When I started this blog, little did I know that my first two posts would largely be based on soccer, or football as the mud-islanders call it. In truth I’ve been working on a paper regarding how emotional intelligence translates into a group or team (sport or business), and how it can make average Joe’s successful and make the already successful teams into world beaters. But it requires quite a bit of research and reading, something that has not been a priority of mine since the world cup party started! So bear with me… I’ll get there.
In the meantime, I’ve decided to have a little say on what we as South Africans can do after the world cup to somehow assist SAFA in developing the game in our country and turn our clubs and players into true world beaters. Look, I’m not going to pretend I know how to run the game in this country, or any country for that matter. But I can comment on what we as everyday people and soccer fans can do to assist SAFA. The answer is quite simple, support.
Any successful professional team across all sporting codes will tell you that the secret to long term sustainable success is grass roots development. The word sustainable is a very important one, because anyone can put together a team of superstars overnight and be successful in the short term (something we hoped the appointment of Parreira as Bafana coach would do). But to be able to maintain that success and build a legacy requires a massive investment in the youth and the development of players. That means high performance centers and youth academies beginning at a very young age, not just U/19 level. If you don’t believe me, just have a look at Manchester United, or any English premier league club for that matter. Another great example is the Bulls rugby team, as much as I dislike them and their IQ-challenged supporters, you’ve got to hand it to them, they are pretty damn good. But people forget that in 2002 they lost all 11 of their Super 12 league games, making them the worst team in Super rugby history (that is until their brothers south of the Jukskei decided to eclipse that and lose 13 on the trot this year. Well done Lions.) To change the order of things the Bulls focused on a massive junior player development, fast forward a few years, and the Bulls are the undisputed champs of Super Rugby.
Sounds simple enough you might say, but it doesn’t help putting these systems and structure in place and doing it half-heartedly. You need to do it properly, and to do that you need money. And this is where we as fans come in. I’m not talking about donations, I’m talking about support. Think about how much money you’ve spent on kits for overseas teams, match tickets, trip overseas to watch them play… Isn’t it time that we as South Africans started developing our own talent as opposed to overseas talent? Although I realize that in the case of the England team it hasn’t helped! I think everyone agrees that the natural talent in this country is immense, now imagine the heights we could scale if our clubs had the finances of overseas clubs? Granted those finances would have to be managed properly, but that’s a whole other discussion.
A few of my mates and I (and this wasn’t even my idea, so I’m feeling proud!) have decided that in order to do our part, we each have to choose a team in the local PSL, and attend at least one of their games per month. Add to that the merchandise sales, and perhaps we can be the start of something. I’m not even a soccer fan and I’m going to do this, surely people who love the game could the do the same? It makes me sick to think we’ve been lining the pockets of these over paid prima donna nancy boys overseas and have totally ignored our local leagues and players. It’s time that changes, and that change begins with us. Give it a bash. You never know, 8 years from now we could be celebrating a World Cup Final involving Bafana Bafana. With our support, it could happen. Let's start building the legacy...
Catch ya’ll on the flipside…
Dazz
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Patriotism vs Supporting a Winning Team
So, I've finally decided to do this blog thing. Perhaps it might even keep me out the pubs and out of trouble... no wait, scrap that comment...
In light of the upcoming Soccer World Cup, for my first subject I've decided to touch on something that both infuriates me and gives me great satisfaction. Patriotism. Ah, the mere mention of the word sends images of Mel Gibson in Braveheart and also the Patriot flying through my brain. But this is South Africa, and what does being a patriot mean to us? Does it mean painting the flag on the roof of our 2 ton pick up truck? Does it mean wearing SA flag underwear and letting your country ''support'' you? Does it mean shouting ''R.S.A'' everytime we get a little excited? Oh no wait, it's just the yanks who do that...
For me, a South African's patriotism can be found in the way they support and love, well, anything South African really. South African foods, sports teams, actors, musicians etc. are the biggest beneficaries of our patriotism. Any Saffa who has lived overseas, or even been on an overseas holiday, can agree that coming across a South African store or even a mere piece of biltong can at times evoke emotions not seen since Kate let go of Leo's frozen hand in the Titanic. A sense of national pride is an emotion that cannot be explained, like watching the Boks lift the William Webb Ellis trophy in 1995 and 2007, or watching Graeme Smith and the boys wallop the pompous Wallabies on their own hometrack in 2008... Great memories those ain't it? So why is it then that as soon as race is brought into the equation, a person's patriotism gets split down the middle? Let me ellaborate...
Jabu supports Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana with all his heart and soul, however when it comes to supporting the Springboks, he says he would rather support the NZ All Blacks due to South Africa's tainted past. Dave thinks Jabu is a hypocrite and must stop living in the past and support his country. Dave is right. However, Dave is also a hypocrite. When you ask Dave which soccer team he supports, invariably his answer will be Liverpool/Man U/Chelsea or something of that sort. I ask him why does he not support Chiefs or Pirates or any other local team, and the answer is generally always the same... "I don't watch that crap". When asked which international soccer team he supports the answer is always England or France or whatever, but it's never South Africa. Why? "Because they're useless, there's like one white ou in the team, that's why they so shit. And SAFA is so corrupt, they don't care about the game, only themselves". So basically, Dave is telling me that he is a racist fairweather supporter. A bit controversial considering probably 90% of the people I know have that same view. But fact is fact, yes there are major problems within SAFA, but believe me, whatever goes on there goes on at rugby headquarters. Are there racists within SA Soccer? Sure. Are there racists within SA Rugby? Of course there are. But do we stop supporting the Boks because of this, or if they start losing too often? Hell no!!
So Jabu, get over yourself, it's 2010, support your damn country. Forget the All Blacks. And Dave, come china, support a team you actually have an emotional attachment to. Not some foreign team whose country you probably haven't even visited! I don't care what your heritage might be, you were born and raised as a South African, so whether it's jukskei, tiddlywinks, rugby or soccer, if it's South African, that means it's YOUR team. Let's get behind Bafana Bafana for this world cup, and regardless of how they perform, they'll still be fellow countrymen giving it their all to make us proud, let's give them the respect they deserve.
Oh and before I forget... STORMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Catch ya'll on the flipside...
Dazz
(For the record, I am not a soccer fan, but if SA plays, I support them first and foremost. My secondary team is Italy. If have to choose a club team, it'll be Kaizer Chiefs. I do not support an overseas based club team. I am quite possibly the biggest rugby fan I know and watch all the rugby I can. I'll hopefully be doing a lot of rugby posts in the future, as well posts on leadership, or any other random academic thing I might be interested in at the time!)
In light of the upcoming Soccer World Cup, for my first subject I've decided to touch on something that both infuriates me and gives me great satisfaction. Patriotism. Ah, the mere mention of the word sends images of Mel Gibson in Braveheart and also the Patriot flying through my brain. But this is South Africa, and what does being a patriot mean to us? Does it mean painting the flag on the roof of our 2 ton pick up truck? Does it mean wearing SA flag underwear and letting your country ''support'' you? Does it mean shouting ''R.S.A'' everytime we get a little excited? Oh no wait, it's just the yanks who do that...
For me, a South African's patriotism can be found in the way they support and love, well, anything South African really. South African foods, sports teams, actors, musicians etc. are the biggest beneficaries of our patriotism. Any Saffa who has lived overseas, or even been on an overseas holiday, can agree that coming across a South African store or even a mere piece of biltong can at times evoke emotions not seen since Kate let go of Leo's frozen hand in the Titanic. A sense of national pride is an emotion that cannot be explained, like watching the Boks lift the William Webb Ellis trophy in 1995 and 2007, or watching Graeme Smith and the boys wallop the pompous Wallabies on their own hometrack in 2008... Great memories those ain't it? So why is it then that as soon as race is brought into the equation, a person's patriotism gets split down the middle? Let me ellaborate...
Jabu supports Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana with all his heart and soul, however when it comes to supporting the Springboks, he says he would rather support the NZ All Blacks due to South Africa's tainted past. Dave thinks Jabu is a hypocrite and must stop living in the past and support his country. Dave is right. However, Dave is also a hypocrite. When you ask Dave which soccer team he supports, invariably his answer will be Liverpool/Man U/Chelsea or something of that sort. I ask him why does he not support Chiefs or Pirates or any other local team, and the answer is generally always the same... "I don't watch that crap". When asked which international soccer team he supports the answer is always England or France or whatever, but it's never South Africa. Why? "Because they're useless, there's like one white ou in the team, that's why they so shit. And SAFA is so corrupt, they don't care about the game, only themselves". So basically, Dave is telling me that he is a racist fairweather supporter. A bit controversial considering probably 90% of the people I know have that same view. But fact is fact, yes there are major problems within SAFA, but believe me, whatever goes on there goes on at rugby headquarters. Are there racists within SA Soccer? Sure. Are there racists within SA Rugby? Of course there are. But do we stop supporting the Boks because of this, or if they start losing too often? Hell no!!
So Jabu, get over yourself, it's 2010, support your damn country. Forget the All Blacks. And Dave, come china, support a team you actually have an emotional attachment to. Not some foreign team whose country you probably haven't even visited! I don't care what your heritage might be, you were born and raised as a South African, so whether it's jukskei, tiddlywinks, rugby or soccer, if it's South African, that means it's YOUR team. Let's get behind Bafana Bafana for this world cup, and regardless of how they perform, they'll still be fellow countrymen giving it their all to make us proud, let's give them the respect they deserve.
Oh and before I forget... STORMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Catch ya'll on the flipside...
Dazz
(For the record, I am not a soccer fan, but if SA plays, I support them first and foremost. My secondary team is Italy. If have to choose a club team, it'll be Kaizer Chiefs. I do not support an overseas based club team. I am quite possibly the biggest rugby fan I know and watch all the rugby I can. I'll hopefully be doing a lot of rugby posts in the future, as well posts on leadership, or any other random academic thing I might be interested in at the time!)
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