By Brima Bah
British police may still be looking for Sierra Leonean long distance runner, Mami Konneh Lahun after she failed to return home last week. She had finished an impressive 20th at the London Marathon.
The police are looking for her because they want to be sure she has not become a victim of any of the many possible forms of human abuse or that she is safe, or that she is not a threat to their society or that she doesn't breach their immigration regulations or for whatever other reasons they may have.
We, Sierra Leoneans already know that the 24-year-old athlete is only looking for a way to disconnect with the country she believes does not offer her the opportunity to fulfil her dream to become a top class athlete. Her performance amongst the elite runners was indeed a pride for a Sierra Leonean athlete, but certainly not very surprising. After all she is the national record holder in 5,000 and 10,000 meters, and the current champion in the Sierra Leone and Liberia marathons. She was able to prove that if only more is done, our athletes can compete at the highest level and shine. But then her action of apparently hiding and refusing to return home to a heroine's welcome tells of how doubtful the Sierra Leone Athletics Association's commitment is to the development of athletics. As a matter of fact, sport has been the most neglected of all sectors in the country. This did not start now; it's just that it is getting worse.
Way back in the 1990's a group of young Sierra Leonean players representing the SL Vikings in Norway fled and sought asylum in the country. They had a good case then, for there was war in the country. Most of those boys were granted asylum. In September 2003, Sierra Leone was represented in the Under-17 World Championships in Finland by young promising players who impressed at the tournament, but then after they were eliminated, most of the boys decided to run away. Other athletes and even scouts have been doing the same: fleeing the country at any given opportunity. We can safely infer that the likelihood of the country continuing to be embarrassed is very great.
There are many reasons why a good number of our sportsmen and women may want to flee the country. The primary reason in my view is poverty. Our sportsmen and women are poor. What they make out of sport cannot get them to even start living. If they are to live a dignified life, they must take up other jobs, or because there are not much jobs around, they are forced to depend on so-called managers who to a large extent are obsessed with the reality of managers in the developed world making a lot of money. For them, their true interest is not in the athletes' welfare, but in making money out of them. Athletes with potential get managers who subsidise them, and brainwash them about seeking greener pastures by all means, especially by taking advantage of overseas' competitions. They can very easily point to the success of the few athletes who once fled. They are later able to come back and embark on development projects the ordinary local athletes can only dream of.
The various sporting disciplines are yet to get a breakthrough in commercializing sports. They are still very dependent on grants from international federations and funding from government. The mismanagement of these funds is well documented. But then, rather depressingly, the leaders of these associations are insulated by regulations that very sternly warn against any form of government intervention, and it seems, public scrutiny. For government to demand accountability is akin to political interference. No wonder there have been fights for leadership positions in almost all the sporting disciplines in the country. Once elected, or as it is most times now, selected, the leaders quickly adjust their focus on penetrating the politics of their parent bodies with the hope of getting access and opportunity to serve in various sub committees that come with a lot of travel opportunities and all the attendant per diems. The local game is almost left on its own, with hard working athletes going for months without any idea of what activities there might be. Close to international events, competitions will be hastily and chaotically organised to ostensibly select athletes/teams that will represent the country. The result will most times be as usual: embarrassment for the country, because the athletes/players have not been properly prepared. Football has become most notorious in this particular area. When you look into the show proper, you see the strenuous efforts being made to portray a game that is on course. This is most laughable, because for teams to be truly competitive there is a standard they must meet. I wonder how many teams in all the sporting disciplines would meet even the West African standard. Two or three, perhaps. Nobody is talking about building the capacity of the teams: their facilities, management, and most importantly trainers.
How many teams, in all the disciplines, have playing fields or club houses? It is not unusual to have so-called premier teams scrambling with local community boys over the use of local playing fields, or as is now common, taking turns to train at the one and only football academy, which is looking more like the home turf of a particular premier team closely associated with the current FA president.
As for disciplines such as basketball, volley ball and other indoor games, it is obvious that their only time to play is in the dry season. The swimmers cry for full access to the one and only Swimming Pool at the National Stadium which is supposed to host competitions. But then the Swimming Association has nowhere to take their swimmers to. This lack of facility is a factor that forces a number of ambitious athletes to look for opportunities in other countries - whatever it takes.
I had the trouble of being interested in a couple of player status matters during the Central One Football Association (COFA)'s non-league division in 2013. My experience left me with no doubt about where football administration stands. The Western Area Football Association (WAFA) was supposed to be their arbiters, but they ended up confusing matters even more. Their lack of proper documentation, combined with apparent integrity problem left much to be desired. The parent body SLFA is even worse in this department. The last time, there was a call for help on who has scored the most goals and how many for Leone Stars. Apparently, the FA had been so busy with other matters that nobody was taking note. The situation may be changing now, I am not sure. But then the regional associations and all teams need serious assistance in the area of their management on how to acquire, maintain, and loan or sell players in a way that reduces all the chaos we go through each and every season over who owns which player.
More importantly, the management of clubs must be able to attract sponsorship, galvanise their fans and take care of the welfare of their athletes. Athletes feel very undervalued by their clubs; they are most times discouraged, and end up either dropping out or having a divided mind. For the very few who get the opportunity to travel abroad to the developed world, they see the opportunity as a God-given one to move away from the frustration they battle day in day out.
The area of technical expertise is probably the weakest of all the areas. We do have a couple of top Grade B trainers, but the majority are adhoc coaches who in my view are doing more harm than good to our athletes/players. Failed trials and poor performances internationally are the results of being prepared by untrained coaches who most times bank on their experience which is actually not significant. They end up confusing the minds of the young athletes. Once exposed to qualified trainers, our athletes would understandably want to capitalise because that is the only way they can be made to achieve their potential. If our trainers were well qualified and are supported, they would produce athletes who would be considered trainable by international scouts moving around the world looking for young talents. This is the secret behind the success of Ivorian, Ghanaian and Senegalese players in Europe. These countries have academies, and they invest in the training of the trainers to prepare the youths for competition with young players from other parts of the world. The local teams are trained by certified coaches whose qualifications international scouts can respect.
The various sporting disciplines are entitled to countless number of technical training programmes, but it is sad that because of fringe benefits attached, executive offers would convert these opportunities and attend these programmes themselves, leaving the technical guys out. Year in year out, executive officers attend conferences, workshops, seminars, congresses, committee meetings, but they could not produce athletes/teams who would qualify for international competitions. The only exception to this is probably Beach Volleyball. All the other disciplines will mostly field in competitors because of concessions granted. And in most cases, the country ends up with egg of its face.
We can only salute the bravery of our deprived sportsmen and women who go out there to give their best for the country because there is a wall of difference between them and their counterparts. Who will blame Mami Konneh? The case of Eunice Barber, a Sierra Leone-born French heptathlete and long jumper comes to mind. When she switched nationality to France in 1999 she was able to win the heptathlon at the World Championships in Athletics in 1999, the long jump in 2003, and she finished second in heptathlon in 2003 and 2005. We would have loved her to win all these for Sierra Leone, but the reality is she wouldn’t have risen to that level had she not sought and received the support of the French Athletics Federation. It’s a similar story for a number of Sierra Leonean players who thankfully come back to represent the green, white and blue. My point is we have the raw talent, but we have failed to create the environment for them to thrive.
As embarrassing as Mami Konneh Lahun's hiding has been, followers of Sierra Leonean sports can only understand with her, because the ambitious athlete, like an artist or a scientist, has an urge or even passion that can only be satisfied when they feel truly fulfilled. Sadly, our country is not looking prepared to set the ground for people like Mami Konneh Lahun.
(C) Politico 24/04/14
