Mikia Kalati
SEJANAMANE Maphathe, the Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association (LAAA) publication officer, says it is unfair to criticise Lesotho athletes for poor performances at international games as the country still has a lot of work to do to challenge for medals at major events.
LAAA is under scrutiny after failing to bring home medals from the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Maphathe says the criticism is unfair as they suffer from lack of criticism.
Maphathe said it was high time that the government comes to the party and invest in sports for the country to compete against countries like South Africa, Botswana and Kenya among others.
“We need the government, through the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) to invest in young talent in the same way that the Lesotho National Olympic Committee is doing by offering scholarships,” Maphathe said.
“We have the talent, but the we struggle to develop it properly due to lack of resources and proper coaching at an early stage.”
He said it was improper to compare Lesotho with South Africa as the latter went to the Commonwealth Games with their best athletes while the former did so for developmental purposes.
“South Africa took athletes that are ranked in the top 10 t Games in the world to the Commonwealth while for Kenya it was a combination of experienced and young talent,” said Maphathe.
“So, when you look at it based on the performance of our athletes in recent competitions you can see that we still far behind.
“It’s high time we do things differently especially when it comes to our track athletes.”
Maphathe said he had hoped marathoners would perform better as a he thinks the country has done well in grooming long distance runner.
He however, said the team was unlucky that Tšepo Mathibelle got injured and could not finish the race.
Maphathe said it was also vital for the authorities to value preparations if they are to entertain hopes for medals.
“If we only have money to attend the games yet we do not prepare athletes then we are doomed,” he said.
Maphathe said the country should already be investing in preparations for upcoming games such as the 2020 Olympic Games in order to stand a chance.
“We already know that the 2020 Olympics are coming as well as the All Africa games and other competitions so we have to prepare starting now.
“There is a lot of upcoming talent but it is not getting proper coaching at school level. That is different when you go to South Africa because the country is investing money in school sports,” he said.
He also said the country needs to strengthen its youth development structures and to widen its net across the country. He said the country also has a good chance at competing in marathon but said authorities have to consider getting local athletes onto scholarships in countries like Kenya and Ethiopia.
“We already have athletes under the LNOC scholarship and it could be even better if LSRC would also have other athletes under a similar programme to get good exposure,” Maphathe said.
