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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

EMILY Jesaya, the Deputy Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, is passionate about promoting sports development in Zimbabwe.

At the 2024 Old Mutual Colts Cricket Cup and CABS Under-13 Cricket Cup finals, she expressed her delight in seeing cricket tournaments that nurture talent in Bulawayo schools. The finals took place at the Old Mutual Academy of Cricket Excellence.

She emphasised the Government’s plans to ensure the continued growth of sporting development, particularly in rural areas. This includes collaborating with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to spread sporting disciplines like cricket to rural schools.

“I am happy with the future of sports, especially looking at cricket. This was a very important tournament because it goes all the way down to promoting grassroots sports development. So, I’m very happy with the collaboration that is there.

“So, as a Government, we have what we call a whole-of-government approach. As the Ministry of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, we work together with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education as that is where most of these juniors are found.

“We are also finding ways of helping different schools, especially rural schools to see how we can help or assist them in developing their sport facilities so that sports like cricket can also be found in schools in rural areas,” said Jesaya.

Jesaya also highlighted the importance of sports in addressing social issues, citing research that shows juniors engage in drug and substance abuse due to a lack of activities. By providing sporting opportunities, the government aims to promote mental and physical well-being.

“As a Ministry, again, we have come up with what we call community clubs systems where we are trying to take these youngsters to also participate in sport and in that way, we would have promoted grassroots sport. And, not just looking at cricket but all the sporting disciplines in Zimbabwe. We are promoting them and we are doing talent identification together working with national federations and associations in the country.

“Sport is very important, it plays a crucial role when it comes to addressing the issue of drug and substance abuse. From the research that has been done, we see that the most common reason why juniors engage in drug and substance abuse is because of having nothing to do.

“As a Ministry, as a government, we are saying, if we provide sporting hubs for these children then they will have something to do even after school and by the time that they finish their training they will be tired and have to go home. So, most of their time will be spent on something beneficial for their mental and physical health,” she said.

The Old Mutual Academy of Cricket Excellence, founded in 2014, has been instrumental in cricket development in Bulawayo. The Colts Cup was won by Josiah Chinamano Primary School, while Mtshingwe Primary School claimed the Under-13 Cup. —@brandon_malvin