Sunday shot

I have a dream

I have a dream that in this land I call home, one day there shall be a revolution—certainly not of the Arab Spring proportion, but a revolution all the same.

A whirlwind of change to sweep clean Malawi sports of the institutionalised mediocrity we have become so accustomed to everything seems normal.

I hope one day Malawi sports will be administered differently instead of this hand-to-mouth. Great thinker Albert Einstein reminds me that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Surely, it cannot be business as usual when the netball Queens are stuck as the world’s number five and Africa’s number one for five years.

I look forward to the day when a four-year programme shall be a bare minimum period for grooming a team capable of challenging for honours at major international competitions such as the Olympic Games, the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup.

Sports scientists have concluded that it can take anything from eight to 12 years of training for a talented athlete to achieve elite status, reads www.brianmac.co.uk/ltad.htm

Get that? It is for this reason that the grooming of Spain national football team and Barcelona, who have been dominating world football, started a decade ago.

I have a dream that one day the hierarchy in the Ministry of Sports will be dominated by genuine sports people at heart with clear TORs and job descriptions.

Our sports is increasingly becoming a pawn for politicians to advance their agenda.

I also hope that one day, Malawi football shall have clear performance indicators instead of hoping and believing in miracles.

There ought to be a well-defined coaching education system, structures to absorb and make use of retired athletes, experienced administrators and infrastructure development programme.

My wish-list include that one day there be a genuine Under-14 squad put on a long-term development programme to graduate into the Flames.

I have a dream that, say a Mr. Mohamad in Limbe, shall like in running a grocery shop, recruit young footballers through a qualified coach, establish a team, invest in it and make profits after selling them in Europe.

Football entreprenuership is my dream for domestic club football. But then dreams are dreams.

 

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