Skilled sport administrators important – Mogane
Former Namibia Sports Commission Chief Administrator and Brave Warriors coach, Rusten Mogane, has called on those running sports offices to acquire the needed skills for the betterment of sports in the country.
Mogane, who currently heads the Aims School of Sport (ASOS) centre, said this during the opening of a four-day administrator and management workshop at the Namibia Football Association (NFA).
He said if Namibians want to successfully run sports they should first think of building their capacity to run sports and only then focus on infrastructure.
“We should not think of building stadiums first because even beautiful infrastructure will just become white elephants if those tasked to run sports are not empowered with skills and knowledge,” said Mogane.
He further noted that it is important to think of the software before thinking of hardware, noting that administration is the software that runs sports and therefore requires more Namibians to be equipped with the know-how of the game before being put in office.
The former administrator further advised club owners to know governance, saying currently chairpersons and chief executive officers of clubs are fighting each other because they do not know their roles. “Both these guys are speaking to the media thinking they are at the same level because they are all giving out information of their clubs,” he said.
Mogane shared that administration is about people and therefore people in positions need to be equipped with the right information on managing offices including two documents, namely the constitution and policies.
“Once you have these in place, remember to always take minutes when hosting meetings as this is key to successful administration,” said Mogane, while urging administrators to also educate themselves on how to use the latest technology and social media. The workshop, which runs from 25 to 28 May, is hosted by the NFA in conjunction with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and is being attended by representatives from the 12 Namibia Premier Football League and 14 regional structures in Namibia. Sports consultant and instructor Mathew Haikali is facilitating the workshop with the assistance of various experts.