Ethekwini calls on Sports Legends
Ethekwini’s Parks, Recreation and Culture department is spearheading the formation of a Sports Legends group that will help nurture the next generation of sports stars.
If all goes to plan, a number of Durban sporting heroes will form part of a collective that will participate in sports development programmes in the metropolitan area.
Speaking at the launch of the programme at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Thursday, Parks, Recreation and Culture department head Thembinkosi Ngcobo outlined the initiative’s goal to glean knowledge and expertise from the city’s former sport stars.
The programme is still in it's formative stages and the first port of call is to identify a group of former sporting stalwarts within the area. Once the city has a large enough group, they intend to form an official structure that will facilitate mentoring of coaches and the growth of various sporting codes.
The official launch served as a platform to kick-start the programme. The City invited a number of former legends from various sporting codes, but Ngcobo told East Coast Radio Sportswave that he was staggered by the number of people interested in being involved.
“I was extremely surprised to be honest. I did not expect that they would come. When I received the briefing before the launch, I was shocked to see that at least 80 people had arrived, I didn’t know there was so much interest,” Ngcobo said.
“What also touched my heart is the fact that they are coming from all sports, not just football. At a municipal level, we often ignore other sporting codes but I was happy to see legends from boxing, athletics and even ballroom dancing here.”
Ngcobo acknowledged the need to tap into the vast, untouched resource of sporting expertise and wisdom held by the former generation of sporting heroes. New government departments are now in charge of facilitating such programmes and with the 2022 Commonwealth Games on the horizon, the City intends to be fully prepared.
“It has always been a missing link and we have recognised that. Before 1994, there were not many outreach programmes being done outside of government,” Ngcobo said.
“When we formed these new departments, we realised that young people we were employing came from institutions with diplomas or degrees in sports management but they had no practical knowledge of how to manage and organise sports, or even basic sports skills for that matter.”
“The presence of these sporting legends will be of huge benefit because they have the skills, the authority, and the know-how. Most of them are not doing anything once they’ve retired from sport – they go home and as a result we lose that skill. It’s going to benefit us a lot for 2022 and the management of our various sporting codes.”
The department intends to have a group of legends identified in six months’ time.
“Once they are here, we will be finding out how best they should be involved in activities. What activities do they want to embark on as individuals and as a collective? On our part, we will then prepare to identify the necessary resources so that come the new financial year in July, they will be able to meet some of the ideas and proposals put forward,” Ngcobo said.
The likes of Durban's soccer legend Cedric “Sugar Ray” Xulu will be involved in the programme as well as former swimming coach Eddie Meth.
Interested parties can contact Ravi Subramony, the Sport and Recreation Development department manager, on 082 377 4241.
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