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Russell Mhiribidi, Sliz director

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has challenged administrators to attend a high-level international sports management course organised by the Sports Leaders Institute of Zimbabwe (Sliz) in partnership with an American University set for Harare this week.

Joseph Muchechetere, acting SRC director-general, said the three-day course, which starts on Wednesday at the Zesa Training Centre, could change the manner in which local associations and institutions are administered.

Sliz, which has successfully staged local sports management courses every summer and winter since 2014, has gone international by partnering with West Virginia University from the United States.

West Virginia University is dispatching one of its top lecturers in sport management Floyd Jones to conduct the course.

The main topic is “The globalisation of sport management as an academic discipline, a science based approach to managing sport in Zimbabwe”.

“The sports and recreation is a big industry which doesn’t need only one player. Continued partnerships by local institutions like Sliz, local and foreign universities should be encouraged so that there is constant sharing of ideas and development of leaders. This kind of partnership (Sliz and West Virginia University) will go a long way in terms of uplifting standards of sports administration.

“Administrators can only grow if they are exposed. Remember America is a powerhouse in terms of sports and recreation and this symposium will benefit administrators that are expected to change and align their operations for the good of their institutions and sports industry,” said Muchechetere.

He said partnering international institutions and inviting them to the country also promotes sports tourism.

Sliz has invited the SRC, Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, national sports associations, schools, tertiary institutions and Premiership clubs to “enrol for the Level 1 Continuing Education Certificate Course’’.

Russell Mhiribidi, the Sliz director, said participants would get hands-on education on various sub-topics such as how to incorporate the scientific perspective and models most relevant to managing sport and physical activity organisations and the five major functions of sport management, issues of inclusion, ethics and morality, relevance of management theory and its contribution to the professional’s skills sets and designing of an entrepreneurial model for a growing sport business (business plan).

He said the course was a follow-up to the introduction to sport management courses they held countrywide, which saw more than 600 administrators attending at various intervals.

He however said coaches and other stakeholders, such as sports club executives, sports directors and other sports leaders, were eligible to attend as part of the continuing education in all facets of life in line with global trends.

@ZililoR