SPORT MAN
SAYS sport man says by MANFRED SEIDLER
Dawn of a New Era
With a literal revolution experienced at Athletics South Africa ( ASA ) in 2021 , when virtually an entire new Board was elected , sweeping changes were also introduced in the competition arena as the national federation embarked on an ambitious calendar , notably in track and field .
Five new ASA Continental Tour Challenger events give local athletes the opportunity to score World Athletics Ranking points on home soil
The 2022 ASA calendar includes a few new additions to the track and field programme . From March to May , in addition to the two ASA National Championships ( U16 / U18 / U20 in Potchefstroom from 31 March to 2 April , and Seniors in Cape Town from 21 April to 23 April ), there are now five ASA Continental Tour Challenger events . At the time of writing , two have already taken place – in Bloemfontein on 16 March , and on 23 March in Cape Town – and the next three will be on 6 April ( Potchefstroom ), 13 April ( Germiston – on the newly laid track ) and the final back in Cape Town on 21 May . In addition , there is also the two-day ASA Relay Championships , to be held at the end of April ( venue still to be announced ). and one Silver Label event in the Series . In an ideal world , we would be hosting a Gold Label event , too , but that comes at an enormous cost , so the Bronze and Silver Label events are way more realistic . Meanwhile , the first two meetings have already been met with more than just approval from the athletes . There is a serious buzz of excitement on the track again !
However , ASA is faced with many challenges , lack of sponsorships being one of them , and a glance at the prize money for the Challenger Series will bear this out . A first place wins R5000 , which is not much for a WA Tour event , but it needs to be remembered that this is just year one . The Federation is convinced that a sponsor will be found , and this confidence stems from the agreement recently signed between the Federation and Supersport to broadcast some of ASA ’ s events , including three of the Challenger Meets . With sponsorship will come increased prize money , and the possibility of upgrading to Bronze and Silver Label Status , which in turn will attract greater media coverage , which in turn will lead to further sponsorship opportunities . It ’ s a win-win situation .
The Future
To look into the future , one needs to look to the past ... From the mid-90s to 2003 , South Africa played host to one of the big stops on the World Athletics Tour , the Engen Grand Prix Summer Series . Held in March and April , this series had a whole host of spin-offs that saw SA athletics produce superstars such as Hezekiel Sepeng , Llewellyn Herbert , Frantz Kruger , Hestrie
Cloete and Jacques Freitag , to name but a few . Even better , the Engen Series gave South Africa ’ s best the opportunity to compete against the best athletes in the world – Michael Johnson , Marion Jones , Virgilius Alekna and Jan Zelezny come to mind – on home soil .
Also , the perfect summer climate at that time of year in SA saw several nations send their team to train here . South Africa was the perfect training venue for athletes to get away from the cold winter of the northern hemisphere , and with the favourable exchange rate , the European nations flocked here . If you walked onto the track in Pretoria , Stellenbosch or Potchefstroom , you casually rubbed shoulders with World Record-holders as well as World and Olympic Champions !
Not only was the sport stimulated , but athletics was also bringing foreign currency into the country . Remember , the athletes did not only come here to train … Regular excursions were made to the Kruger Park , and I remember for two years running taking international athletes out to Robben Island for an exclusive tour .
Viva La Revolution
There is no reason why those days cannot be resurrected , but the first step needed to be taken … and that has happened ! The revolution that has swept through the corridors of power at ASA is now bearing fruit on the track , as well , but we need to remember that Rome wasn ’ t built in a day . Still … Viva la Revolution !
So , what does this mean for South African athletics ? Well , there are two elements to this bumper season . The first is that there are now plenty of opportunities for South African athletes to compete – and with two events at the coast , that includes middle-distance racing . The other , possibly even more important aspect to these Challenger meets is that they are part of the World Athletics ( WA ) Circuit . That means that our athletes will now be able to earn WA Rankings points right here in South Africa , and will not need to make expensive trips to Europe to chase points .
The Vision … and Challenge
Head of ASA Track and Field , Jean Verster , has mentioned to me that the vision is to have two Bronze Label Events by next year , and by 2024 , two Bronze
About the Author
Manfred Seidler is a freelance sport journalist who has been in the industry since 1994 , in both print media and broadcasting , covering four Olympic Games for SABC Radio , and producing various athletics shows for the SABC . Follow him on Twitter : @ sportmansa ; Facebook : Sport Man SA ; Instagram : sportman _ sa .
Images : Courtesy Athletics South Africa
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