Strictly speaking, people don’t deliberately commit what the general public would refer to as a genuine mistake. Most of these mistakes only occur because of insufficient information available in advance of the action that is usually referred to as a mistake.
As a result, it offers the most appropriate opportunities to improve our knowledge, notably our experience, as once remarked by a very famous author, Oscar Wilde:
Experience is simply the name we give to our mistakes’
Yours truly has deliberately chosen the above preamble to analyze and interrogate the current quagmire in which many a sporting discipline in our midst finds itself entangled.
Each and every time any of our national teams conquer the world to compete in high profile international sporting events, the results are always sub-standard. Those in charge have adopted or rather crafted a juicy phrase “we might have lost but certainly learned a lot from our mistakes”.
Our national rugby fifteen the Welwitschias have been regular competitors in the quadrennial International Rugby Board (IRB) World Cup finals in five consecutive appearances over the last 16 years and are yet to fashion a single victory at the global showpiece.
As it stands, the Welwitschias have been thrown another lifeline by competing in the extended annual South African Provincial Currie Cup, but yours truly is damn sure many of you would scorn to own me in a lie if I bet my last penny against the future of this team.
Being fully conversant with the usual goings-on and culture at Lichtenstein-Strasse, I know that rugby bosses are just using the Currie Cup to escape scrutiny from the presiding body and the frustrated rugby followers about the team’s chronic failure to produce when it matters the most.
Watch this space: Namibia will field 70 or 80% players who are not part of the current Currie Cup side as has been the norm in the past when we have seen players never seen in our neck of the woods represent the land of the brave in august events, only to disappear into thin air after their all-paid holydays overseas.
This sickening practice is not only confined to the oval ball – athletics and dozens others are also masters of this deceit. Do I need to remind you of the much sought after Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil this year – just six months away, so to speak.
Most Brazil-bound nations have already finalized their teams and preparations are well on track. Did I hear that our boxers are unlikely to represent their native land in this global showpiece because of financial constraints?
The Namibia Boxing Federation’s worrisome financial woes mean the boxers are unable to compete in Olympic qualifiers. It will be a national catastrophe if our most prized athletes miss out on this august gathering.
It will not only deprive them the opportunity to showcase their god given skills in the international arena, but their potential absence could also have a negative reflection on the overall points tally for the Namibian entourage to Rio.
Boxing is one of very few disciplines that always contribute significantly and should they fail to board the big bird across the Atlantic Ocean, heads must roll for sure !!!
Those in charge of boxing should take full responsibility for this mishap and face the consequences of their laxity and fragrant failure to strike while the iron was hot. I rest my case.