… it's thumbs up to sports awards return

IN exactly 15 days’ time, the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC) will stage the returning National Sports Awards. The awards were last staged in 2019. As per a recent correspondence from ESRC, this will be a mini recognition ceremony. Based on the belated announcement of the awards, it makes sense to downgrade the event a little bit. But it must be clear to all and sundry that it is not a favour by the sports mother body to stage this ceremony but it is requirement from the regional body, which is the Africa Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region V. One of the mandates of the AUSC Region V is to encourage, coordinate and promote the development of all sport in the region. The AUSC Region 5, Regional Annual Sport Award (RASA) is part of the Regional Rewards Programme aimed at providing a unique opportunity for the Region to motivate member States, Sports Confederations, team’s sports and individual athletes by recognising and celebrating meritorious service and outstanding achievements in sport. The objective of RASA, according to the regional body, is to recognise, reward and celebrate the region’s sportspersons for iconic and meritorious service in sports. The awards are a culmination of all the member countries awards. All member countries are to promote and celebrate sports by hosting their domestic national awards. This means the RASA is selection of the best from the best. Winners of the member countries automatically become the nominee on the eleven categories of RASA.

Represented

Speaking of winners, it means Eswatini will not be represented in some of the categories in the regional awards. The categories announced by the ESRC exclude, among others, the sports journalist of the year. But that is no big issue considering that it is a mini recognition event. The main focus is having the right nominees for the event after previous complaints on snubbing deserving athletes and officials.

Nominees are supposed to have excelled in the period January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022. The period 2020 to 2021 could put some athletes at a disadvantage because they were inactive due to the advent of COVID-19. Mainly active was football. However, it does not mean the nominees should be from soccer. The associations who select the nominees should do it with a sober mind and avoid pushing selfish interest. In this period, we witnessed several podium finishers who include last year’s Region V Games medallists from taekwondo. There are elite athletes who have been consistently leaving a mark on the big stage and should not be overlooked. In golf, Nobuhle Dlamini comes to mind. Ahead of this Friday’s nomination deadline, associations have enough time to make the right call. Having the deserving winners on the podium gives the event the credibility it deserves and potential corporate partners take it serious.