From the Sidelines

ATHLETICS Namibia will hold a Special Congress at Tsumeb tomorrow to fill four vacant positions, which can prove instrumental in turning back the tide of the beleaguered association, especially on administration level.

The crucial position of secretary general has been vacant since early this year, when Elizabeth Kamutuezu resigned due to work commitments, while the post of treasurer is also expected to be filled. The other two will be the chairperson of the doping committee and the chairperson for officials.With all positions expected to be filled at the weekend, it will be crucial for the body to reverse its tainted image, especially on the level of administration which has seen its president, Alpha Kangueehi, being ridiculed when it comes to organisation.In fact, Kangueehi currently lacks the manpower for the body to execute its basic administrative functions and as a result, athletes were affected as there was little coordination from the head office.The regions also played a minimal role in furthering the sport because there was no secretary-general who could serve as the centre for all the planned activities in the sport, while regional chairperson have somewhat lost interest in the once widely favoured code.We hope the delegates will put the right people in those positions for the sport to efficiently and effectively cater for the interest of the athletes, rather than for the individuals who are running it.The ones who have been campaigning to be elected in those positions, by now have learnt of the sorry state in which Athletics Namibia (AN) finds itself and should aim to find solutions to the many problems that are currently there.The scarce financial resources in the kitty of AN is one of the areas that need to be addressed.Recently, money problems came up when a team of athletes were expected to compete at the African Senior Athletics Champions in Mauritius.There should be no excuse of money when athletes are to compete on the international front.In fact, the athletes who qualify for these major championships are not even more than 10 and yet the body cannot afford it.It is totally unacceptable.Firstly, it portrays the inability of the ones in charge for either not being accountable enough or having wrong priorities.True, that there are money problems in many Namibian codes, but athletics, which is a Category A code, should not have such problems.It is a pity that Bank Windhoek has totally pulled out as the official sponsor of athletics and it will be the duty of especially the new secretary general and the treasurer, to instil a sense of confidence in sponsors to start looking after the sport again.The secretary general should firstly put in place a plan of action (or master plan) for a certain time frame and work towards that.The regions should be catered for in that master plan in a bold way, because that is where the diamonds of Namibian athletics are.At this stage, there are no clear objectives of where and how athletics authorities want to see the sport in for example the next ten years.With no goals for the body, there is no future for the athletes.A master plan that clearly sets out the objectives of the sport in the entire country is needed, while the authorities should also not forget to learn from the past mistakes.There has been so many wrongs in the sport that Minister of Sport John Mutorwa, was left with no option but to appoint an interim committee to organise the Zone Six Games on the athletics front, instead of Kangueehi’s team which was said to be riddled with incompetence Kangueehi as the president still has the chance to redeem himself as the man in charge and bring the sport to its respected place in local sport in a dignified way.He has been accused of no knowledge about the sport and a high degree of mismanagement, but luckily he is protected by the constitution which will keep him in office until 2008.His term should not serve as his protection though, but Kangueehi should rather surround himself with a competent team that can deliver.Namibia has a large pool of talented athletes who want to make it to the top.It will be up to Kangueehi and his team to prove their worth and pull the sport out of its current misery of poor management.Namibian athletes, especially the young and upcoming ones, have gone through hardships during Kangueehi’s rein and there should be no point in them struggling in pursuing the sport they love.The other two will be the chairperson of the doping committee and the chairperson for officials.With all positions expected to be filled at the weekend, it will be crucial for the body to reverse its tainted image, especially on the level of administration which has seen its president, Alpha Kangueehi, being ridiculed when it comes to organisation.In fact, Kangueehi currently lacks the manpower for the body to execute its basic administrative functions and as a result, athletes were affected as there was little coordination from the head office.The regions also played a minimal role in furthering the sport because there was no secretary-general who could serve as the centre for all the planned activities in the sport, while regional chairperson have somewhat lost interest in the once widely favoured code.We hope the delegates will put the right people in those positions for the sport to efficiently and effectively cater for the interest of the athletes, rather than for the individuals who are running it.The ones who have been campaigning to be elected in those positions, by now have learnt of the sorry state in which Athletics Namibia (AN) finds itself and should aim to find solutions to the many problems that are currently there.The scarce financial resources in the kitty of AN is one of the areas that need to be addressed.Recently, money problems came up when a team of athletes were expected to compete at the African Senior Athletics Champions in Mauritius.There should be no excuse of money when athletes are to compete on the international front.In fact, the athletes who qualify for these major championships are not even more than 10 and yet the body cannot afford it.It is totally unacceptable.Firstly, it portrays the inability of the ones in charge for either not being accountable enough or having wrong priorities.True, that there are money problems in many Namibian codes, but athletics, which is a Category A code, should not have such problems.It is a pity that Bank Windhoek has totally pulled out as the official sponsor of athletics and it will be the duty of especially the new secretary general and the treasurer, to instil a sense of confidence in sponsors to start looking after the sport again.The secretary general should firstly put in place a plan of action (or master plan) for a certain time frame and work towards that.The regions should be catered for in that master plan in a bold way, because that is where the diamonds of Namibian athletics are.At this stage, there are no clear objectives of where and how athletics authorities want to see the sport in for example the next ten years.With no goals for the body, there is no future for the athletes.A master plan that clearly sets out the objectives of the sport in the entire country is needed, while the authorities should also not forget to learn from the past mistakes.There has been so many wrongs in the sport that Minister of Sport John Mutorwa, was left with no option but to appoint an interim committee to organise the Zone Six Games on the athletics front, instead of Kangueehi’s team which was said to be riddled with incompetence Kangueehi as the president still has the chance to redeem himself as the man in charge and bring the sport to its respected place in local sport in a dignified way.He has been accused of no knowledge about the sport and a high degree of mismanagement, but luckily he is protected by the constitution which will keep him in office until 2008.His term should not serve as his protection though, but Kangueehi should rather surround himself with a competent team that can deliver.Namibia has a large pool of talented athletes who want to make it to the top.It will
be up to Kangueehi and his team to prove their worth and pull the sport out of its current misery of poor management.Namibian athletes, especially the young and upcoming ones, have gone through hardships during Kangueehi’s rein and there should be no point in them struggling in pursuing the sport they love.