I used to tell some people to stop making a Case for increased Sports Funding using mere winning of Medals but they delayed too much to listen to me. I am not entirely sure they are listening now but i was very happy to hear in the last Sports Forum that the justification for more funding is not gravitating towards such things as well as elimination of Youth idleness.
I told some colleagues that our leaders/funders need to fully understand the meaning of a Medal. And this must not be just an Accolade or Souvenir but a means to better life for our Athletes and Coaches as well as better financial welfare for our Country.
I said before and i want to repeat it again that the people who lead this country and allocate funding will understand better what the Medals can do for the country and this is where our focus should be. Even if it were you and you were told to spend 50 million on your child to go and win a Major Medal, you would think twice or thrice before spending this kind of money.
But if you are told to spend 50 million to go and pick up 700 million, then it becomes easier to say yes let me spend on my child because it now looks clearly like a lucrative investment. This is what we need to do as the Sports Sector. And here i mean we as the Sports Leaders at the Federations, UOC, Ministry and NCS.
For example i have said many times that we need to put together all the Statistics of how much money comes into Uganda via Sports Vis a Vis how much goes out.
I know there is much more that comes in than what we spend outside. But we need to compile these records and the present them to Parliament and to Cabinet as Statistical evidence that our Sector actually enriches the Country.
Let us combine all the monies in all Federations, the one that comes to UOC, all the prize monies won by our Athletes outside Uganda, the also monetize the equipment donations, Etc.. We combine all these Statistics every year and then make a good presentation based on these. Then we shall get more funding in our Sector.
So these now are the questions, hoping that some listened to me or anyway now people are listening very attentively:
- Who does this Compilation?
- Is anyone doing it currently anyway?
- Then of course how is it done so that the process generates very reliable information?
- How do you present the combined statistical data to make very good business Sense?
- And finally to whom or where do you present it to make the best impact?
No one refuses to invest where they see clear profits. Our Sports Sector therefore needs to present Sports as a profitable business which it actually is because there is much more money that comes into Uganda than that which goes out via Sports.
The only challenge is that this information and the statistics therein are so scattered and need to be put together to see this picture very clearly and convincingly. Only then will many learn that even in our current state, we are still profitable to this country.
