OUT OF
THE BOX
By Norrie Williamson
TIME TO RESTRUCTURE( PART 1)
Recent rule challenges at two SA Championship events as well as at prestigious races have highlighted a need to question if the structure of our sport is still relevant. I believe it is time for a rethink.
The roots of our club system are based on an amateur club structure established in the UK in the 1960s. It is an excellent system that became extremely strong through the years of isolation, and the clubs have been primarily responsible for the growth of races and of the sport in South Africa. No other country, to my knowledge, can boast such a strong club structure.
Later, the innovation of year-round license numbers saved race organisers( in most cases, the clubs) from having to print and pay for numbers, and their use front and back is in line with IAAF rules. Commercial sponsorship of these numbers commenced as far back as the mid-1970s, with Sanlam, Nedbank, Old Mutual, Lotto and others buying the rights for the license number branding. Race numbers were also commercialised, with the Comrades numbers originally being sponsored by Pepsi.
The introduction of age category tags was another world-leading innovation, as was the introduction in the 1980s of a temporary license system, designed to allow people to‘ taste’ the sport without committing to a club. This was a‘ day pass’ and provided further growth. The combination of all these factors led, and continues in many ways to lead the athletics world, and the standard of race organisation in South Africa is generally much better than in many other countries.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Prize money entered the picture in the 1980s, but was limited to R500, with only permit races allowed to offer more. In the 1990s, as the country started to gain more international sporting access, corporate sponsorship saw the introduction of club branding and retainers for top athletes. This prompted ASA to negotiate with the IAAF for a relaxation on the kit advertising rules for domestic events in South Africa only. Meanwhile, prize money started to soar upwards at the major events, but in real terms was still a fraction of international prize purses due to unfavourable exchange rates. The mid 1990s to early 2000s then saw massive steps forward in technology, including online entries, chip timing, easily managed databases, and small portable computing.
While all of these have impacted on the way large events have been organised, and the rewards for top performers, the opening into international competition, a reduction in media coverage of local sport( in favour of previously restricted international sport), a wider selection of mass participation sports( including triathlon, trail running, cycling, etc) has made local sponsorship of athletics less appealing at club level for medium and small events. And little has changed for the rural clubs. As with the country, the gap between the top and low end has simply grown apart, and yet the talent potential for the future ironically exists in greater numbers at the lower end of the scale.
Clearly things have substantially changed from the 1960s to 2017, but the founding structure has remained the same. To date, the ASA rules have been amended to try to fit these massive changes while working within a 50-year-old structure, when mobile phones, e-mails, chip timing had never been foreseen, and professionalism was banned. It’ s equivalent to the little Dutch boy attempting to prevent a flood by putting his finger in a hole in a dam wall. The problem is that after 50 years, the changes exceed the number of available fingers, and that wall looks like it could break. Some say it already has …
NEW IDEAS NEEDED
I believe that a new structure is required, one that keeps the strength of the club structure and the concept of licensing but allows for the diversity of events from small rural races to mass city events. Also, a structure that promotes and rewards professionalism and elite performance, that attracts commercial investment and media coverage of the sport, and ensures the sport’ s credibility and integrity.
Furthermore, I believe that once a new competitive structure is determined, it will automatically imply the need for a total rewrite of the rules, so as to utilise all the new technology, and allow the sport to be professionally administered and officiated.
Now I doubt any one person has all the answers, but I have given some thought to a potential starting point of this restructuring, which I will share in my next column. That said, I am patently aware it requires further discussion, input, modification and detail, or could even be dismissed completely for a better option. I therefore hope it will at least stimulate thought and debate, and hopefully by all working together we can arrive at a plan to take our great sport forward.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Norrie has represented Scotland, Great Britain and later his adopted South Africa in ultra-distance running and triathlon. He is an IAAF-accredited coach and course measurer, has authored two books on running, and counts 21 Comrades medals amongst his more than 150 ultra-marathon medals. You can read more from him at www. coachnorrie. co. za.
Images: Jetline Action Photo & Shawn Benjamin / Ark Images
24 ISSUE 100 NOVEMBER 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za