South Africa’s Olympic heroes seem to have inspired Athletics SA (ASA) to take a more proactive approach to supporting the country’s track and field athletes.
While some of the plans have been a long time in the making, one of the most promising spin-offs from the Rio Olympics is to support athletes in the build-up to Tokyo 2020. Athletes are generally left to their own devices and it is sometimes miraculous how they manage to make the transition from being a talented junior to achieving senior status.
Other than the SA Sports Confederation’s Operation Excellence, which provides financial and coaching support for the country's Olympic hopefuls, there is no formal programme to support athletes, who largely look after their own interests while universities and some private high-performance centres also make a contribution.
ASA will be looking to follow a similar funding programme to that of British Athletics’ Futures Programme that gives “targeted support for athletes and their coaches”.
The initiative goes hand in hand with its World Class Performance Programme, where athletes and their coaches are expected to hand in annual plans which include training programmes and competition schedules.
This will be a progressive step for SSA, an organisation that has been more concerned about boardroom battles than the plight of South African athletes.
Among the plans would be to create “opportunities to test/rehabilitate athletes” while an “incentive/motivational-based schemes must be implemented to help athletes stay focused”.
The athletes federation will aim to draw up preparation plans for each individual athlete who will be part of the programme with the ultimate goal of winning a medal at the Games.
The programme will, of course, have to be voluntary as they would sign a binding contract with the national federation that will require them to attend press launches and other ASA events.
This may not be every athlete's cup of tea but at least it is a step in the right direction and will offer those who may not have endorsements yet, to make ends meet before they make a major breakthrough.
This is a progressive move for a country with more pressing socio-economic issues to deal with but ultimately it throws the country's talented athletes a lifeline otherwise unavailable.
Only a fraction of athletes who spend hours of gruelling sessions on the track without medical or other essential support get to make a proper living out of track and field.
The rest have to rely on the goodwill of others or for as long as a university bursary allows them to live out their passion.
And, while it is everyone's choice to pursue a life-long dream, it is encouraging that the custodians of the sport are willing to fund their dream.
Another positive development, perhaps of greater importance, is the ASA national coaches symposium the past two days.
The symposium in Bloemfontein brought some of the country’s top athletics mentors together “to map out an improved unified national approach towards the 2017 calendar and beyond”.
Coaching in the country has reached a level where young talent is few and far between while black mentors are a bigger anomaly.
According to ASA president Aleck Skhosana the federation will be, “listening to different experiences as we seek to make it easier for each other to present an athlete ready for competition at all levels”.
The genuine intention to listen to the people that will mould South Africa's future athletic talent can only be seen as a positive for the sport.
The Star