Sports for All: Inter-organisation sports league |26 December 2019

St Joseph Taxi Agency and Lemuria Resort Praslin champions

• Penlac, Ephelia Resort and STC Mahé league winners

With the aim of encouraging unity and improving attitude and relationship among the various local working organisations, the National Sports Council has once again this year hosted its inter-organisation sports leagues on both Mahé and Praslin.

Organised by the Sports For All Unit within the National Sports Council (NSC), the activity is also a way to promote a healthy behaviour, while allowing individuals who are not active at national league level to at least enjoy their favourite sports at a competitive level.

For this year, there were football leagues for men, along with volleyball leagues for both men and women.

In the Praslin football league, the winners are the St Joseph Taxi Agency, followed in the runners-up position by Lemuria Resort.

The third spot went to a selection made up of self-employed personnel from the island.

In the men’s volleyball league, it was Lemuria Resort who clinched the first spot, followed by the self-employed selection, while the St Joseph Taxi Agency finished third overall.

On Mahé, for the football league, the team from the Penlac Company Limited finished as the winners, ahead of second-placed Seychelles Trading Company (STC).

The team from the Skychef Servair finished as the third best in the league.

In the women’s volleyball league, the team from the Ephelia Resort finished as champions, pushing the Health Care Agency selection into the runners-up spot, while team representing the Judiciary came out third overall.

In the men’s volleyball league, STC emerged as the winners, finishing ahead of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The third overall place went to an airline selection.

According to the South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, organisational team sport participation improves mutual respect among employees because participants learn to value each participant’s contribution to the success (Downs, 2009).

When each participant’s contribution in the team sport is highly regarded, the outcome is mutual respect, but when the participants do not make the required contribution, less respect is generated. Team sport teaches employees that each participant has his own specific role and that team members need to respect one another to enable them to fulfil the role assigned to them (Downs, 2009).

This important evidence provides an argument that sport skills in teams can be transferred to the workplace.

Organisational team sport participation also improves communication between employees because in a sport team people have to communicate effectively in order for the team to perform.

Effective communication binds people together, despite differences in their culture, economic status, religious beliefs or background. Effective communication also breaks down barriers, which is important when integrating different cultures and norms (Carrigg, 2007). Research conducted by the Australian Sports Commission (AIS) has shown that effective communication during team sport participation also breaks down ethnic, political and social barriers (Oam, 2009).

It also enhances employees’ knowledge of others because they share the same physical space and transfer information.

According to Muleskinner (2003), sport participation can strengthen friendships and bring harmony between groups.

Lapchick (2005) is of the opinion that organisational team sport can be used as an effective tool to gain information on other employees and effect positive social change.

Compiled by Roland Duval