OPINION
Quo vadis , Athletics South Africa ?
I don ’ t want to dwell on the recent Olympic Games or the World u20 Championships , because I don ’ t think they are relevant to the future of the sport in this country . I am not saying that we don ’ t need a proper debrief of the Olympics , nor that we should not celebrate the success of the u20s . My point is that we have had good and bad years before , and the lessons of the past were never learnt . So , quo vadis … where to now ? – BY JAMES EVANS
Some believe that ASA is hindering , not helping the sport
Success or failure does not come overnight . It takes time to develop anything good , and it takes time , although a bit less , to destroy it . To give some examples , in 2017 bizarre selection standards meant a lot of athletes who had met the international qualifying standards were left at home instead of going to the World Championships . The argument was that higher standards push the athletes to perform better . The actual effect was that many of the athletes left behind instead gave up . As a result , they weren ’ t there in 2021 to push for places in the team . At the same time , the stars of the 2016 Olympics and the 2017 World Championships had been around since 2013 , and some as early as 2009 .
In short , there is no easy fix to guarantee athletic success . Funding is not the answer by itself – I ’ ll deal with this more below – and having coaching camps , ‘ centres of excellence ,’ testing , appointing a national coach , etc , merely cost money , but seldom bring results .
Lack of Opportunities
Let ’ s first look at what we are up against : The top
international athletes are professionals . The systems within which they operate are professional , and designed to provide opportunities to compete and to make money . They have access to competitions at various levels and there is a culture of doing the sport the right way .
What do our athletes have ? In a typical year ( i . e . before COVID-19 ), in most regions athletes had maybe five or six chances to compete outside of the national championships , if they were lucky . In many regions there are no senior track & field competitions , and most of the time they have to pay to take part in competitions , in front crowds that generally consist of three people and their dog . Their international compatriots are probably taking part in front of 1000 people , and being paid appearance money . That ’ s leaving aside the fact that in South Africa you are lucky to get results within a week , and the closest we have to live results is WhatsApp groups .
Meanwhile , the poor athlete who lives in a rural area will be lucky to have a couple of school competitions , and after school they have to move to a metropolitan area . If we are realistic and honest , there is nothing happening in 90 % of the country , yet we expect to compete effectively on the world stage with just 10 % of the available talent being given limited opportunities .
Centralisation Problem
Why is this ? That is a thesis in itself , but a brief summary is this : Until the mid-1990s , there were a number of big track & field competitions around the country , and many successful elite road races . Then , for mostly commercial reasons , a process of centralisation started . Rather than individual meet or race organisers optimising sponsorships for their events , organisation was centralised , and so too were sponsorships .
The result was that for a short time the national federation was flush with cash , but the skill gained by organising top competitions was soon lost in the different areas that had lost their events . Athletes also had to travel to other regions to be able to
The lack of depth in women ’ s athletics is particularly concerning
SA is blessed with great sprinting and relay strength
52 ISSUE 145 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2021 | www . modernathlete . co . za