National sports associations yet to set proper goals

It is most unfortunate that, when you mention the term `sport` in Tanzania, most people will believe you mean soccer.

This has made it become common practice that soccer is often the main focus when there is any kind of discussion about the development of sports.

Mainly because of this, the development or growth of sports other than soccer has been maginalised or sidelined from the grassroots right to the national level.

Almost without exception, primary and secondary schools as well as colleges around the country place greater emphasis on soccer for their various communities than on most other sports.

To make it worse, even the mushrooming and fast-growing so-called veterans? clubs in many urban areas in the country have soccer as their main physical activity.

Poor goal setting in most national sports associations can safely be given as the main reason behind this lopsided, if not dreadful, situation that places the development of sports in Tanzania at great risk.

A large proportion of Tanzanians love sport and cherish seeing their teams and sportsmen and women winning.

But what some may not appreciate is the fact that the most important ingredient of establishing a winning outfit is proper goal setting in terms of spotting talent and preparing the players passing muster progressively into good competitors at different competitive levels or stages locally and internationally.

Most of our national sports associations are managed through auto pilot programmes, if you pardon the use of the phrase, which bank heavily on the traditional mode of administering physical activity.

This is what has caused the present state of affairs in national teams where most sports are full of incidental players who are in business by virtue of their being talented in their respective sports.

Many Tanzanian sportsmen and women are without even the very basic knowledge of skills related to the sports they are engaged and this is simply because the associations lack programmes that would have ensured a proper progression of training in preparing players to sparkle in particular sports.

But now there appears to be enough political will to improve sports throughout the country, national sports associations such as the Tanzania Netball Association, Tanzania Basketball Federation, Tanzania Volleyball Association, and Tanzania Football Federation, to mention but a few.

All these should sit down and draw up sound programmes for developing their respective sport of choice so that, at the end of the day, the country boasts a good number of properly groomed athletes in all sports.

Enthusiastic sports leaders and coaches in Tanzania have always looked for ways to improve motivation among players, officials, spectators and all other stakeholders.

A great deal has been done about it but much of that has been overly theoretical and descriptive, offering little practical advice. In contrast, the process of goal setting would have helped a lot more in translating vague theories into actions.

This is an effective method of increasing motivation, productivity and performance which also provides a basis for sound planning.

Research has shown that goal setting serves as an effective performance enhancement technique in a variety of activities, ranging from mundane ones like cutting trees to sophisticated ones like engineering.

I know some national associations find goal setting stress-provoking because it presents standards for determining success and failure and can reinforce success alongside confirming and highlighting failure.

One result of this is that sports organisation leaders too faint-hearted to take a risk may be intimidated by the possibility of failing to achieve certain planned goals.

For such people, failing to reach only one range of goals reaffirms the feelings of inadequacy.

However, goal setting may actually have a negative effect on the performance of the low-ability individuals since little attention is given to the possibility of goal setting leading to negative pressure.

Sportspeople harbouring reservations about the process of goal setting usually argue that it takes the enjoyment and spontaneity out of sport.

In fact, the contrary usually applies in that goal setting increases the enjoyment and satisfaction of the players involved since it gives them ample time to learn and practise different skills in line with their age and level of performance.

Tanzania`s national sports organisations should be encouraged to have goal setting as an integral part of their development plans so that they can overcome the initial inertia that makes many teams fail to flourish.

Big competitions are not won on the day of the game but during preparations - and no preparation can be effective without proper goal setting.

The roads to the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup and the likes are so rough that they call for proper goal setting and deliberate resolve to strive to achieve them.

This being the case, all our national sports associations should learn the importance of being flexible enough to develop appropriate and sound goal setting programmes for the better future of Tanzania?s sports development and achievements.