MOVING FORWARD STEADILY

Sunday greetings!

We at the Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC) have of course, in other platforms taken the time to wish His Majesty King Mswati III a happy 55th Birthday. On the same vein, we have already congratulated the nation on the auspicious occasion of the country’s 55th Independence Day. In the last 55 years, we have celebrated milestones. We have also had to endure tough times. The most important thing, however, which we have repeatedly failed to acknowledge and appreciate as a people is that we have moved on. Yes, we have taken strides towards international stardom. Battling it out against the First World countries can never be easy but we have managed to stake our claim in a very competitive world.

It would be fair to say our sports have enjoyed massive growth during this period. Although starting slowly, with most of the other countries already fully developed, the journey has not been easy. From rags to riches, is an overused line that, however, fits perfectly in our story as emaSwati. It is a fact that the country never really enjoyed regional, continental and world success for a much longer period until only recently. Of course, as a country, we would win the odd medal in one of these competitions, but it was never in a consistent rate like it’s happening now. It shows that there is something we are doing and doing right. Never has in our history seen so many disciplines coming back victorious from these international competitions. From darts, taekwondo, athletics, chess and many more other sporting disciplines we have seen a major improvement.

Women empowerment way to go

One of our major programmes at the ESRC is the Women in Sport Programme. Obviously, women are among the most marginalised groups in our society. Largely regarded as a group that has no space in sports, we are always at pains in trying to secure the fairer sex’s space in our sports. That is why we cannot help but to hail Athletics Eswatini for the recently launched Women’s Challenge competition. It is scheduled for September 23 and will feature both the 10 and 5km respectively. Athletics Eswatini has provided our women with an amazing opportunity to showcase their talent. We are fully behind such an initiative, which will definitely go a very long way towards empowering our women, alias the fairer sex. Registration, we have been made to understand, has already been opened. Our people can register at all Futis outlets throughout the kingdom. People can also register at the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA) offices in Lobamba and of course at our offices in the capital city.

Learning curve for promising swimmer

Local swimmer, Tiano Fraser has been thrown into the deep end, in the literal sense of the word. He is currently representing the kingdom in Tel Aviv, Israel in the ongoing World Aquatics Swimming Junior Championships. At just 14 years of age, there should be no real pressure on the young swimmer to bring home a medal. He is there to learn. Obviously, God willing, he still has a number of years ahead. His start in the Championships has demonstrated just that. There is a lot to learn. However, Fraser is accompanied by his coach Welcome ‘Magejageja’ Nhlabatsi, and hopefully, he will find strength in that. The coach is a well-travelled tactician, capable of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.  Although, as earlier stated, it was not the start we were hoping for but we have hope that the youngster will fare better in his next events. In the same vein, we would like to congratulate Mark Hoar as well for being chosen to officiate in these championships. He too is hoisting the country’s flag high.

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