Who is mentoring our athletes?

The Art of Sport

Arthur Choga

NOT all greatest athletes were the most talented growing up.

You cannot teach talent, but you can train technique. With the right technical skills, a lesser talented athlete may beat a naturally more talented one.

For every great athlete, there is a story of someone who was faster, bigger and better than them but who just fell through the cracks.

A week ago, a good friend of mine, Clive “Mono” Mukundu, won a National Arts Merit Award; he was recognised as the Arts Personality of the Year.

You may ask: So, what has this got to do with sport? Well, the simple answer is that it has everything to do with it.

Mono, who is celebrated as a great lead guitarist, has honed his skills by tapping into the greatness he has encountered.

He is brilliant and has taken part in over a thousand recordings, locally and internationally. From an early age, once he decided he wanted to be a musician, he started following the most talented people he could find.

This entailed physically following and sitting with them, learning from their craft.

He has not stopped doing so in a career that has seen him work with Oliver Mtukudzi, Ivy Kombo, Janet Manyowa, Jah Prayzah and other international artistes.

He has been awarded regional and local accolades.

He also went to university to study music.

Last week, he was in Jamaica, attending a global music conference hosted by the music label that brought Bob Marley to the world’s attention.

“Spending time learning at the feet of legendary drummer and producer Sly Dunbar. He is still going strong at the age of 71. The Bam-Bam riddim, which included the song ‘Murder She Wrote’ and was created by him and Robbie Shakespeare, is, I believe, one of his most well-known works,” wrote Mono.

He added: “Dunbar met and grew close to Robbie Shakespeare in 1972; together, they created the well-known production team known as ‘Sly & Robbie’, or ‘Taxi Gang’. Next, in 1980, they established the Taxi Records label.

“Numerous well-known international performers have released music on it, including Red Dragon, Black Uhuru, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Ini Kamoze and Beenie Man.

“In addition to serving as session musicians on thousands of reggae records, Sly & Robbie collaborated with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Joe Cocker and Serge Gainsbourg, to mention a few . . .”

Clearly, he is determined to get the best out of himself.

What he did with Dunbar would be like a football player spending time with any of the great legends you can think of. It would be like a sprinter getting to spend time with Usain Bolt.

So, the question is: At whose feet are our athletes spending their time?

Granted, not everyone can get a chance to meet their heroes, but we have local sports stars who can become mentors for our current athletes.

I wonder what Moses Chunga would say if one of the current PSL free-kick takers took time to visit him and ask respectfully to be shown how to smash in those legendary free-kicks.

Football can only improve by getting technical skills from Chunga.

Or how about spending time at the feet of Peter Ndlovu, a man so talented that at the peak of his powers, the media in England declared he was better than Ryan Giggs?

I still believe there is nothing Giggs ever did that Peter was not capable of doing.

Or, how about our middle- and long-distance runners spending time with Cuthbert Nyasango, who was so great that he finished seventh in an Olympic marathon in 2012.

Who is sitting at the feet of Cara Black?

Who gets to spend quality time with Nomsa Moyo? I know these greats are involved in sport in one way or another. Nyasango, for example, has been with the Bindura University-based National Sports Academy.

I believe it would be a great move to bring these greats together and create a technical skills development unit that can then be called on to build the skills of specific teams or individuals as they prepare for tournaments or even as teams are selected.

Corporate partners could come in to support the programme.

It may sound far-fetched, but it is possible.

We need young people sitting at the feet of Olympic gold medallists like the Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Kirsty Coventry and being inspired and encouraged.

Some will say times have changed and sports have evolved, but a fast runner will always be a fast runner and a great passer of the ball remains a great passer of the ball.

Much like a resource centre of living heroes, these legends would not only be a repository of great performances but can also be the catalysts for the next generation of stars.

In the same way Mukundu regularly allows many artistes to pass through his studio and get a chance to record and play music, now imagine how inspirational it would be if young athletes could regularly get opportunities to learn from the very best. It may be tough to get started, but it is possible.

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