From the Sidelines

THE annual sports awards will once again be staged in Windhoek at the end of October, but this year has seen a slump in the performance of national teams and individual athletes on the international arena.

There is little to choose from this year for especially the sportsman and sportswoman titles, as there were almost no exceptional performances by individual athletes. The most notable achievement by an individual was the crowning of boxer Moses ‘The Hitman’ Paulus as the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Intercontinental Lightweight champion last month.He is undefeated in 17 professional fights and is also the holder of the WBA Pan-African Lightweight title.But, since the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) does not consider professional athletes for the awards, Moses might be eligible for a meritorious award only.I think the NSC should scrap the rule of only considering amateurs for the top honours, as the world of sport is now a full-fledged professional business and professionals are more likely to achieve on the elite level than amateurs.Although the amateurs are considered because their participation and achievements in regional and international competitions are sanctioned by the various world sports bodies, such as the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, African and World Championships and so on, professionals too do their business under legitimate structures.I think the sportsman and sportswoman of the year categories should be open to all athletes, irrespective of their professional or amateur status.Another category that has bothered me for some time is the award for the best development programme of the year.Many sport codes claim that they have the best development programme, but how can they measure this? Some codes have an annual day on which they gather all young athletes to compete in teams and claim that they are developing the sport in this way.Some have coaching clinics that run throughout the year but do not have statistical data on how many children are being developed from a young age.Some do have information on how many of these youths go through the ranks, but many of them opt for other sports in the process.Some codes simply claim that they have the best programme without concrete proof of its success.The selectors for this award need to look at the consistency of the development programmes and there should be data that can prove how many children benefited from the programme.There should also be clear-cut targets of what they want these children to achieve within set timeframes.Team sports have not really yielded any significant results this year either, with women’s football and hockey possibly the only codes that have gone the distance on the regional level.The national women’s football team surprised all and clinched a silver medal at the Women’s Cosafa Cup in Zambia after losing to South Africa in the final, while the men’s and women’s senior hockey teams made clean sweeps in Botswana during their annual exchange matches.These two can be considered in the team of the year category.Rugby had a disastrous year, and their chances of qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in France are still far from being determined, with a weakened Namibian side recently falling embarrassingly to Kenya in an away match.The Namibians nailed Kenya at home in an earlier match in Windhoek, but poor preparations ahead of their tour to that country cost them the game.The men’s national football teams are in the building phase (this happens with each new coach) and their record so far does not guarantee them anything at the awards, while athletics cannot even be considered for any of the top prizes.There were indeed excellent performances on the athletics track by many junior athletes in local races, but most are still not ready for the international stage and there is little to talk about.On the cricket scene, little has been happening since the national team was knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers, while the seasonal break also put them in an awkward position to be considered for any awards.The past year was more characterised by vicious infighting among sport administrators – think of football, athletics and rugby – than exceptional performances on the sport fields.The awards committee will have a torrid time in determining the winners in the various categories this year.A thorough analysis of achievements by individuals and teams in the respective codes will be needed to select the eventual winners.The most notable achievement by an individual was the crowning of boxer Moses ‘The Hitman’ Paulus as the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Intercontinental Lightweight champion last month.He is undefeated in 17 professional fights and is also the holder of the WBA Pan-African Lightweight title.But, since the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) does not consider professional athletes for the awards, Moses might be eligible for a meritorious award only.I think the NSC should scrap the rule of only considering amateurs for the top honours, as the world of sport is now a full-fledged professional business and professionals are more likely to achieve on the elite level than amateurs.Although the amateurs are considered because their participation and achievements in regional and international competitions are sanctioned by the various world sports bodies, such as the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, African and World Championships and so on, professionals too do their business under legitimate structures.I think the sportsman and sportswoman of the year categories should be open to all athletes, irrespective of their professional or amateur status.Another category that has bothered me for some time is the award for the best development programme of the year.Many sport codes claim that they have the best development programme, but how can they measure this? Some codes have an annual day on which they gather all young athletes to compete in teams and claim that they are developing the sport in this way.Some have coaching clinics that run throughout the year but do not have statistical data on how many children are being developed from a young age.Some do have information on how many of these youths go through the ranks, but many of them opt for other sports in the process.Some codes simply claim that they have the best programme without concrete proof of its success.The selectors for this award need to look at the consistency of the development programmes and there should be data that can prove how many children benefited from the programme.There should also be clear-cut targets of what they want these children to achieve within set timeframes.Team sports have not really yielded any significant results this year either, with women’s football and hockey possibly the only codes that have gone the distance on the regional level.The national women’s football team surprised all and clinched a silver medal at the Women’s Cosafa Cup in Zambia after losing to South Africa in the final, while the men’s and women’s senior hockey teams made clean sweeps in Botswana during their annual exchange matches.These two can be considered in the team of the year category.Rugby had a disastrous year, and their chances of qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in France are still far from being determined, with a weakened Namibian side recently falling embarrassingly to Kenya in an away match.The Namibians nailed Kenya at home in an earlier match in Windhoek, but poor preparations ahead of their tour to that country cost them the game.The men’s national football teams are in the building phase (this happens with each new coach) and their record so far does not guarantee them anything at the awards, while athletics cannot even be considered for any of the top prizes.There were indeed excellent performances on the athletics track by many junior athletes in local races, but most are still not ready for the international stage and there is little to talk about.On the cricket scene, little has been happening since the national team was knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers, while the seasonal break also put them in an awkward position to be considered for any awards.The past year was more characterised by vicious infighting among sport administrators – think of football, athletics and rugby – than exceptional performances on the sport fields.The awards committee will have a torrid time in determining the winners in the various categories this year.A thorough analysis of achievements by individuals and teams in the respective codes will be needed to select the eventual winners.