Regarding Lebohang Pita’s The Corner Flag opinion piece, published in the issue dated April 5, Frank Doherty writes:
I agree with most of the article about the Boksburg City Stadium (to give it its full name).
When completed in the mid-90s, the stadium complex was the finest sporting facility on the East Rand.
However, due to a lack of investment, vandalism and theft, it has been allowed to deteriorate to its current state – no different from the infrastructure around the rest of the city.
Being a football man, I still prefer talking about football rather than soccer.
The stadium was developed to accommodate athletics and football. The reason is that before the mid-90s, the traditional home of Boksburg football was Prince George Park in the middle of town.
Due to the new housing development at PG Park, a large part of the facility was lost to rugby, which was then allocated to the main football field, forcing Boksburg Football Club to relocate to the new stadium.
What I have difficulty getting my head around in the article is sharing the facility.
During the athletics calendar season, there is generally no football scheduled at the stadium, or at least this was the case several years ago.
Football only had access to the stadium at the end of the athletics calendar season.
Furthermore, football is generally only played on Saturday afternoons and sometimes midweek evenings.
As for athletes being denied access to the track, do these athletes just arrive and expect the stadium to be available?
Would it not be a good idea to check the availability first because, at the end of the day, it is a community facility?
All good citizens of Boksburg would welcome Thato Sesoko to use the stadium track, including the football community. No one would deny her access.
However, the stadium was not erected just for elite athletes but for community use.
Supporting each other regardless of our preferred sport, good manners and sharing should be a cornerstone for any sportsperson.
Also Read: THE CORNER FLAG: Fix Boksburg Stadium and stop denying athletes access
Also Read: THE CORNER FLAG: Grassroots level fertile with talented athletes
