PATRIOTISM is one of the most important components for one to attain success in sports.
Loyalty unambiguously rewards hard work and excellence, teaches personal responsibility for success or failure, and celebrates the virtues of courage, earned-pride, and honour.
Sporting events are among the biggest occasions that draw Zambians from all walks of life together regardless of status in society.
While there has always been a great deal of pride amongst Zambians since the Chipolopolo won the Africa Cup Nations (AFCON) a few years ago, the prevalence of patriotism in the country is undisputable and citizens are proud to be who they are.
The sense of belonging is great; hence it is not surprising that most sporting events in Zambia are preceded by the national anthem.
There have been complaints from some quarters that sports teams sometimes demand payment for being  patriotic. This is a point others have made, not to disparage the patriotism, but to suggest that the teams should be doing it out of gratitude rather than greed or for personal gain.
In the previous edition, I highlighted the importance of identifying, nurturing and developing talent for the future without relying on players who are nurtured by others.
In my view, the word patriotism is the display of love and commitment to one’s country in any competition, be it sport or otherwise.
In Zambia, patriotism has become part of the narrative in football whenever a player is summoned to feature for the national team.
For some players, being called for national duties is seen as a rare honour and privilege for a player to serve their country. It is seen as an opportunity, a chance to make a mark at that level.
This brings me to the ongoing debate on the recent call-up of Charly Musonda Junior to the Chipolopolo squad ahead of the Russia 2018 World Cup and 2017 AFCON qualifiers. A lot has been said about the Chelsea player, who is currently on loan at Real Betis in Spain on why he should honour the call-up.
Charly Junior is Belgian and his allegiance is to that country, therefore, it would be a mammoth task or simply mission impossible for anyone to attempt to coax such a talented player to feature for Zambia.
Memories of former Wales and Nottingham Forest star Robert Earnshaw, who, despite being born in the mining town of Mufulira, opted to play for Wales are still fresh in our minds.
When Earnshaw was five years old, his family moved to Malawi where his father, David Earnshaw took charge of a coal mine and his youngest son (Robert) began school there.
But following the death of David Earnshaw, the family moved to Cardiff in Wales where Robert started his football career and eventually earned a call up to the Wales national team.
Several attempts were made by the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) to lure Robert to play for Zambia, where he was born, but by virtue of him obtaining Welsh citizenship, he had sworn allegiance to play for that country.
There a number of African-born players, who have opted to play for European countries and these are, Congolese born Christian Benteke of Belgium and Kenyan-born Daniel Origi (Belgium) among others.
For instance, French midfielder, Paul Pogba whose parents are Guineans decided to don the French colours while his older brother, Florentin has chosen to play for Guinea when he was eligible to feature for France.
Similarly, the Boateng brothers, Jerome and Kevin chose different paths when both of them could have been playing for the world champions Germany.
Kevin chose Ghana where his father hails from while Jerome preferred his motherland Germany.
Looking at all these examples, it is clear that Charly’s decision must be respected and his family needs a break. Let’s nurture other players, who will match young Charly’s skills as opposed to debating the issue.
For comments: moseschimfwembe@gmail.com