Mikia Kalati
THE newly elected Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission executive committee members have vowed to bring changes that will take local sports to another level following their election last weekend.
Former vice president in the previous committee Caswell Moru, whom most thought would become the next president after Khiba Mohoanyane, settled for the vice secretary post.
Moru told the Lesotho Times that he has learnt a lot in the last two years as the vice president and now it is time for him to share his experiences with the new committee and make a difference.
“I think the fact that I was in the previous committee, I will be able to implement a lot because I have gathered a lot of experience working in the commission,” Moru told this publication.
“I know the challenges that we faced and what has to be done to improve.”
For the country to register significant growth, he said, the commission must dig deep and get things right as far as development of young talents is concerned.
“We have to get it right with the development of young talent and also governance. If we get the developmental stage right, then we will make good progress. Yes, lack of funds is still a challenge but given the situation of our country, it’s obvious that the budget for sports will not be increased.
“We have to find a way to best use the little resources we have. The 2020 African Union Sports Council (AUSC Region 5 Games are coming and we have to get it right with development and the administration of our sports.
“Those two are key for me although we also have a problem of infrastructure. Since we are hosting the Region 5 Games in 2020, our belief is that the sports facilities that we have in the country will be improved and that’s the legacy that will be left behind.
“After the games, we will have experience of hosting such events and we are likely to compete in more sporting codes than before which will bring us better results and improved facilities,” Moru said.
Meanwhile, the new vice president, Moipone Mashale, who has previously worked as the vice secretary in the commission, told the Lesotho Times that she is excited that for the first time in a long time, six women have made it into the leadership of the LSRC as commissioners.
“The fact that we have this so many women in the leadership is a positive development that has to be celebrated. Now we should use this platform to ensure that they are capacitated to an extent that they will recruit more women into leadership roles within the clubs and associations.
“Secondly, I’m passionate about sports development at school level. In other countries like South Africa and Namibia they have a school sports association whose members have technical expertise. They work mostly with teachers.
“We already have teachers who are educated to teach the learners and that is a resource that is already available. All we have to do is to ensure that they teach the mental and physical aspects of athletics.
“Though we have not had an opportunity to sit down as the new committee and map a way forward, these are some of the issues that I personally think we should focus on.
“Thirdly, I think we have to look at re-organising the sports commission in terms of strengthening administration at secretariat level and the level of the associations as well as rebranding. We have to rebrand it in a way that people can realise that the commission is a resource.
“We can only win the trust of the corporate sector by rebranding and packaging ourselves properly so that people can see value by sticking to the dictates of corporate governance and properly package ourselves.
“However, we have a lot of resolutions that were passed during the AGM and the associations want them to be attended to. We will look at them and put them together as we map a way forward including the strategic plan of LSRC,” Mashale said.
Mashale also said she hopes to see all stakeholders in local sports engaging to address problems that have caused Lesotho’s perennial failure to rise to the occasion in international sporting events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
