Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 127, February 2020 | Page 23

exceptional job in a very short space of time. Boxer
has athletes who are coming through the development
ranks, while Nedbank, in a radius of just 300km up
in the “North” have Enoch Skosana’s development
squad in Pretoria, Pio Mpolokeng’s group in the
Northwest and Siyaya Koza’s squad in Gauteng, all of
which are tasked with finding and coaching the next
generation of running talent.
Meanwhile, Entsika has joined forces with legendary
athletes Willie Mtolo and Hendrick Ramaala, and Coach
Sponge Michael Seme (the man behind the success
of Stephen Mokoka and Glenrose Xaba), to assist with
coaching its marathon and Comrades runners. And of
course with its support and sponsorship of Vorentoe
High School, Murray & Roberts is also doing its part.
So let’s put that myth about elite clubs just being
poachers to bed right here.
Transfer of Allegiance
So a club identifies an athlete it wants to sign. Now
what? Because there are no clear guidelines from a
national point of view about professional runners and
elite clubs – and we will get into that later – the clubs
have by and large come up with their own rules and
contracts. So clubs will offer athletes a contract that
may include payment in money, or product, or travel
assistance to events, or some combination of these.
Nothing untoward about that, it is in normal business
procedure, a contract of employment with running
(work) in exchange for money, product or assistance
(payment). And if an athlete does not like a club’s
rules and conditions, they do not have to join that
club, just as nothing forces me to work for a company
if I do not like its set-up.
So far, so good, sounds simple enough, but here
is where one of the biggest problems now raises it
head. It’s all fine when an elite club discovers a new
talent and signs them up, but what if that athlete was
already a member of a community club, or signed up
to another elite club? Here is where it becomes a bit
tricky... although, in principle it shouldn’t be.
The way the ASA rules work, is that at the end of each
calendar year, athletes become free agents and can
move to any club they want to. All they require is a
release letter from their current club, and there are two
reasons for this form. Firstly, so that the athlete is no
longer registered on the provincial database as being
with club X, but rather club Y, as this will have an
impact on results. And secondly, to confirm that the
athlete is in good standing with the club he or she is
leaving, and is not under suspension. This is because
clubs often assist their athletes financially with gear,
small loans or in other ways. The athlete has to return
the gear and repay those loans before they can move
on. No issues there at all.
But here’s the big question: What if an athlete has
been with club X for five years, and that club has
invested in that athlete in the form of coaching, kit,
transport to races, perhaps even accommodation for
some races? Now, however, the club no longer has
the resources to pay the athlete a retainer, or perhaps
the athlete feels that in order to further their career,
they need to move to another club? Is it fair on the
athlete to not let him/her go and join a different club,
or as so often happens, accuse them of not being
loyal? It has happened too many times to count, and
continues to happen.
Furthermore, is the club that can afford to pay this
athlete stealing/enticing them away? This new club is
in most cases also looking for podium finishes, team
prizes and the publicity that top runners bring, so it is
in their interests to sign that calibre of athletes. And
it is these top level elite clubs that make it possible
for our top athletes to run professionally, or at least
semi-professionally, thus creating the environment for
faster times and more riveting racing, better stories
for the media, and thereby help keep the money in
road running. But should the club that spent all those
years developing this athlete, not get some form of
compensation for their time, effort and investment?
Lessons from Football
Because we have not yet found that happy medium
of true professionalism in South African road running,
the football (soccer) transfer market provides a model
that our sport could look at in order to plot a course
into true professionalism. In professional football,
club A develops a young player and can then sell that
player’s contract to club B, receiving a transfer fee as
agreed upon by both clubs. The player’s contract with
club B is a negotiation between club B and the player,
who normally sings on a set number of years. These
transfers only happen in two international transfer
windows, i.e. January and July-August, and the
transfer deal only happens if the player leaves club A
(for whatever reason) for club B during his contract
period with club A.
If a player in the final year of his contract with club
A lets it be known that he wants to leave, and the
club cannot or chooses not to “sell him” to another
club, then after that year comes to an end, the player
Pro runners outside of SA tend to be sponsored by
athletic brands, which brings a new look to label
races like the FNB Cape Town 12 ONERUN
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