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Structural and systemic challenges underpinning the great sporting successes of WSU were laid bare in an engagement session aimed at producing sustainable and workable interventions that will improve the administration of sport at the institution.
The WSU Sports Indaba, commissioned by the university’s student affairs department and scheduled to take place from 5 -6 November at the Mphekweni Beach Resort, interrogated a plethora of factors that currently affect sports administration at the university, including infrastructure, funding, resources and conditions of employment.
Buffalo City Campus student affairs deputy director Ntsikie Nohako-Mtiki set the tone for the rest of the weekend’s festivities as she described the steps taken leading up to the indaba.
“This important session has been two years in the making, with the department undertaking a benchmarking exercise performed last year and conducting a pre-Indaba recently in preparation for this momentous occasion,” said Nohako-Mtiki.
In her remarks, she highlighted three main areas that need to be addressed with urgency, including how sport at the institution can be unified in light of the different cultures brought about by the lingering effects of the legacy of the three different institutions that formed WSU.
Nohako-Mtiki further raised the importance of WSU actively forming part of and participating more effectively in university sports federations and bodies, as well as creating and fostering ties with industries concerned with the sport.
“We must also position ourselves in relation to the communities within which we find ourselves so that our efforts with regards to sport directly impact our people by us immersing ourselves within programmes in the community,” she said.
In a message of support, ISRC president Phelo Mathentamo outlined the importance of sport and recreational activities in creating a well-rounded student that possesses a broadened perspective on worldly issues.
She said the education and training of a student need to go beyond the lecture hall and venture into nurturing the physical aspect and subsequently unearthing sporting talent.
“Lack of resources doesn’t mean lack of talent. It’s important that we find and pump resources into our sport because sport has proven to be one of the most effective ways of giving our students a platform to shine and thrive. This engagement must then show us where the hindrances are so that we identify our challenges so that we can tackle them head-on so as to move forward,” said Mathentamo.
Speaking on behalf of the Convocation, Sandile Puti was also on hand to pledge the body’s support for the programme.
Puti said he was to participate thoroughly and substantively so that real and tangible solutions emanate from the deliberations.
Some of WSU’s most notable sporting achievements included the WSU All Blacks being finalists at this year’s Varsity Shield rugby competition, as well as securing an international gold medal at the World Fighting Kyokushin Organization Grand Prix tournament in 2019.
