Doma Olympic dream achievable

EDITOR — In sport there are many unbelievable, astonishing and motivational stories, not least the rags to riches tales of fame and fortune.

A person’s background should not be a hindrance to reaching greater heights.

This is a mentality which Prophet Walter Magaya is trying to instil in thousands of our talented youngsters who are somewhere in the remotest areas. He is digging deep into the vast untapped Doma in search of another Kirsty Coventry or a Mighty Warrior to take Zimbabwe to the next big stage.

Not so many world superstars had the prettiest of beginnings.

In fact, a good number of our legendary sportsmen and sportswomen come from very poor backgrounds, but they used sport as their way out of poverty.

Sport is an expression of both collective culture and individuality. Thus many use sport as an escape route out of economic, social and even emotional strife. This is possible because poverty motivates a big number of sports personalities and thus can be also used locally as a motivator.

Arguably the greatest footballer ever, Diego Maradona, is a typical example of the rags-toriches story.

Maradona came from the backwater and went on play for a World Cup-winning Argentina side in 1986 in Mexico as well as having successful careers at Barcelona and Napoli.

But for that to happen he worked extremely hard and there was strong determination from the man they called Armando.

Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez was also driven by that desire to help his mother having been raised in the poor industrial centre of Tocopilla, Chile, where he used to wash cars for a living.

Ivorian star Yaya Toure, regarded as one of Africa’s best talents got ownership of a pair of football boots at 10 having grown up in Cote d’Ivoire where he was playing for 1998 CAF Champions League winners ASEC Mimosas before he crossed over to Europe.

The list is long, including Toure’s former contemporary Carlos Tevez who summarised the contribution of sport in poverty alleviation by saying: “Football is the best thing that can happen to you” having used his skills and eye for a goal to escape from the tight grip of Argentine’s notoriously crime-ridden Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Fuerte Apache to play for two of the richest clubs in the world, the two Manchester-based sides United and City.

Thus with all these testimonies in place, and many others, Prophet Walter Magaya’s Doma Olympic dream is an absolute achievable goal. Felix Zonke, Harare