South Africa is a country and society of inequalities, inherited from colonialism, separate development, white power and control and the vicious apartheid system. Despite its democratic-era status, inequalities exist.
Sport functions in this paradigm of imbalances, non-level playing fields and
an unequal society with all its contradictions, elite power and control, and the struggles of working-class people to take part in sport.
Sport is administered by national federations, most of them struggling to survive because of financial constraints, like a lack of funding and small grants from the
government.
Clubs, administered largely by volunteers, are also struggling to exist. It is mostly volunteers who keep youth in sport by giving their personal time to coaching and club administration. They use their personal money to maintain their clubs in working-class communities.
Working-class girls who try to take part find the going tough as they encounter struggle after struggle. They need playing kit, transport money to get to training and matches, and money for leisure-
play expenses.
On top of this, they are required to pay registration fees to provincial sports structures that charge annual registration fees because they rely on the income to administer sport and survive.
And if you don’t have the money to pay registration fees, you won’t be allowed to play league sport and be involved in formal activities. That’s not all.
Playing field and outdoor sports like netball, hockey, softball and football also requires a gate entrance fee every weekend. The working-class girl must have taxi fare, a gate fee and some money for leisure. Sometimes she needs sports shoes. Then there’s the need for sports bras that are out of their reach.
All the expenses are too much pressure on working-class families, especially when parents are unemployed, surviving on a child grant or the mother is the sole breadwinner.
How many sports federations and their officialdom are conscious that South Africa is a society of inequalities, that black and working-class girls struggle the most to take part? The living conditions of those who attend suburban and private schools are vastly different from the working-class girl living in the ’hood, struggling against the odds to survive.
South Africa has nine provincial government departments of sport; all of them get sizeable budgets to administer sport. They also have a scheme for club development but only a handful of clubs get help from government money, which is the people’s money. Why can’t funds allocated for sports development be used to assist all working-class sports clubs? The funding will also ensure that club sport grows, is strengthened and keeps working-class girls in sport.
A volunteer sports enthusiast in Mount Frere in the Transkei is developing girls in football, giving his personal time, using his own money. The football initiative has grown and the girls are ready to play league. But they need R3000 for team registration.
Not only that, the South African Football Association requires players to have a medical - at their personal cost. Where must working-class and rural girls get this money from? Then again it falls on to the passionate volunteer official and coach to use their money to help the girls.
There is money in sport. Lots of money. But the money and funding is with the moneyed and corporate sports like football, golf, cricket and rugby. And even in these moneyed/rich sports, working-class girls must pay to play.
Why is this so when sports federations and government departments can assist and make sport viable and inviting for all by eliminating registration and gate fees?
That’s not all.
Selection for provincial teams is always a headache for working-class girls in sport. Most times they must pay their own way to travel to provincial tournaments. The costs aren’t cheap. They are given a date on which they must have the money. Then their fundraising starts, with community and friends all trying to help to get the working-class girl to play provincial sport.
Along comes national selection and again they must pay up to play.
Several working-class girls have been left out of provincial and national teams and representation because they couldn’t come up with the money.
Who benefits?
Of course, it’s mostly the privileged, elite, suburban girls who get to fulfil selection for South Africa while the struggling working-class girls are left behind.
ON THE BACK FOOT: Taking part in sport can be a financial struggle. Players need money for equipment, transport, registration fees and more.
Inequalities in society impact on inequalities in sport and subsequent participation. Money has become pivotal to sport being all about “if you don’t have the money, then you going to struggle to advance beyond club sport”.
We have struggled far too much to attain freedom in South Africa and to play sport in a democratic society. It was the working class who struggled for this freedom. Why when this freedom and democracy have been claimed, must working-class children struggle to take part?
Officialdom has lost its consciousness of the unequal society in which sport exists.
Sports leaders pursue involvement as if all compete on an equal footing. No, it’s not like that. Get this: in an unequal society, its always working-class girls who battle the odds, struggle and are faced with the challenges of taking part in the luxury.
The challenges must be noted and eliminated by assisting them to take part
without the burden of paying membership, registration, gate fees and tournament costs.
* Cheryl Roberts is a writer, publisher and sports activist.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.
Cape Argus