Attilio Tagalile is an author and media consultant and can be reached at [email protected] and 0754279655.
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The former national netball player said 29 regions are expected to take part in the tournament, but she insisted the need for the regions to confirm their participation so that they can know exactly how many regions are going to be represented in the tournament.
According to the National Netball Association of Tanzania (Chaneta) Chairperson, Anna Kibira, this year’s National Netball Championship would be held at the National Indoor Stadium from 12th next month.
The former national netball player said 29 regions are expected to take part in the tournament, but she insisted the need for the regions to confirm their participation so that they can know exactly how many regions are going to be represented in the tournament.
During Kibira’s playing days in the 1970s and 1980s, netball tournaments that included the national netball championship, was one of the most popular games in the country, attracting many spectators. These were the days when Tanzania was a powerhouse in East and Central Africa region as far as netball was concerned.
Netball just like other games that included athletics, football, boxing and others, started from schools where the best players were picked to represent their regions having displayed their talent in inter-schools championships.
And upon completion of their schooling, the best netball players were employed by parastatal organizations and armed forces, and in particular, the National Service which dominated in this sport for years.
However, for historical reasons, those days are gone! They are no longer with us, and this has more to do with the manner we are presently running our economy.
Yes, during those, good old days, it was easy to support and maintain netball teams because our centralized economy that revolved around the implementation of the policy of socialism and self-reliance had allowed it through the establishment of over 400 public companies and a vibrant National Service which operated and continues to operate under the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF).
But after the economic crunch of the mid 1970s which was compounded by our war against dictator Idd Amin Dada in October 1978, Tanzania was forced to abandon its socialist policy, thus leading to the collapse of netball and other sports ‘life-saving machines’ (in the form of the 400 plus parastatal organizations).
Before the on-set of the economic crunch, organisation of netball tournaments, including of course, the national netball championship did not require sponsorship. However, after the economic crunch that led to the collapse of the netball ‘life-saving machines,’ the organisation of the national netball championship along with the participation of regional netball teams in such a tournament badly required sponsorship in the face of Chaneta being reduced to nothing more than an orphan.
Therefore, this explains why Kibira spoke about two things last Friday, the need for all regions intending to send their teams in the tournament to confirm their participation to Chaneta and for private and public companies the country over to help in sponsoring the tournament.
Unlike senior football, and to be more specific, Taifa Stars, the rest of sports and sporting organisations, that include Chaneta, have been struggling, and this is literary, not only in promoting their respective sports, but also in organising their national championships.
What is perhaps more depressing is that nothing has been more hard-hit in sports than sports disciplines that involve women and the gender activists are nowhere to be seen. Take women soccer as a case in point. Who is interested in them? No one.
Much as they have for a long time tried their level best, their performance, internationally, has been hampered by lack of support from the government, public and private companies.
The absence of such assistance for netball has been such that the Chaneta leadership has more or less stopped making noise about it.
Indeed, how can they, when the best they are likely to get from the society is to feel pity on them.
But this does not mean that Chaneta should now stop seeking assistance from the government, public and private companies, far from it.
They need to continue with the art of begging which has more or less been transformed into respectability with almost everyone in the country, from the top to the bottom, begging for assistance.
Chaneta leaders need to work extremely hard to ensure that the national netball championship is not only held, but all regions in the country send their teams to the tournament.
For the regions, here is where district governments, the so-called halmashauris come in through their purse-holding officials, the development directors.
The foregoing officials who in some areas are viewed as some demi gods need to consider netball as part of their government’s projects.
For Chaneta, it is only by ensuring the successful organisation of this very important tournament that the netball fraternity in the country is going to judge the organisational ability or otherwise of the present crop of leaders in the organisation. It is now or never
Attilio Tagalile is an author and media consultant and can be reached at [email protected] and 0754279655.
