ISSUES AT STAKE: Commercialization is killing grassroots sport

FOR much of the last century, amateur sport stood firm against the onslaught of professionalism.

Athletes, rugby and cricket players, for example, were expected to participate purely for the ‘love of the game’.

There were exceptions, of course, such as boxing, wrestling and golf.

But in most mainstream sport codes, players bought their own kit, footed the medical bills for the inevitable injuries and paid for their transport to get to matches and tournaments.

Accepting a buck for play or a sponsorship for a bat or boot resulted in instant banishment.

The first cracks appeared in in the 1980s, gained momentum during the 90s and today full-blown commercialization in sport rules across the board – big time.

There was little resistance to the transformation, least of all from the modern day gladiators who filled the arenas.

As billions poured in through massive sponsorships and television rights, few argued against the players earning their fair share of the loot.

From sport puritans’ point view, perhaps the one negative was that the big money created an inevitable crossover to a more entertainment milieu – razzmatazz and fan worship attracting more paying crowds and TV viewers.

Hidden problem

Herein lies a hidden problem which, it appears, is conveniently swept under the carpet.

To use rugby as an example, the emphasis on funding all the hoopla and ever increasing player demands on big paychecks as foreign agents lure our top talent, means that the big cash is banked at the high-profile franchises to the detriment of the grassroots feeding grounds – especially in the country districts.

This is perfectly illustrated on our doorstep.

The Empangeni Rugby Football Club, competing in KZN’s premier leagues with much success since 1920, has a proud 95-year history of developing future talent.

It has a specific programme in place providing development opportunities for previously disadvantaged players – and the results are showing.

The Rhinos first and second teams already comprise 60% black players, 80% in the third team and 90% in the fourth team.

Yet, the club is facing serious financial hardships.

To put it in context, it has no title sponsor and is mostly reliant on a R100 000 annual grant from the KZN Rugby Union to survive.

Merely the club’s travel costs to meet its match obligations runs to just under R100 000, so all other expenditure such as clubhouse and fields maintenance, player kit and other incidentals have to be sourced from elsewhere.

Matters are no different at the region’s other clubs.

It is not good enough for the provincial rugby union to simply plead ‘poverty’ every year.

The South African Rugby Union and the franchises need to give urgent attention to this neglect and imbalances of fund allocation.

Country districts sport codes are not only an asset to their communities, but crucial to to overall well-being of sport at national level.

Too much money is wasted on ill-conceived happy-go-lucky fun ‘sport development’ initiatives, instead of well planned results-based programmes to really develop our talent.