Moorosi Tsiane
FOR a long time, the sporting fraternity has been crying out for ideas to improve the standard of sport in our beloved country and it appears such pleas have finally yielded results as the Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) have decided to introduce national sports awards.
Dubbed Lesotho Annual Sports Awards (LASA) the awards are expected to be held early next year.
The LSRC has said the nominees will be selected on the basis of their performances in their different fields from January to December 2016.
The nominees will be drawn from various categories including Junior Female and Junior Male Sportsperson of the year, Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year, Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year with a Disability.
Other categories are: Newcomer of the year, Administrator of the year, Volunteer of the year, National Federation of the year, Sports School of the year, Sports Team of the year, Coach of the year, Umpire/Referee of the year, Journalist of the year, Sports Show of the year, Sport Legacy Awards and Sports Star of the year.
I know some may argue the LSRC could have pursued other options in their quest to improve sport in the country but holding national sports awards will certainly go a long way to uplift standards by incentivising sportspersons.
If anything, the LRSC deserves is a pat on the back for coming up with such an initiative following the Sports Legacy Awards for the legends that were held last year.
We may not immediately realise the fruits of this initiative but I believe that with time, the sporting fraternity and indeed the country will certainly reap the benefits.
My only concern is that there has not been enough communication regarding the proposed awards. Have the stakeholders including the athletes and administrators been given adequate information? Have they been given the full picture?
LSRC should do much more to put the message across in order to encourage greater commitment from athletes and administrators.
I believe it will certainly be a morale booster for our athletes once they realise there is recognition for their hard work.
This is an initiative worth celebrating. We can only hope that it is one the LSRC will be able to sustain given the unfortunate fact that our government does not priorities issues of sports.