Nominations pour in
THE terrible events that rocked Turkey and Syria recently, claiming thousands of lives in the process has left us shattered. An earthquake of unthinkable proportion left the countries and indeed the whole world, failing to recover and move on. We cannot imagine what the people of Turkey and Syria must be going through. We pray to God Almighty to comfort the grieving and be there as the people of those countries try to take steps forward after such a devastating setback.
On the same vein, we mourn the tragic demise of musical icon Kiernan Forbes better known as AKA in the music industry. Tragically taken away from us, the impact of his death has surely been felt from near and far. It’s not the ideal world we are living on but we can each strive to make this world a better place. We digress. It is with profound humility and humbleness that we thank some of our national sports associations, for timely submitting their respective nominees for the forthcoming Eswatni National Sports Awards. These are scheduled for March 1, 2023, at the Happy Valley Hotel. They are scheduled to start at noon. Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga will be conferring certificates of excellence to our shining stars.
Dubbed the ‘Mini Awards’, believe us, there will be nothing mini about this occasion. Icing on top of the cake is the addition of the new ninth award. Most will recall that we had initially announced a total of eight categories, which have risen to ninth with the addition of the Outstanding Sports Association award. It will be an exciting event, as the top guns battle it out for glory in front of the authorities. The awards as already said in other platforms are an integral part of the sports movement, as they seek to reward excellence in sports. We strive to cover all spheres in the movement, enabling to create an enabling environment for the categories; Outstanding Senior Sportsman
Outstanding Senior Sportswoman
Outstanding Junior Sportsman
Outstanding Junior Sportswoman
Outstanding Sportsman with a Disability
Outstanding Sportswoman with a Disability Outstanding Sports Coach
Outstanding Sports Team
Outstanding Sports Association
Just so that everyone is clear, the Eswatini National Sports Awards are the ultimate reward programme of sport in our beautiful kingdom. They (Awards) obviously seek to recognise and motivate excellence in sport participation by all sports practitioners. Nomination is guided by our National Sports Awards Rulebook. The awards are designed in a way that involves contributions from all of the about 30 recognised National Sports Associations and of course our other relevant stakeholders including the media. We also encourage National Sports Associations to host their own respective annual awards, whose winners should ideally become nominees of the National Sports Awards.
Nominations in each category are unlimited in number. However, only the top three nominees for each category are announced prior to the main event. It should be noted that the ESRC chairman and his Board may from time to time award additional special awards to deserving sports practitioners. It remains our mission to develop and regulate all sports and recreation activities in the country, though quality sports and recreation programmes and facilitating maximum access to resources and opportunities for our citizens.
Our vision is to have a well regulated and coordinated sport industry that promotes a healthy, passionate, proud and winning nation in sport and recreation. All our efforts including hosting these awards are geared towards achieving these two. These awards are meant to celebrate excellence, to appreciate, cherish and admire our own sons and daughters. The corporate world is still being invited to come and partner with our organisation, as we move forward and develop the nation. Until next week, sports for all, sports for life!