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Staff Reporter
School sports competition in South Africa must be integrated with equal opportunities for all, says Minister of Sport, Arta and Culture Zizi Kodwa.
According to the EPG 2018 report, the School Sports competition system currently indicates three streams from which talent is identified and competition is staged. He said this system now needs to be integrated and has some challenges.
Speaking at a function to announce the launch of a professional domestic women’s cricket league, Kodwa said the system shows that there is a government-run school sports system.
There is one model where former Model C schools and private schools compete, where most athletes are identified, and then there is a system that the Federations use to stage the tournaments and select national athletes.
The athletes competing in the Government-run school sports system come from more than 23,000 public schools, most of which are previously disadvantaged with poor or no sports facilities.
These athletes’ competition system needs better organised and proper coaching support.
The second group are athletes from the former Model-C schools, including private schools that are properly resourced, with world-class sports facilities and proper coaching support.
The last group are athletes competing in Federations-staged tournaments, most of whom must have means to attend these events, the majority being from the former Model C schools.
Upon successful competition, these athletes are awarded the National colours and may be eligible for selection into academies and underage national teams.
However, Kodwa said the 2019/20 EPG report reaffirms the 2018 report, citing the following amongst factors affecting the rate and extent of transformation in sport:
• Ineffective community and school-based sport facility and sport provision programmes.
• Sports Federation primarily focuses on only about 1,500 previous model C schools to the exclusion of 25,000 under-resourced public schools.
• Ongoing gender inequality in all areas and all levels in sport.
“The subsequent stakeholder engagement sessions and public hearings that took place between 2020 and 2022 on the draft “Women in Sport Policy” confirmed the above, and to further complicate an already difficult situation, participants added that some of our older stadiums do not have female-friendly change rooms as these were designed with men in mind.”
In September, the Department will be hosting a School Sports Indaba in partnership with the Department of Basic Education.
“I am convinced that thriving school sports is the only way to transform sport in our country. I therefore extend an invitation to all like-minded patriots, sports activists, and stakeholders to participate in this Indaba to develop lasting solutions. It is doable when we, as stakeholders, face the same direction,” he said.
Kodwa added that such initiatives can empower local communities, making cricket a source of pride and aspiration for all.
Let us not only focus on talent development but also on talent retention. Our vision must include CSA establishing a Schools Focused Girls’ Cricket Programs. By nurturing young talent at the primary school level, building from the KFC Mini cricket, we create a pipeline of players who are skilled and passionate about the game,” he added.
He said this program’s integration of rural, township, and former Model C schools will exemplify how cricket can bridge gaps and build bridges, fostering unity and friendships across divides.
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