The first Olympic Youth
Development Centre under the
IOC’s Sport for Hope Programme
came to life on Tuesday as some
600 young athletes used the
state-of-the-art facilities in
Lusaka, Zambia, for the first
time.
“This is so cool,” said Julia
Lostrom, a 14-year-old hockey
player, upon seeing the
artificial turf on the pitch.
“I’m so proud of Zambia for
doing this.” “Everything in the
game will change.”
And her hockey mate Floyd Chomba,
19, added: 'This is a wonderful
thing which has come to all the
sports, especially the hockey
field, because we never had a
turf like this. We’ve never had
Astroturf. We couldn't really
practise like we were supposed
to. Now we have this one, we can
play an international game.
Because of the fields, we can
show our best talents and our
best skills. It will improve our
practice, our accurate passes
and our scores. Everything in
the game will change.'
Multi-purpose sport complex
Besides the hockey field, the
Olympic Youth Development Center
offers a soccer field, a track
and courts that can be used for
different sports such as
basketball, netball and
volleyball. The facility also
includes a boxing ring and a
multi-purpose building.
Furthermore there are
classrooms, a library and a
computer zone that, as IOC
President Rogge said during
yesterday’s inauguration, will
introduce young people to “the
digital age.”
“Our youth should be proud they
have a facility of this
magnitude,” said Kenneth
Chipungu, Zambia’s Minister of
Sport, Youth and Child
Development. “From time
immemorial, they have been
struggling to have a place like
this and finally we have it.”
And Zambia’s President, Rupiah
Bwezani Banda, who participated
in the ribbon-cutting ceremony,
stated: “Zambia stands at a time
in history when sport is now
internationally recognised as an
effective means to achieve
developmental goals,” noting
that 68 per cent of the Zambian
people are under 35 years old.
Seventeen year-old basketball
player Mofya Yamba could not
hide his excitement: 'This is
amazing. I'm a bit taken aback.
In Zambia, if you go to a sports
centre, you only see one court.
I just counted six and I think
there's one indoors. I've never
played on anything like this.
For us, this is hope. They're
kind of saving our lives with
this one. If you live in an area
like this, we don't get to see
much of this.'
“We’ve never had such a track
before,” added Albert Mundia,
22, who used to train for the
800 metres on grass. “It will
equalise our sports, and then
we’ll be having good times and
we’ll be qualifying for the
Olympics.”
Patrick Chamunda, IOC member
from Zambia, concluded: “This is
a realisation of a dream for
most of us, particularly for the
young people who will have
access to these facilities.”
Athletes and community as target
groups
With the support of several
partners, the IOC launched the
centre three years as its pilot
project in the Sports for Hope
Programme. “This is not just a
national centre for elite
athletes,” Rogge said yesterday.
“We are confident it will become
the centre for regional and even
international competitions. And
perhaps, just as importantly, it
will be a centre for sports and
services for the local
community. On this success, we
hope to build similar centres in
other regions around the world.”
Sports for Hope Programme
The Sports for Hope Programme
aims to provide athletes, young
people and communities in
developing countries with better
opportunities to practise sport
and to be educated in the values
of Olympism. Basically, every
individual should have access to
sport, and the IOC works
constantly towards making this
vision a reality.
Source: IOC