Cosafa upbeat despite Covid-19 setback
Recently, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation accompanied by the ministry’s officials toured various sporting facilities in all the provinces to establish how best they can be capacitated.
This comes as Coventry indicated that the ministry has already started the refurbishment of various sport facilities, including those which were of late, deemed to be in bad shape and underutilised.
“The ministry is mindful and privy to the existence of underutilised sport facilities within the perimeters of this country. This underutilisation due to lack or limited activity around these facilities has resulted in the deterioration of the facilities.
“In this regard, the Ministry notes that the issue does not only reside in the need to refurbish these facilities, but in generating activity within them.
“To that end, programmes such as the community sport and recreation club system, which projects to create community clubs for the maximum utilisation of facilities have been promulgated. It is hoped that through continual usage facilities can be maintained and sustained in good order’’.
She also outlined some of the work that is already underway.
“The ministry is also conversant of the need to develop and maintain standard facilities and has been on a drive to refurbish country clubs, parks and open spaces with a view to increasing accessibility, safety, sustainability and user friendly facilities.
“Refurbishment works are underway at Ncema Valley Country Club in Esigodini, Tongogara in Shurugwi, Concession Recreational Park, Nemamwa Recreational Park in Masvingo, Hwedza
DESPITE the Covid-19 pandemic having ravaged sport across the globe, COSAFA are still hopeful they can salvage what is left of the year and host the Senior Men’s football tournament in South Africa in October.
COSAFA, easily the most active and biggest of the Confederation of African Football’s regional zones, had sought to also introduce a new tournament for the Under-15 age group.
But with most countries still under lockdown and travel restrictions introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus, COSAFA president Philip Chiyangwa and his executive committee have been forced to revise their programmes amid the uncertainty that continues to cloud the safe return of football across the Southern African region and the continent.
The COSAFA executive met last week and came out with a revised calendar for their programmes which also include the senior Women’s Championships, the Under-20 and the Under-17 competitions.
Zimbabwe’s Warriors have been the dominant force in the COSAFA senior Men’s competition with veteran coach Sunday Chidzambwa holding the record of having won the most titles by any gaffer following his triumphs in the 2003, 2009, 2017 and 2018 competitions.
In fact, Chidzambwa won four of Zimbabwe’s six titles with his younger brother Misheck (2000) and Charles Mhlauri in 2005, being the other coaches to have guided the
Country Club among others.
“The Ministry is in the process of identifying national, provincial or district facilities which will undergo refurbishment to meet international standards.”
She also gave an insight into the collaboration with the Local Government and Public Works Ministry on the upkeep of sporting facilities in the country.
“The issue regarding the provision of sport and recreation services to Zimbabwean communities by delivery agencies such as Local Authorities is not a matter of trust, but of mandate as provided by the laws of this country starting with the Constitution.
“Section 32 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe intimates that: ‘The State must take all practical measures to encourage sporting and recreational activities, including the provision of sporting and recreational facilities for all people.
“In view of this, all arms of the state (Local Authorities included) are constitutionally required to be hands on in ensuring sport and recreation service is provided.
“More so, the Urban Councils Act and the Rural Councils Act in the first schedule and second schedule thereof mandate Local Authorities to develop and manage sport and recreation facilities on behalf of the public in their different localities.
“In this regard, these provisions still need to be respected without reserve. However, as a Ministry with a view to augmenting the role of the Local Authorities, we are prepared to partner with these organisations as has happened in scenarios where
Warriors to regional glory.
At the end of their executive meeting, COSAFA issued a statement indicating that they are also planning some workshops to capacitate personnel from their member associations.
The regional body said they were targeting the FIFA window for international matches in October, to slot in the flagship senior men’s tournament for which five-time winners Zambia are the current champions.
“The Executive Committee of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) has approved several new initiatives, including a revised 2020 calendar for tournaments, subject to the prevailing Covid-19 conditions across the region.
“While the impact that the Covid19 pandemic will have on travel and quarantine restrictions remains uncertain in the coming months, the Executive has crafted a potential blueprint for hosting competitions if conditions allow across the COSAFA region,’’ read part of the statement.
“The Under-17 and Under-20 COSAFA Men’s Championships serve as qualifiers for the continental finals to be staged by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and as such priority has been placed on finding a window for these tournaments.
“The Mauritius Football Association has confirmed they have government approval to host these tournaments in November and December 2020, subject to Covid19 levels remaining as they are, and strict health protocols being implemented.
Government has funded through the Ministry the refurbishment of Sakubva and Barbourfields stadium facilities which are administered by local authorities” Coventry said.
She also spoke on the performance of Zimbabwean athletes on the international arena.
“Zimbabwe has had its fair share of success as well as under-performances in regional, continental and international events.
“The lack of consistency has mainly been due to fluctuations in programming and prioritisation of high performance programmes.
“In view of this the Ministry is at an advanced stage in promul
gating a
“The continental finals for the Under-17 age-group are scheduled for Morocco next July, while the Under-20 finals are set for Mauritania at a date that has yet to be determined’’.
COSAFA noted that Covid-19 would play a huge role in determining whether their plans become a reality.
“The organisation is also exploring the potential of hosting its flagship men’s COSAFA Cup during the October FIFA International window, while the senior COSAFA Women’s Championship has also been pencilled in for October 19-31 at Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth).
“Both are highly dependent on prevailing Covid-19 and travel conditions in South Africa at the time.
“There is also a plan to overlap the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship (October 15-25) with the senior tournament in South Africa.
National Sport and Recreation Strategy with the aim of improving the following areas:
Low application of sport science to sport performance Absence of high performance centres and high performance personnel Limited exposure to international competitions
Lack of athlete development pathways from grassroots to elite level Lack of standard sport and recreation facilities /Unequal distribution of facilities
Lack of supportive grants for national sport associations
Low level of sponsorship and low allocation in sport and recreation grant Lack of human capital that meets the current need of sport/limited administrative and technical capacities Failure to bid for hosting of continental and international tournaments Failure to brand sport and recreation
The Minister bemoaned the fact that some swimming pools, including the one at Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex, have been idle for years. “The spatial distribution of good swimming facilities in Zimbabwe is still limited, but it is important to note that the country has some good public and private swimming facilities.
“You may be aware that in order to ameliorate the situation in the
llllllllll“The Under-20 Women’s Championship, which was scheduled for the Region 5 Games in Maseru in December, has been cancelled for this year after the Games were postponed to December 2021.
“While the 2020 calendar remains uncertain given the unpredictability of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are exciting plans to add as many as three more competitions in 2021, in what will be an incredibly busy time.
“COSAFA has applied to host a Boys Under-15 Championship in conjunction with the UEFA Assist programme, which will be timely with CAF focusing more on this age-group for their own development initiatives.
“COSAFA has also created a task team to devise plans for the Regional Women’s Champions League which the organisation hopes to stage for the first-time next year, subject to funding being sourced to support case you have cited, the ministry has regained custody of Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex and it is our hope that the facility will be attended to at the earliest convenience.”
The Ministry, Coventry said, was working with the Sport and Recreation Commission to weed out age cheating.
“Government, through the SRC, is in the process of developing a national database for all sporting disciplines which will capture athletes’ demographic data as they participate from grassroots to elite level.
“This will be important in eliminating age cheating. Government, through the SRC, is also training national associations on the importance of maintaining standards of sportsmanship and ethics. We need to invest in a national database.”
She noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a major hindrance in the development of sport worldwide and Government, through her Ministry, will soon disburse RTGS $10 million as Sport Relief Fund to athletes for their sustenance while other mechanisms are being worked out.
“The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has singularly brought a huge distortion and abrupt halt to the flow in the entire ecosystem of sport in the country. Agreeably, sport has become a reliable source of income for many athletes and athlete support personnel in the country as it has tremendously become across the globe through participation in major events organised nationally, regionally, continentally and internationally,’’ Coventry said.
◆ this competition’’.
Although their tournaments have largely been on the traditional XI-aside game, COSAFA are also exploring new forms of competition such as Beach soccer.
“There is also the potential to stage a Beach Soccer and Futsal Championships for the region that is being explored, which would bring the total to 10 COSAFA tournaments in 2021.
“Away from the pitch, the COSAFA Executive committee also approved the implementation of Online Training Workshops for all countries in the areas of Coaching, Referees, Administration and Media, subject to the necessary funding being available’’.
The COSAFA tournaments have over the years provided a platform for many young players in the country to get their breakthrough to professional clubs mostly in the ABSA Premiership.