Glorious noon for Eswatini sports
SUNDAY greetings! At the time of going to press yesterday, the National Swimming Championships were underway.
It always delight us to see our National Sports Associations sticking to their mandates and calendars.
We were extremely glad to see the impressive number of youngsters coming through. It can only mean a great future for the sport. Our local coaches are certainly doing something right. The parents too, deserve some praise for supporting their children. It is true that without the parents’ support, our children can do little really.
With so many talented swimmers emerging, there can be little doubt that the sport is on the rise. We will put our faith on the coaches to nurture such raw talent. It is good to see so many youngsters take to the sport with so much enthusiasm.
Of course, sports in general and not just swimming offer so many livelihood opportunities.
These include gainful employment and many others, which our young people need to grab with both hands.
Our organisation, the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC), has already set the tone very early in the year with the delivery of yet another milestone in form of the third edition since the re-launch of the Eswatini National Sports Awards.
Last Wednesday, the Happy Valley Hotel was a hive of activity and buzz. In a glittering affair, the who’s is who’s of the sporting movement gathered to honour the best.
Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga as expected conferred the winners with certificates.
Winners of the 2023 Eswatini National Sports Awards were all smiles after receiving E10 000 in cash each, as part of their reward.
RECOGNISED
ESRC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Darius Dlomo during the function recognised nine categories on behalf of the sports fraternity.
These included the Outstanding Team of the Year and the Outstanding Sports Association categories.
It is now history that the Ladies Chess Team, which competed in the 44th Chess Olympiad, which was staged in India and the Taekwondo Federation took the honours in these categories.
Besides the cash incentive and certificate, winners also received glittering trophies and of course, the national jacket, which is embedded with the national sports emblem. It was a massive occasion for so many reasons. We did say that history will indeed remember the winners fondly. They have all inscribed their names with iron ink on the country’s hall of fame.
As announced by the minister on the day, the winners will also qualify for the Regional Annual Sports Awards (RASA). These will be hosted in June. It was during RASA 2017 when the country was conferred with the Country of the Year Award. This was in South Africa. It was a glorious moment for the country. That is why we have so much hopes that this group of winners could finally claim the country another gong in the RASA. It’s been five years since we stacked our claim in the RASA and it seems like it is all about to change. The country stands a better chance of winning in the regional stage.
We have been repeatedly saying it that as an organisation we seek to unveil a visible positive impact of sport to human development. We intend to usher in a new story and song on the perception our people have on sport.
We are positioning ourselves to work on and deliver a Sports System through collaboration with our key strategic partners. To this end, we call upon our stakeholders, partners and of course the business community to support and cooperate with us, as we embark on the ambitious project to build and develop our nation through quality sports and recreation activities.
Until next week, sports for all sports for life!