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Zimbabwe Olympians Training for Life After Sport

27 | 6 | 2018

Zimbabwe Olympians and elite athletes are training for a bright future as sports administrators thanks to a professional development programme run by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee and supported by the National Olympians Association.

Earlier this year Zimbabwe Olympians joined 24 other retired athletes to take part in a sports administration course in Harare, aimed at equipping them with the tools needed to continue a career in sport as administrators and coaches after they have finished competing.

Cutbert Nyasango OLY (marathon), Tabitha Tsatsa OLY (marathon) and Alexander Kwangware OLY (boxing), who have all gone on to take up roles as coaches, are among the Olympians to have completed the training.

Topics covered included career development, personal financial management, coaching and safe sport, project and event management, leadership and decision-making skills, information technology and navigating social media as a brand-building tool, as well as the shared responsibility of promoting the Olympic values and the positive impact of sport on societies.

Olympians who work within the sporting industry are able to immediately garner respect and are already experts in high performance sport. This course aims to provide expert knowledge on the administration side of sport.

As part of the course, Zimbabwean National Olympians Association President Abel Chimukoko OLY, provided participants with information on WOA initiatives aimed at supporting Olympians and their transition from sport. These include:

  • OLY. 24/7 public recognition of an Olympians years of hard work and dedication. Like a PhD and other post nominals these can be used on business cards, CVs and social media.
  • Olympians.org. Available only for Olympians, a great way to get your emails noticed in people’s inboxes.
  • Athlete learning Gateway. An IOC initiative, the gateway offers free online short courses for Olympians.

Chimukoko, who also acts as President of the ZOC Athletes’ Commission and as a ZOC Board Member, presented certificates to participants upon completion of the course.

“At the Zimbabwean National Olympians Association, our objective is to ensure that at least 10 of our Olympians are trained in either sports coaching, officiating or administration courses by the end of the year. So far six Olympians have benefitted,” he said.

“As ambassadors of goodwill in the world of sports, Olympians are the heroes and heroines of the Olympic Movement and therefore the most effective messengers of Olympism for people everywhere, especially the youth of today. It is vital that we retain their passion, skills and expertise in sport to pass on to the next generation.”

Due to the programme’s success, an additional sports administration course will be held this September in Harare, Zimbabwe.