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Posted
Dirtbreath' date=' you can't group the Olympic sports with rugby, cricket and soccer. Most Olympic sports aren't professional, well, not in the same category as rugby, cricket and soccer.

PPWTF, the only way to improve is for the government to want to improve our sporting performances. That way support will be increased to the sports associations. But unfortunately, we are a country with a lot more serious problems than poor sporting performances. Money and support will continue to be channeled in those directions with sporting success being a 'nice to have'...

What sport can only hope for now is for big business to get involved just like it has with the fight against crime. Politics will remain a limiting factor though. As a journalist, I have covered many Olympic sports over the years and I'm afraid that the highest percentage of the dumbest humans I have ever interacted with are employed in sports administration in South Africa.
[/quote']

 

Its true corporate sponsorship is needed but we need a complete make over in sport here.

Throwing money at it is not the only answer, its just ONE of the answers.

 

Lets just look how over the last 15-20 years our kids attitude towards sport has changed. Previously all schools had a PE class two or three times a week where kids learnt to swim, do gymnastics, run on the track ,hurdles etc, the schools had trained dedicated teachers who took pride in teaching kids the right way to swim, hurdle etc.

 

Today you are hard pressed to find a public school (and quite a few private ones) who even have a swimming pool, gymnastic equipment a working athletics track or any qualified teachers to train the youngsters.

 

We also need to look at ourselves as parents, when I was 15 my father used to chase me out the house on fridays and tell me to go run 10kms, this taught me to love the sport right up to today, I was never Olympian material but I have run marathons all over the world and I still enjoy the sport.

Today parents take their kids to the mall on fridays and leave them with R200.00 to play video games and eat junk food.

 

How many parents take their kids to the muncipal pool and teach them to swim laps? or to the athletics ground and let them run on the track? - not too many I bet.

 

Then we need trainers, I read somewhere that all of our top athletic trainers are in their 50s and 60 s (one is even 70) how long can they continue?? - where are the young trainers and teachers who can teach the youngsters.??

 

Then as an athlete, you need to be able to make a living in the sport once you reach a certain level, its not good enough to expect a young athlete to work 10 hours a day as a brick layer to put food on his table and still be expected to come home and train for 6 hours - its not possible. The same applies to the trainers, they need a living wage to do a job.

 

Finally you need a sport ministery with a vision, yes they need money, but its not the only thing, they need to seek youngsters at school level, identify them, train them, feed them, build them, keep them enthusiastic and finally get them into international competition.

 

Getting an Olympian is like climbing a pyramid, you need hundreds of kids at the bottom running , training, swimming, jumping and swinging daily, and eventually, eventually, we will get ONE Olympian popping out the top who will win gold medals for us.

   
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Posted

 

Porky, almost all of the above is as it was (is) in the UK. Non of it is a total barrier to Olympic success.

 

For sure I see a lot of tough questions, but I also see a lot of answer to those questions. If the government can't sort themselves out then it will always fall to those with the drive and vision to go it alone. There's at least 1 Hubber who's already actively at work providing answers for those who want a slice of the elite sporting pie (I'm sure there's many more; I say 1 as he's already post comment here).

 

I firmly believe that we have everything we need to turn out successful Olympians, right here in South Africa.

 

Sean mentioned that the reason for a total lack of Olympic sponsorship was down to the National Government Administrative body failing to do it's job.

 

Any Hubbers out there with major corporate connections? We should be

beating a path to the door of companies / corporations interested in

'Sponsorship' of a velodrome and equipment, funding for an elite group of coaches and athletes.

 

What sponsor wouldn't want to cut out the middle man and deal direct with an elite coaching group / performance director / private organization driven by performance goals and outcomes..... (that oh so popular mass participation sport rowing managed to get covering costs sponsorship in the UK even before the Lottery came along)

 

I'm probably hopelessly over ambitious and naive in assuming some or all of the above, but I'm a 'glass half full' kinda guy (most of the time any way)

 

 

 

PPWTF2008-08-18 11:54:51

Posted

 

Porky' date=' almost all of the above is as it was (is) in the UK. Non of it is a total barrier to Olympic success.

 

For sure I see a lot of tough questions, but I also see a lot of answer to those questions. If the government can't sort themselves out then it will always fall to those with the drive and vision to go it alone. There's at least 1 Hubber who's already actively at work providing answers for those who want a slice of the elite sporting pie (I'm sure there's many more; I say 1 as he's already post comment here).

 

I firmly believe that we have everything we need to turn out successful Olympians, right here in South Africa.

 

Sean mentioned that the reason for a total lack of Olympic sponsorship was down to the National Government Administrative body failing to do it's job.

 

Any Hubbers out there with major corporate connections? We should be

beating a path to the door of companies / corporations interested in

'Sponsorship' of a velodrome and equipment, funding for an elite group of coaches and athletes.

 

What sponsor wouldn't want to cut out the middle man and deal direct with an elite coaching group / performance director / private organization driven by performance goals and outcomes..... (that oh so popular mass participation sport rowing managed to get covering costs sponsorship in the UK even before the Lottery came along)

 

I'm probably hopelessly over ambitious and naive in assuming some or all of the above, but I'm a 'glass half full' kinda guy (most of the time any way)

 

 

 

[/quote']

 

The problem is that any initiatives like this have to deal with the administrators/politicians at some point. Very frustrating cos they really are just bricks in the road...

 

Posted

The Boks are the worst- They are constantly playing badly, there has not been consistancy in their game since 1976 with the All Black Tour, and take the All Blacks- relatively consistant- The olimpic team on the other hand, perform poorly every four years, so THE BOKS WIN !!! (This one hands down)

Posted




The problem is that any initiatives like this have to deal with the administrators/politicians at some point. Very frustrating cos they really are just bricks in the road...

 

Hmm, fair enough, but I just think you are all just a tad too far down the road already.

 

We dont have a large pool of elite gymnasts, rowers, runners, cyclists, field and track athletes, whatever swimming around at the bottom of the pyramid, its more like a tiny goldfish bowl, and thats not going to carry through for long.

 

No Sir, we need to get the kids interested again in sport, thats where the Olympians of the future will come from, and thats not just rugby, cricket and soccer, its a whole spectrum of sports, when I was in school, we had a swim team,a rowing team a gymnastics team, a field and track team a long distance running team IN ADDITION TO a rugby, cricket and soccer team.

Gee, man we even had a band and a few pretty girls shouting for us.

 

Get the kids out of the malls and onto the track, into the pool out on the bike and then you will see the future. Its here, its just not been nourished.

 
Posted

 

 

 

The problem is that any initiatives like this have to deal with the administrators/politicians at some point. Very frustrating cos they really are just bricks in the road...

 

Hmm' date=' fair enough, but I just think you are all just a tad too far down the road already.

 

We dont have a large pool of elite gymnasts, rowers, runners, cyclists, field and track athletes, whatever swimming around at the bottom of the pyramid, its more like a tiny goldfish bowl, and thats not going to carry through for long.

 

No Sir, we need to get the kids interested again in sport, thats where the Olympians of the future will come from, and thats not just rugby, cricket and soccer, its a whole spectrum of sports, when I was in school, we had a swim team,a rowing team a gymnastics team, a field and track team a long distance running team IN ADDITION TO a rugby, cricket and soccer team.

Gee, man we even had a band and a few pretty girls shouting for us.

 

Get the kids out of the malls and onto the track, into the pool out on the bike and then you will see the future. Its here, its just not been nourished.

 
[/quote']

 

Porky, I  agree with you. But I believe that you are refering to a bygone era, sadly. The world has moved on and trying to change the patterns of modern living is going to be almost impossible. Kids still do sport at school, but these days there's also a variety of other activities outside of schools. And in this era of specialisation, many kids do most of their sport at club level (swimming, athletics, cycling, soccer, rugby, cricket, hockey, golf etc). I am constantly impressed by the high numbers of youngsters (primary school level) that I see participating in various sports at club level.

 

Just one example is the large number of juniors/youth that compete in road and MTB events.

 

This may just be in my community (greater Joburg) though and not a reflection of the overall trend. I grew up in small towns where the only sport I had access to was through school.

 

It's up to the parents to make sure the kids are given the opportunities to participate in sport as well as manage their diets. It's then up to the kids as to whether or not they wish to continue as they grow older. And that is where incentive is needed. Like it or not, we live in an era of professional sport and instant gratification. For a young sportsman/woman to see an Olympic medal as the ultimate reward is not quite as common as it used to be.

 

I still maintain that the sports administrators are where the problem is. If they managed their sports properly, they'd be constantly on the hunt for talent at schools and finding funding from the corporate sector to support youth programmes. And it's from that pool where our Olympic medallist should emerge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted

Agreed Sean, there needs to be a 'living link' from a current Olympian to the future generations, and despite the rather bleak results for the SA team so far, cycling is actually pretty rosy. Burry and Cherise are exactly what is needed to bring in sponsors and attract the public. The coaching talent is clearly here as well; how else do we turn out talent, despite no central direction or support? Couple that with the number of major new cycling events taking place here in SA (Intaka Tech Worlds View Challenge, UCI junior worlds, BMX et al) and this is sponsor heaven, a marketing managers dream.

 

I know none of the back story, but on the face of it Joe Freil setting up training bible SA is as strong an indicator that the potential is here as you could possibly get. If I am in the business of making money, no politics involved, and am looking to expand my coaching business, I can be damn sure I'm gonna think very carefully about where I expand. The guy opened shop here.... There is so so much potential, and so many people are already doing great work. To me, take the next step, in my mind I visualize what would be produced with a central drive, funding and direction; a pooling of talent for a single purpose.........

 

I don't mean to piss anyone off with the constant stream of 'British' links; it's simply where my base of knowledge is at.....

 

http://www.norwichunion.com/sponsorship/gr-on-camp-with-kelly.htm

 

"The Camp itself, funded by Norwich Union and held at Kelly's base in

Potchefstroom near Johannesburg, took place in November 2004 and gave

the girls the opportunity of experiencing what it is like to be a full

time athlete and train at a world renowned venue at altitude in South

Africa. From masterclasses from other Olympic athletes, to tough

training schedules and lectures, Kelly became the girls' mentor."

 

Reading back through this post, there is a pattern or sequence of events that you can see in other nations.

 

 

 

Sport runs itself (pre LA '84) - moderately successful, without major sponsorship or administrative direction (isolated

success down to sheer will and talent, outside of the college or high

school setups and scholarships, almost 'by accident not by design')

 

 

 

Athletics goes 'Pro' / European sport embraces American marketing

 

 

First generation sponsorship deals are largely for specific athletes / sports events (not the bodies supposedly directing sport)

 

 

Government steps in to national team affairs - mayhem ensues

 

 

 

Sporting professionals (retired athletes, unpaid professional

coaches - successful despite no previous formal support outside of the

coaching group, Administrators with elite sporting backgrounds) step in to give focused direction (effectively removing Government from the equation - except for funding), real direction is give - measurable and sustainable success steadily follows

 

There comes a point when 'government' actually has to listen to those driving the success (fingers crossed)

 

apologies all round for the long post - just thinking out loud - I hope it doesn't come across as self important or OTT. I'm not saying I have answers, just observations made

 

 

 

Posted

IMHO - I think the biggest problem in this country is TV & too much money for the kids. Everyone sits in front of TVs, and expensive playstations, gaming PCs. If the money isn't there for those things... the kids will have to play outside. Oh ja, don't forget the children wanting the best flippen cellphones...Angry Unfortunately its the sign of the times. And of course , one have to blame the parents, its too dangerous for children to play at the park... go with them, get you lazy @ss off the couch!!!!

Posted

IMHO - I think the biggest problem in this country is TV & too much money for the kids. Everyone sits in front of TVs' date=' and expensive playstations, gaming PCs. If the money isn't there for those things... the kids will have to play outside. Oh ja, don't forget the children wanting the best flippen cellphones...Angry Unfortunately its the sign of the times. And of course , one have to blame the parents, its too dangerous for children to play at the park... go with them, get you lazy @ss off the couch!!!!

[/quote']

 

It all comes down to the parents again. I bet the parents feel worse then the kids if they, the kids, don't have the latest toys.

 

Parents are lazy. The other day I saw a parent in a microbus drive behind his kids while they were cycling on Ontdekkers.

 

 
Posted

It all comes down to the parents again. I bet the parents feel worse then the kids if they' date=' the kids, don't have the latest toys.

 

Parents are lazy. The other day I saw a parent in a microbus drive behind his kids while they were cycling on Ontdekkers.

 

 
[/quote']  Ya, the problem is that the kid must have what other kids have, otherwise...BIG problems....

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