Let's partner with Kenya
LIMBA MUPETAMI
Over the years I have watched how Athletics Namibia (AN) sends athletes to championships without any medal success.
I have seen how the sports ministry in 2013 sent a group of athletes to train and study in Jamaica, with the aim of winning big at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The result was a huge flop.
The Vision 2016 athletics programme failed because of many reasons.
These days' athletes start excelling at the age of 16 or younger. Perhaps the focus should be on grooming young stars before they pick up bad habits in the form of wrong techniques and so forth. These are my thoughts.
It's been a tough road. We have learned from those mistakes and should be willing to get back to winning ways, even if it might seem like a sensitive issue.
We cannot continue turning a blind eye to the fact that our athletes need help - help in terms of resources in order to train, as well as nutritionists and qualified and dedicated coaches. Grooming the best athletes is surely a process, but if we want to be counted among the best, we need to do better.
I think collaborations with the best athletes and sporting nations in the world will take us far. Okay yes, we tried Jamaica and that did not yield any results.
But let's think Kenya, which has some of the best runners at the moment. They have been the most consistent African country in the history of world championships.
Their coaches may not be the most scientific in their training, but the Kenyans have a high work rate. They are also self-motivated. That's what we need for our athletes, not just the able-bodied ones, but also for our para-athletes.
Kenya has a lack facilities, but its athletes continue to thrive.
This is happening through personal sacrifice, self-drive and self-belief. Can we not collaborate with them, so that their work ethic rubs off on our athletes?
Kenya is one of the most respected nations in the world of track and field and I'm sure it won't mind giving us a few pointers on what could work for us.
Kenyans are also dominating men's javelin and the 400m hurdles, which they were not good at in the past. I applaud the way these crop of athletes are not ashamed to represent themselves and their country. Can we as Namibians not emulate this?
Let's work with Kenya in order to reach new heights. Let's have a programme with real structure. Let's give training to local coaches or get them help from competent ones.
Let's have a sound competition calendar that is well-planned in advance and which allows athletes to have training camps where the best athletes attend, in order to see what it takes to become a champion. Let's advance the cause of our athletes, by catching them young and nurturing them onto the global stage.
Let's work smart and learn from the rest, so that we again see the Namibian flag hoisted during medal ceremonies around the world.
[email protected]
Over the years I have watched how Athletics Namibia (AN) sends athletes to championships without any medal success.
I have seen how the sports ministry in 2013 sent a group of athletes to train and study in Jamaica, with the aim of winning big at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The result was a huge flop.
The Vision 2016 athletics programme failed because of many reasons.
These days' athletes start excelling at the age of 16 or younger. Perhaps the focus should be on grooming young stars before they pick up bad habits in the form of wrong techniques and so forth. These are my thoughts.
It's been a tough road. We have learned from those mistakes and should be willing to get back to winning ways, even if it might seem like a sensitive issue.
We cannot continue turning a blind eye to the fact that our athletes need help - help in terms of resources in order to train, as well as nutritionists and qualified and dedicated coaches. Grooming the best athletes is surely a process, but if we want to be counted among the best, we need to do better.
I think collaborations with the best athletes and sporting nations in the world will take us far. Okay yes, we tried Jamaica and that did not yield any results.
But let's think Kenya, which has some of the best runners at the moment. They have been the most consistent African country in the history of world championships.
Their coaches may not be the most scientific in their training, but the Kenyans have a high work rate. They are also self-motivated. That's what we need for our athletes, not just the able-bodied ones, but also for our para-athletes.
Kenya has a lack facilities, but its athletes continue to thrive.
This is happening through personal sacrifice, self-drive and self-belief. Can we not collaborate with them, so that their work ethic rubs off on our athletes?
Kenya is one of the most respected nations in the world of track and field and I'm sure it won't mind giving us a few pointers on what could work for us.
Kenyans are also dominating men's javelin and the 400m hurdles, which they were not good at in the past. I applaud the way these crop of athletes are not ashamed to represent themselves and their country. Can we as Namibians not emulate this?
Let's work with Kenya in order to reach new heights. Let's have a programme with real structure. Let's give training to local coaches or get them help from competent ones.
Let's have a sound competition calendar that is well-planned in advance and which allows athletes to have training camps where the best athletes attend, in order to see what it takes to become a champion. Let's advance the cause of our athletes, by catching them young and nurturing them onto the global stage.
Let's work smart and learn from the rest, so that we again see the Namibian flag hoisted during medal ceremonies around the world.
[email protected]
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