Sport

Stedenband Haarlem-Mutare sporting activities are organised both in Haarlem, by the activities committee, and in Mutare by the Mutare Haarlem sport leaders (MHS).

By doing so, Haarlem and Mutare exchange knowledge of and experience in sports.

Mutare Haarlem Sport Leaders (MHS)
Strengthening Youth Competence through Sport

MHS’ aim is twofold:

1. Improving future prospects for the sport leaders by education in sport and gaining work experience as a sports community worker and trainer while working on the project.

2. Improving daily life in the community through organising various activities. Among which sporting activities, HIV/Aids education, gender issues, and issues concerning physical handicaps.

Contact MHS:

website: www.mhsmutare.org
contact: Joseph Nyakuromba, coördinator MHS
e-mail: joseph@haarlem-mutare.nl

Sport committee Haarlem
In Haarlem sporting activities are organised in order to show what powerful effect playing sports in Mutare can have on the local community. In order to organise these activities and the exchange between players from Mutare and Haarlem, a committee consisting of six volunteers and a sport coordinator has been set up.

Members of the Sport Committee Haarlem

Contact:
Inemarie Dekker, coördinator Sport Haarlem
E-mail: inemarie@haarlem-mutare.nl
Monday, Thursday and Friday

Power of Sport
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair… it’s an instrument for peace.”
Nelson Mandela

Increasingly sport is used as a tool to unite people and communities, internationally as well as nationally. Sport can be used to inform and educate in healthcare, economic development and conflict management. Also on an individual level sport is an important tool for developing social skills, like learning how to deal with winning, losing, tactics and strategy development. Above all sport builds self confidence and is fun!

The power of sport in Haarlem en Mutare

260 sport leaders between the age of 16 and 30 have been trained by MHS in the last few years. Twenty sport leaders are currently learning to become a sport leader! At the moment there’s 43 sport leaders active in the communities.

25 Dutch sport volunteers, sport students from ALO and CIOS, and 9 Young professionals have been to Mutare to join MHS as part of their school experience programme or assistant to the work of the sport leaders.

Five years ago Sport Support took over the programme ‘Community Sport’ from MHS. This is now also a success in Haarlem!

MHS programmes like: community sport, clubs & leagues, Women in Sport and Kicking Aids Out on average reach 8,000 people in 8 different neighbourhoods of Mutare per month.

The MHS sport project is an example for the NCDO network Sport & Development as well as for Unicef Zimbabwe.

Hard shots Handball Club, set up by MHS, has four of its players and the assistant coach in the Zimbabwe national hand ball team.

Sport leaders are asked to chair sport federations in Zimbabwe. In 2008 Joseph Nyakuromba was chosen chairman of the Manicaland Basketball Association.

In 2008 over 6,000 people from Haarlem and the surrounding area were involved in the exchange programme. The extensive amount of publicity in newspapers and magazines made sure another 400,000 people got to know about the programme.

Nine sport exchange programmes were held; from Mutare to Haarlem and from Haarlem to Mutare and Malawi.

In 2008 MHS received the Merit Award from the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce, because of the positive effect the sport activities had on the people in the suburbs, especially in these politically and economically difficult times.

Sport project and its history
On 30th July 2009 the sport project celebrated its 10th birthday!

It all started when the municipality of Haarlem together with the VNG and a number of enthusiastic sports teachers in Mutare, organised sports activities and set up a sports training ground in Mutare.

The CIOS (in particular Cees Versteeg and Miriam Creijghton) helped set up the project and stimulated its continuing development. CIOS students were sent to Mutare as part of the teaching programme. This came to be known as the Mutare Haarlem Sportleaders, MHS.

With subsidies of the development organisation ICCO more ALO students and ‘junior experts’ were sent to Mutare. Since 2000 Stedenband took over the sport project and in 2004 a sport coordinator was appointed. Since July 2007, MHS is an independent organisation which in 2009 was registered as a foundation in Zimbabwe.

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