Tanzania’s Olympic story so far
The story so far on Tanzania at the Tokyo Olympic Games this year is one of apathy – and, if nothing else, it shows how much kujimwambafai (self-glorification) won’t get us anywhere in sports.
With a 60-million population – over 27 million of whom are youths – one would think that Tanzania’s contingent at international sports would be reflective of those huge numbers. But, no.
So what ails sports in Tanzania?
Simba and Yanga problem
First, we have the Simba and Yanga problem. For all the good that these two leading football clubs have done this country – and, hopefully, will continue to do – appeals by their millions of fans have not quite translated into success at the regional, continental and global levels.
Why should we be mourning the virtual death of sports in our country?
Back in the 1970s, Tanzania was well-known far and wide for its athletics performance. As if that were not enough, our boxers were winning amateur titles right, left and centre.
It is odd that every time our leaders speak about sports, they almost invariably get drawn to the vote bank that is Simba and Yanga, Yanga and Simba. If you pooh-pooh these two, your career in government is likely to be short-lived.
Problem number two for us is that we have not seriously countenanced the idea that sports have moved from being amateur entertainment and a pass-time to serious professional undertaking.
Millions of shillings and dollars around the world find their way to individuals through sports. However, Tanzania has been wallowing in a miasma, vainly hoping that if we speak all day and half the night embellishing Simba and Yanga’s track record, we shall actually conquer the world.
Last week, Kenya held a three-day Tokyo Olympics qualification event at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.
I have lots of respect for Athletics Tanzania president Anthony Mtaka, and I believe he means well. But the odds are stacked against him because the narrative – led by media organs – has completely locked out other sports from the national lexicon.
If you tune into the TBC morning show when handing over to the sports section, the presenters enthusiastically ask: ‘Are you Simba or Yanga?’ It is rote thinking that takes them to never ask: are you a sports enthusiast?
Where are our hockey players? Do the authorities still ask students to take their hockey sticks to school with them?
As a sports enthusiast, I was intrigued to find that the Kenyan contingent of over 100 sportsmen and women to the Tokyo Olympics comprises athletes, volleyball players and swimmers, as well as rugger and table tennis players.
The Tanzanian Olympics squad this time may not be in double-digits, I think – mostly made of officials.
These are potential jobs for our youth and women in sports that we are not taking full advantage of. Instead we are inadvertently on radio, glorifying Simba’s greatness in reaching the CAF Champions League knockout stage.
We are plastering acres of sports pages in our newspapers with Simba buying a new luxury bus – and the club’s spokesman is better-known than Real Madrid’s spokesman, at least locally.
Thousands of possibilities are going up in smoke because we have no strategic plans on how best we can use sports to create jobs and galvanize the nationalism spirit we so dream of.
Huge potential
With the youth demographics in Tanzania, we must harness this huge potential in different sports disciplines beyond the easy fan-dom and craze that comes with soccer – and venture into the more difficult building blocks and investment needed to succeed.
What used to be entertainment for East Africans – along the lines of the East Africa Safari Motor Rally – has now come back as World Rally Championship Kenya Safari Rally.
Your guess is as good as mine on how much money is coming into our relatively paltry economies through sports.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be glued on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, while Tanzania’s indulgence in sports ends with radio talk shows.
