Iga Swiatek, a Polish, at age 19 won the 2020 French Open as a student, she combined her tennis career with finishing high school where her favourite subject was mathematics.
Swiatek, born on May 31, 2001, in Warsaw to a family of sporting personalities made history in the French Open by not only being the youngest to win the tournament but also the first person from Poland to lift the coveted trophy.
She made history for herself and her country by defeating Sofia Kenin, the Australian Open champion, who won in Melbourne in January 2020, before the pandemic, 6-4, 6-1, in the final to join Chris Evert, Evon Goulagong, Aranta Sanchez Vicario, Steffi Graff, and Monica Seles who have won the Roland Garros before they turned 20.
The Polish education system accommodates sports and education to run in pari-pasu, hence, it was easy for Swiatek to achieve such a feat in her sporting career.
Her interest in tennis was not made to suffer because of her high school academic work; unlike the Nigerian Aina James, who had to forfeit his participation in the world universities game some years ago because of his academics.
The Polish government, in 1947 liquidated the pre-war three-level school when the Ministry of Education ordered the implementation of a unified curriculum.
The primary goal of school education and sport in relation to the interwar years did not change in Poland. For the purposes of education, as a matter of course, the motor skills, physical fitness, immunity, structure, and attitude of the body were emphasised.
For the purposes of education, the need to create characteristic features, social and moral attitudes were stressed and the habit of physical activity, and for cognitive purposes, it was about learning by the student about the body and its development and understanding the importance of physical education and sport.
There is no doubt that there are many Iga Swiatek in Nigeria. However, the challenge here is the political will to set in motion the structures, policies, plans, and systems that drive the discovery, nurture, and encouragement of the avalanche of skills in the land.
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Obviously, Swiatek did not become a world champion overnight. It took tutelage, encouragement, and having a system whereby she could possibly participate in sports activities, yet not miss out on her academic pursuit.
It is now crystal clear that sports and education can be properly tailored to accommodate each other, bearing in mind sports just as education is a key driver for socio-economic growth.
It is a proven fact that sports and education are irreversibly interwoven, one promotes the other. One is also embedded in the other as sports form parts of education, so education provides platforms by which different aspects of sports manifest their practices and activities.
Sport is now more than ever before commanding global attention, besides; it is a viable means of foreign exchange growth. Its influence on world peace, economy, and the development of social relationships cannot be underestimated.
It is against this background that most developed countries, such as Japan, China, Poland, the USA, and France, among others, have come to appreciate the need to invest heavily in school sports.
To achieve effective education and sports system in the country, the government must equip the public schools with sporting equipment and well-trained sports trainers.
Swiatek’s victory at the 2020 Roland Garros (French Open) is already leaving its mark on the country’s sports circle. She is confident that her performance at the tournament will help to trigger the organisers of the WTA-rank tournament on Polish soil.
