Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 101, December 2017 | Page 31

OUT OF

THE BOX

By Norrie Williamson

TIME TO RESTRUCTURE( PART 2)

Last month I began talking about the need change the structure of our sport, and here I continue the topic, with some specific examples of restructuring that I think will help us move forward.

These days the social media pages are often filled with South African runners complaining about various aspects of our sport, such as access to online entries and early closure of entries, or the need to wear four numbers in a race. It’ s easy to complain about these issues, and the social media armchair experts – yes, myself included – try to solve the problems, but I believe we are debating the symptoms, not the problem.

Image: Tobias Ginsberg & Jetline Action Photo
These issues are often just the‘ irritations’ of an outdated view and structure that was born of an era of amateurism in the 1960s, and has not changed in more than 50 years, apart from a small restructure( but a bigger rewrite of the constitution) in 1992 to 1994 to cater for unification. Technology, communication and attitudes have moved on, and the sport is open to both commercialism and professionalism. As a result, the structure of the sport has already been amended many times to accommodate the changes that have occurred in the past half century, but now I believe it’ s time to redesign and evolve something that fits the social and technological environment of 2020 and beyond.
ERA OF COMMUNICATION
In the past two years, ASA has investigated how to accommodate professional / commercial and virtual clubs into the current system, but the( now extended) working group continues to struggle to find a means of marrying the amateur and professional philosophies. Another problem is that the current structure is based on a pyramid, with representation the basic means of communication. Club members elect a chairman to take their views to a provincial landscape of say 200 clubs. These 200 club chairs elect a provincial president to represent 40,000 members at national level, along with 18 other presidents. Those 19 presidents elect a national president who is supposed to guide and look after the interests of the 120,000 registered athletes, coaches, officials and administrators – but sitting on the peak of the pyramid, one can’ t see or hear the majority of those 120,000 members.
Such a structure may have made sense in times when it was impossible and impractical to have direct contact and communication with each member, but this is not the case today, with websites and direct chat, mail and message access via electronic databases. So in 2019 there is no logical reason that each member should not receive direct communication from the province and national office. Only two things prevent this: First, the reliance on voluntary administration, which means many clubs, and some provinces, are unable to handle the workload of capturing this information on a yearly basis, and secondly, trying to do this all at the one universal time that the nation is on holiday!
FOCUS ON THE PRODUCT
Make no mistake, we have probably the best and most complete club structure in the world, and it has served us well on many counts, so we need to retain the benefits and strengths of the club structure, while changing the focus from the administration and support, to the sustainable production of participation and performance. In that sense, I believe we need to start with the products of athletics, then work backwards to define the support and resources, and then only the administrative structure required to deliver the best possible product. That would be a dramatic turn around compared to the current structure, where the focus has been to put administration( including the constitution) in place before looking at how to develop the optimum products.
A key premise to this will be changing the focus to delivering performance( improvement) and making room to accommodate both professional and elite goals, but also giving attention to the needs of those who wish to have the enjoyment, social interaction and personal goal-breaking opportunities of mass participation.
We also need to recognise that for commerce to invest in the sport, it is essential that they are able to gain a return at least equal to their investment. They also need to feel confident that the implementation of their agreement will be on a professional level, so the organisation must have unquestionable integrity and credibility. That requires strict adherence to rules, with predictable, transparent and credible actions. At the same time, adherence to the constitution, and the intent of rules, must cease to be something people are attacked for on social media, or expected to apologise for!
TIME FOR CHANGE
This change of focus will, I believe, allow us to tackle practical issues such as ensuring the administrative structure feeds the sport, promoting communication throughout the membership, ensuring commerce is integrated into the sport to benefit both the companies and the sport, and growing mass participation while also supporting the elites. That way the sport will become fully sustainable.
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 ultramarathon medals. You can read more from him at www. coachnorrie. co. za.
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