Deliver us from begging
For all their talent and continued return of positive results, She Cranes captain Peace Proscovia and her teammates don’t deserve to endure any hustle before trips. Photo by Ismail Kezaala
What you need to know:
Government ought to be concerned here. Yes, corporates are a welcome alternative but only as a bonus because they aren’t as obliged as government is to ensure that there is a foundation upon which sports is built.
It’s all good to receive victorious sports personalities with garlands at Entebbe and to host them to glamorous dinners.
But what is embarrassing is the collective begging tin that is then passed round the table after the speeches are done like the She Cranes did in preparation for the Netball World Cup in Sydney 2015.
It is true the World Cup trip will cost way beyond what an association that can hardly afford refreshment water can comprehend. It is also true that such amounts of money maybe pocket change for big corporations in attendance, but they are always a daunting challenge for even the most established of sports in Uganda.
But let us rely less on the benevolence of corporations because we must appreciate that the commercial consideration for sponsorship may not be met by a sport that was recently taken off the Olympic events list or one whose star attraction Peace Proscovia won’t be recognized if she walked down Kampala Road.
It is to government I must turn. In the absence of corporate intervention, government must always move in to fill the void. And I have always argued that government investment in sports is a social obligation to its people. It is no different from constructing the road that will connect businesses and open up markets.
Yet sports never makes even the first page on government’s list of high value priorities like infrastructure and education.
And admittedly in a country where Malaria kills 500 people per day, it will be a while before that happens. Whether this is the right attitude or not is a story I shall return to some day. But for now Government ought to set up a management fund to facilitate such events as the upcoming Netball World Cup or even the qualifier in Botswana at which the She Cranes arrived with only $240 to spare.
Surely, we need not wait to address this at events meant to celebrate our scanty achievements. It is embarrassing.
In fact the only thing more embarrassing than the begging tin is the other indignity our dinner guests have to suffer sharing gum shields, hogging up on the complimentary breakfast as an insurance against non-existent meal allowances or as was the case in Botswana, being saved by the understanding of the hosts from the real possibility of spending the nights out on the open veld.
Government ought to be concerned here. Yes, corporate sponsorship is a welcome alternative but only as a bonus because they aren’t as obliged as government is to ensure that there is a foundation upon which sports is built.
And that foundation must be a fund from which the She Cranes can draw the $100,000 (about Shs260m) they need to make it to Sydney in August 2015 or indeed one from which the Cranes must have drawn the $60,000 (about Shs156m) that took them to Ghana last earlier this month.
The fund won’t drop from heaven. Government must deliberately invest in it besides I can’t find better ways to spend public funds right now. Remember for every champion the conveyor belt of talent delivers to a dinner the nation will have found an ambassador to sanitise its image in far off lands which has been in tatters for a while now.
