Sport Development and Diversity

Business Day has a great article exploring why black rugby players who seem to succeed on the field in junior rugby do not succeed as they go up the age brackets.

It is an argument I have made before, in my experience with badminton in Cape Town. Sports development is not only about training and coaches - it is about nutrition, about emotional support, about family support, and a whole lot else. If kids are going to spend hours to get to training, development is not sustainable. If kids are not going to get good nutrition at home, they will physically not develop regardless of the hours they spend in gym as part of their training. If they do not get support in their education and family life (which may be in non traditional family structures) they will have other things to worry about.

That said, I am not sure that boarding school, as advocated, is the solution. In my own experience in Cape Town, the fact that top players (including national players) stayed an played in the community was in itself a promoter of the sport. Ultimately, I think a balance is required and it required support from multiple spheres of government and civil society.

Back on the court

I had not played badminton since I left Cape Town, and it was great to play once again. Yesterday, I went to the Wanderers Club (next to the cricket staidum), and they have nice facilities and the people are quite friendly. It is quite far for me though - about 25 Km drive in each direction ... so need to see if I can find an alternate venue.

The end of an era?

So, last night was the last time I played badminton as a member of the UCT Badminton club, for the forseeable future. I have "threatened" to leave before, notably at the end of my 3rd and 4th year, but this time it is for real.

The club has changed a lot, since Tim, Murray, Kevin (Feng) and I joined in our first year (2000). It was a social club, and back then, it was struggling to sign up enough members to justify itself as a UCT sports club. Since then, the membership numbers have improved, and there is a good balance of competitive and social activities of the club, although some may justifiably say that the social aspect of the club has diminished substantially.

My association with the badminton club has been rewarding. I don't think I set out to get the club to be competitive, and many of the things that happened, almost arose from accident. I remember going to Frans' office, to ask him about SASSU, and whether he thought I should run. I left, not only wanting to run for SASSU but also the WPBA.

It is in the WPBA that I have possibly had the most rewarding time, but also the most frustrating time. The red tape, and the pig headedness is difficult to get used to, esp when you are used to getting things done (because usually, you are the only one doing anything). At the same time, seeing the results of the development program, such as Gugulethu and more obliquely Ocean View, is reward enough.

Unlike Navine, I don't think I can commit to UCT Badminton club after I leave UCT. It takes special dedication to commit to a club for 20 years, and sail through the turbulence without actually taking the helm. I don't know what my future holds, but if it is in Cape Town, then, maybe I should start my own club :P

Prison Break

So I went to Pollsmoor Prison today ... not something you do everyday really. The Western Province Badminton Association (WPBA) runs a development program in the Female Prison, and today was the official launch of the program (after 4 months of the program actually running!). The WPBA goals in this area are simple really - prison is not only about punishment, but also about rehabilitation. Most of the prisoners, will, one day, be back in the society. It is therefore necessary to allow them some level of interaction, skills and base for them to re-enter society. Sport is one such link, and Pollsmoor offers other sports including cricket, football (soccer) and rugby.

While going to the playing area (which serves as the dining hall at other times), I saw other prisoners (although I did not interact with them), and young children, who are incarcerated with their mothers because they do not have anyone else ... I suppose it is better than foster care. I was later told that for the most part, most of the female prisoners treat the kids as their own, and the kids are actually loved and cared for very well ... most, as some prisoners, like the infamous Dina Rodrigues (who was incidentally being led to counseling when I arrived) are apparently not tolerated or liked by the general prison population.

As for the participants - they may not be out for a while. Some of the ladies, including the most accomplished player to date) are there for the long term - 10 to 20 years, serving for, amongst other crimes, murder and robbery. But I suppose, judgment has been passed, and they are serving their punishment ... it is up to the society to also make sure that they do not commit again, and most of all perhaps, do not allow for a scenario where they feel they need to commit a crime?

Health of the Nation: 50 Hour Sport Challenge

This past weekend, I was involved in the 50 Hour Sport Challenge; and initiative mainly geared to expose kids to sport, so that they can hopefully pick up a sport, and keep healthy. With a number of major sponsors, including Old Mutual, Supersport etc, it was a very slick, and well organised event.

I was helping out with badminton, as part of the Western Province Badminton Association, and it was very interesting experience; because unlike traditional sports like cricket, rugby or soccer, badminton is almost unknown; and it is also quite difficult to get into. On the other hand; it is possibly the only sport in the world, that does not really have any distinction between ladies' and men's game; with mixed doubles being one of the key components of the game.

Ultimately, badminton is a dying sport in South Africa; and ironically; it has lost a lot of players after 1994. In an attempt to re-ignite the sport; we need to grow the sport with the kids; and this was a great opportunity. In the end, we made a few contacts with teachers and community leaders who are interested in getting the sport going in their schools/communities; and hopefully this will be a new start.

Sport and Development

Over the weekend, the UCT Badminton Club hosted the inaugural UCT Schools Challenge, a schools only badminton competition played in a cup format. I am quite proud of the turnout considering it was my pet project, and 66 boys and girls participated from about 10 different schools. It is my pet project, and like the UCT Open, I hope that it becomes an annual event.

Badminton was once a very popular sport at UCT, and during the bad old days of apartheid in the 70's, UCT was once the strongest clubs in the country featuring a number of South African players. In fact, the UCT Sports Team of the Year trophy is called the Doug Butterworth Trophy after a past chairperson of both the UCT Badminton club and the WP Badminton Association. But being a white dominated sport in the past has meant that the sport is in dire need of "transformation" in some parts of the country. Furthermore, because it is not a professional sport in South Africa, there is very little money in the sport. This is despite the fact that it is also an Olympic sport, but then look at swimming and sponsorship and it is easy to see that money only flows to Cricket, Rugby and Soccer.

Regardless of these hindrances, badminton is a huge sport in Oceanview, a predominantly coloured community in the Cape Flats. And there are two very good reasons for this. First and foremost is Dorian James, currently one of the top four South African players (and off course a two time winner of the UCT Open ;)). His rise to the top (and also his brother Enrico) has meant that the community has something to celebrate. Secondly is the involvement of Chris James and Francois Wessels in the development of the sport in the community, pushing it in to the schools. This has resulted in even more results with virtually the entire South African U19 squad coming from Oceanview.

It is the last fact that has really inspired other kids - to see that their friends have come to the level that they are traveling around the country and overseas. In the Schools Challenge, the largest percentage of the kids were from Oceanview, and they had teams in both the girls and boys semi-finals, with one of the boys teams loosing the final is a very close deciding match and one of the girls teams winning the finals. It is in them, that the results of development can really be seen, and ultimately measured.