The Corner Flag: Boksburg Stadium is anything but on track
Why is it so difficult to maintain the Boksburg City Stadium?
It almost feels embarrassing.
I’m not sure whether I’m starting to sound like a broken record or more like Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You, which every festive season bores me to sleep.
Since I started writing this column, I’ve repeatedly raised concerns about the sheer neglect of Boksburg City Stadium and other sporting facilities in the community.
Yet nothing changes.
The decay continues.
What is so difficult about maintaining a sporting facility that needs nothing more than a bit of TLC?
It hurts. I’m sure athletics fans feel it to the bone too. It’s worse for me because I’m a big supporter of clubs that place athletics development at the heart of their programmes.
So, once again, I’ll say it.
To describe the derelict state of Boksburg City Stadium as disgusting doesn’t quite capture the rage I feel whenever I step onto that track.
On Saturday morning, just hours after Leendert Koekemoer clinched bronze at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, USA, I took a stroll around the very track that helped mould him into the athlete he is today.
From afar, the track looks immaculate.
The blue tartan creates the illusion that we could soon witness Lythe Pillay attacking the stagger, with thousands of fans roaring from the pavilion.
That’s the beauty of the blue track.
Until you step onto it.
From a distance, the blue masks the cracks and scars. Get closer, however, and the true extent of the damage becomes impossible to ignore.
Also Read: The Corner Flag: Transformation starts with facilities, not team sheets
The facility is scarred, and those scars seem worse with every visit.
The back and finishing straights, bends, field, throwing cages and circles all tell the same story.
The scars resemble those of a criminal severely battered by an angry mob.
The consolation, I suppose, is that despite all its flaws, this facility continues to produce national and world champions, as well as medalists at major international athletics events.
But that makes its current state even more disgraceful.
It is a travesty that a venue which helped develop two of Ekurhuleni’s most successful athletes in recent history, Koekemoer and Pillay, is being allowed to decay.
Our City prides itself on finding the country’s next Olympians.
But how?
How do we expect to produce the next generation of champions when the facilities they rely on are left to rot?
Today, politicians celebrate our swimmers’ Commonwealth Games success and send congratulatory messages to the likes of Tumi Ramokgopa, Koekemoer and the rest of the South African U20 World Championships contingent.
But do they know — or even care — about how that success came about?
Do they care that Koekemoer trained on a battered Boksburg City Stadium track before eventually moving to UJ?
Does it not bother them that so many of our athletes are products of private institutions and clubs?
And what about those who cannot afford private facilities or fees?
They are left relying on a derelict Sinaba Stadium or a slowly decaying Boksburg City Stadium.
Yeah, I know.
These complaints are becoming outdated.
I’ve written about this before. And before that. And probably before that too.
But does that mean we should stop because nothing changes?
Should we simply accept the decay because our constant noise appears to be falling on deaf ears?
Whatever your views are regarding this abhorrent maintenance failure by the City of Ekurhuleni, one thing remains unchanged: the facts.
Our City is failing the very youngsters it claims to want to develop.
It is slowly killing the hopes of athletes who watched Koekemoer and Pillay run on this very track before becoming global stars.
These youngsters deserve better.
And as long as Boksburg City Stadium continues to crumble, I’ll keep pointing it out.
I won’t stop.
Because perhaps, one day, someone will finally listen.
Also Read: The Corner Flag: Why young runners need the track before the road
