”

This year, the school had 34 juniors (Form One and Two) on sports scholarship and 14 seniors (Form Five and Six). Another coach, Chekuda Makuyana, a volleyball mastermind who scouts talent for various schools and colleges around the capital echoed similar sentiments.

“In this Covid-19 time, there is definitely nothing that we can do since there are no games,” he says.

“Some Grade Sevens would have gotten the chance to enrol at schools of their dreams, others would have started their journeys to the top, but the year has gone to waste.”

Makuyana says the global pandemic induced-disruption to some sports will also affect the level of talent in players.

He believes that without proper training, high level talent will be difficult to gauge.

“Remember when we scout, we identify ‘potential’ talent, meaning this is a raw player who needs to be groomed and that can only be achieved through proper mentorship.

“In any other year, by this time we would already have gone far in scouting because ordinarily, it would have been a sports term. Unfortunately, it has been disrupted.

“We can only wait for next year, but a lot has been affected. Remember some players are aging as well,” says Makuyana.

Masimba Elliot, who also scouts for athletes from schools in Manicaland believes Covid -19 has left a devastating wasteland on sport this year.