Sport news:

Are sports bodies professional enough?

Sport sponsorship means big money. In 2002 SA companies spent R2731-m on sport sponsorships, BMI Sporttrack estimates. Sporting federations thrive on sponsorship, which can mean the difference between salaried employees and volunteers or professional athletes and part-time competitors. In fact, it is the ability to attract major sponsors that set the high profile sports like rugby, soccer and cricket apart from sports like volleyball, gymnastics or judo that are as poor as Cinderella.

The asking price for sponsorship of national teams like the Springboks, Proteas, Bafana Bafana or teams representing the country at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games is exceptionally high because they represent the hopes of the whole nation. Brand exposure is international and usually exclusive.

"Companies become involved in sponsorship for the brand awareness and exposure gained, and secondly, for return on investment," says Paul Zacks, MD of Canterbury, who this year invested R135-million for the next 5½ years in the Springboks. "In return for sponsored investment, Canterbury seeks to generate maximum brand exposure through commercial activities."

Wrong logo

As all retailers probably know by now, the commercial activities in the form of sales of supporter replica jersey received a setback when it transpired that SARFUs sponsorship contract with Castle expires in November. With stock from the previous sponsors still on the shelves, it made good retail sense to wait with the big orders until the replicas with the new Sasol sponsor logos can be sold from November.

Until then, the main commercial benefit for Canterbury lies in their association with the Springbok brand. "In SA, rugby has a hero-worship type of following and if children or aspiring sports stars see their heroes wearing Canterbury clothing and protective hardwear, trends have shown that they would want to wear it and play in it as well," explains Zacks.

That is something that the individual sponsors of these rugby stars, who have more of a following than local film stars, understand equally well. That is, after all, one reason why they invest in promising young players – sometimes from school level. They know that one day their investment might start paying off, if the youngster makes it into the big time by being selected for a national or Super 12 team that will get lots of TV and press coverage.

Not only will the investment pay dividends in the form of free advertising, but they can also sell headgear and shoulder pads to retailers based on the power of the sponsored players to draw consumers to buying that particular brand or product.

But, as Zacks so eloquently puts it: "in order for Canterbury to dominate or be the preferred choice of brand in rugby, it is vital to have the public see that the top people or professionals in their respective field believe that Canterbury’s products are worthy of being worn or used by them."

It is therefore clearly not in Canterbury’s interest to have the TV camera focusing on the Gilbert, WASP or Rugbytech logo’s adorning the headgear worn by these same top players. Nor does it do them any good if the close-ups of tackles or tries published with the match reports the following day advertise their competitors brands, while their manufacturer’s label remains hidden from the public eye.

In rugby, the close-up cameras focus on the head or shoulders of players where the brand names on the technical equipment are clearly visible on headgear or necklines of shoulder pads. And since Canterbury have perfectly good protective products that the players could wear, they would like that brand name to be theirs, thank you.

When the Canterbury sponsorship kicked in on July 1 this year, Theunie Lategan was dispatched to inform the players down under that they were only allowed to wear Canterbury – or nothing.

But, how now with their contractual obligations to their individual sponsors? These contracts bring in a handy income, albeit not in the same league as a national team salary, but still. Furthermore, breaking a contract can cost you serious money and all kinds of other penalties, as anyone who’ve ever signed on the dotted line knows. Unless, an employer contract specifically stipulates that all other contractual obligations are null and void.

According to players’ representative Jason Smith, the majority of the Springbok team members realised that if they agreed to the request not to play with their individual sponsors’ products provided that they get employee contracts from SARFU, they could force SARFU to give them the contracts that president Brian van Rooyen said they did not need. They also wanted confirmation that SARFU would protect them from any legal fall-out that may result from the reneging of their personal sponsorship contracts.

Its all about contracts

By the time we went to press, they still did not have SARFU contracts, confirmed Smith – who represents Victor Matfield, who was sent home during the Tri-Nations due to injury, who then rapidly recovered to play for the Blue Bulls, who helped win the last two Tri-Nations games, who has taken SARFU to arbitration over a contract...

Players contracts — or rather, the lack thereof — has long been a negotiating topic that at one stage boiled over into grumblings about a possible players strike.

"In Springbok rugby, pay has been a critical issue for a number of years," writes Janice Spark of brand consultancy Idea Engineers in an article for the media and marketing website Biz-community.com.

"To this day, players remain confused as to where they stand in terms of reward and recognition, more so the goal posts have shifted on a monthly basis. The result? Many of our best players have abandoned national rugby entirely, citing long term and irreconcilable differences with SARFU. Simply put, in England players know where they stand and how they will be rewarded for performance."

But, while the players are still negotiating, the individual sponsors are wondering if it is still worthwhile to invest money in players. Especially, since Investec (Western province and Stormers) followed suit and told players to remove sponsor labels from their protective gear.

Even more than high profile national teams, development teams and players rely on sponsorships to play their sport. When a company has no way of reaping any benefits from the investment once the player gets to the top, the one time business decision becomes a charity donation.

"SARFU says that they will buy out player contracts, but do they know what it entails? They have no idea what the players’ contracts entail, because SARFU never contacted us before they told the players to break the contracts," says Frikkie Crous of Rugbytech. "This will affect the income of the players significantly."

But, even more so, it will affect the income of future players and teams as sponsors will think twice before signing any new contracts, he says.

But why the outrage from individual sponsors? Surely, when a sponsor pays for the honour of providing teamwear, he should expect team members to wear his brand and nothing but his brand.

The answer to that lies in the term "team wear". In most sponsorship contracts "technical products" used by players to enhance performance are excluded from national sponsorship contracts – unless stipulated otherwise. This enables players to play with their bat or racquet of choice, and wear the shoes they choose (or their sponsors provide).

Getting technical

For years, it was argued that headgear and shoulder pads are technical products, designed to provide more comfort here or protection there, in other words, all the special features meant to enhance the performance of a player. Because the player chose the product that enables him to play best, protective gear is not covered by the teamwear contract. A special mould is, for instance, made to incorporate specific features for Victor Matfield’s WASP headgear, says sponsor Darryl Scott.

Now it is argued that these items are mere pieces of clothing. The IRB is not much help. In response to our question whether headgear and shoulder pads are technical products or clothing, Geoff Evans, Head of Development, responded: "The answers to your questions are covered by reference to Law 4 (Laws of the Game) and Regulation 12. The Law states what may or may not be worn and the regulation goes into this in a more detailed manner giving specifications. The issue of contractual relationships is one for the player’s parent union and is not an issue on which the IRB has a position."

IRB Law 4 – Players’ Clothing defines clothing as anything players wear. Would this imply that Canterbury can insist on players wearing their brand on all the rugby paraphernalia covered in the Law … like elasticated supports, shin guards, ankle supports, mitts, mouth guards, bandages, boot studs or tape?

This argument is not only waged in rugby. The dispute between individual contract and national contract holders crops up everywhere and in all sports. Prior to the Athens Olympics, Israel’s top tennis player Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi was involved in a dispute with their Olympic federation when her personal sponsor, Lotto, said its OK to wear the apparel supplied by the official sponsor Speedo … as long as she wears Lotto in all the tennis matches she plays! Not surprisingly, Speedo suggested that she leave Lotto at home and play in the official gear.

And as was well publicised, Speedo SA had a contract with SA Swimming for the SA swimmers participating in the Olympic Games to wear their highly technical Fastskin FSll one piece suit. Since adidas was the official teamwear sponsor – and they incidentally make performance swimwear – this contract with Speedo was clearly a special deal to supply a highly technical product that can not be supplied by the official supplier.

These suits, designed with all the bells and whistles and tests to prove that they can make swimmers move faster through the water, were made for the individual swimmers (they’re stroke-specific, to boot) in the national colours of the teams and swimmers who opted to wear them. Among them Michael Phleps.

Swimmers wearing the first Speedo speed suit, the Fastskin 1, won 83% of the medals at the Sydney Olympics and according to Speedo, the new model reduces passive drag by even 4% more. This was a serious performance product that Swimming SA was getting – in fact, these suits are so hi-tech and pricey that they will probably be too expensive for the general public.

So, what does Swimming SA say when our record breaking, gold medal winning swimmers suddenly choose to swim in Arena suits?

"Swimming South Africa’s CEO, Dave Norman’s press statement August 25th, that ‘swimwear is regarded as technical equipment, and the athletes are entitled to wear what they think suits their needs best’ achieves two new milestones: one, it completely breaks the written agreement with Speedo SA and goes against the official FINA and IOC ruling. Two, and here is the real crunch, it effectively kills any future team sponsorship dead in the water," says Speedo SAs Paul Barrett-Smith.

"The SA swimmers have not only broken the World Record, but they have also broken any control that the swimming federation, and NOCSA, previously had over them. "We are now entering an interesting new era of individual athlete sponsorship, which may not be that good for the sport. The tail is certainly wagging the dog — this time anyway!"

Sport sponsorships involving millions can make or break a company. Sporting federations may believe that if this sponsorship does not pan out, there will always be another company ready to foot the bill. But unless sponsorship contracts are treated as serious and far-reaching business deals, they might run out of companies willing to play (or pay).

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Are swim development

initiatives providing a lifeline for the industry?

Swimming means different things to different people: for the priviliged it means lazing around pools and on beaches; for the competitive minded it means hard training and galas; but for a large portion of the SA population it means the difference between drowning and staying alive.

Learn to Swim is an initiative of Swim SA that teaches this latter group of people to be "water safe". Water safety education, water orientation and swimming as a vital life skill are all key factors in this increasingly successful campaign to teach a large portion of our population to swim for survival.

The aim of the Learn To Swim (LTS) campaign is to make "every child a swimmer by 2014". According to Godfrey Monei, co-ordinator for marketing and communications at Swim SA, swimming lessons should be the norm in SA schools by 2014.

Apart from the survival factor, LTS has the objective of encouraging all children to participate in sporting activities – even if it is only to enjoy playing in water - thus drawing them away from the ills of crime and creating a healthy youth and community, says Monei.

The LTS programme also provides the starting point for the development of clubs in areas that do not have a formal swimming infrastructure. "The LTS programme assists clubs to get started," explains Monei. "This includes capacity development and administrative infrastructure planning and implementation. These clubs provide an opportunity for the community to participate in aquatics at a recreational level, and eventually at a performance level."

To achieve these LTS goals, resources that are required to support the programmes include:

Training of instructors, especially in rural areas.

Provision of safe aquatic environments where children can learn to swim, especially in rural areas. This includes swimming pools, portapools, etc.

Provision of equipment to support programmes

Since the LTS campaign was launched in 2001, about 300 000 people have taken part, mainly adults (trained instructors) and school children.

Swimming in all schools

Swimming South Africa launched their portapool-project in October last year as part of the ‘Rural Splash’-leg of the LTS programme. "The progress of the children has been phenomenal, " says Monei. "With the objective of ‘Every Child A Swimmer by 2014’ this enables more children to swim at schools."

It is also becoming easier every year to convince local and provincial authorities to buy into the LTS programme as they are seeing the benefits for themselves, Monei points out.

"The demand for LTS instructor training grows every year with almost 1 000 people seeking this skill annually," states Monei. "Every time Swim SA runs a project, new demand for the product is evident."

The demand is so high that they do not have enough resources to satisfy all the requests.

While teaching water safety is a far cry from developing competitive swimmers, LTS has exposed more of the market to the benefits of swimming, not only as a recreational activity, but also for safety purposes, says Chantal Swemmer, marketing co-ordinator for Cressi-Swim.

"If we look at the number of people entering the swimming market over the past couple of years, we clearly have a hugely developing market," she says.

"The main focus of the LTS initiative is teaching swimming to the previously disadvantaged, and through this process regulating water safety not only in swimming pools but also dams and oceans. Not only has the indoor swimming market grown, but the number of participants in the open swimming market, such as the Midmar Mile, has risen dramatically."

Midmar numbers growing

In 2002 the Midmar Mile had 13 218 entries, which grew to 16 050 in 2003, and the record breaking 23 000 entries in 2007 – with a third of them children under 12 and two-thirds between 12-30 years old.

"LTS has set the bench mark in swimming initiatives, with the primary target being children, but the adult market is also growing at a dramatic rate," continues Swemmer.

"There are definitely more consumers reaching the market through the efforts of Swim SA and their national LTS programme," says Paul Barrett-Smith, president of Speedo SA. "The real crunch comes through the availability of pools and facilities that will allow these new consumers to stay in the sport. Perhaps the biggest push swimming has seen in this country is the easier accessibility to Virgin Active pools through the Discovery Medical Aid programme."

This, however, does not necessarily mean more sales of swimming accessories and teaching aids as Swim SA normally subsidises equipment to disadvantaged communities. But, if the growing participation base leads to more clubs, more schools offering swimming as sport and more competitive swimmers entering the market, this will have a positive spin-off.

As swimming equipment is very affordable and available for all levels of the market, from entry level right up until master swimming, it is within the reach of developing markets, says Swemmer.

According to Barrett-Smith swimming is one of the cheapest sports to participate in. "You need your racing costume (boys R120, girls R200), goggles (R70) and possibly a swim cap (R20)."

Where clubs operate in areas that struggle economically, Swim SA tries to assist with equipment, mainly with funds obtained from Sport & Recreation SA.

"With programme such as these and various other exposure to the market, such as the outstanding performances of our professional swimmers such as Ryk Neethling, Roland Schoeman and Natalie Du Toit, the market will continue to receive an influx in consumers," states Swemmer.

Apart from the water safety programme, Swim SA also has programmes in place to grow and improve competitive swimming in communities who do not normally swim, or have access to coaching. This includes a fast track team.

"The swimmers to join the fast track team are identified at our national competitions that are part of our national strategy," says Monei.

"During the 2006-7 season approximately 30 swimmers were on the elite level fast track programme. Many of these swimmers have gone on to various junior and senior international competitions and will continue to improve if they are provided with the appropriate opportunities."

Thabang Moeketsane from Soweto has been one of Swim SA’s biggest success stories. He was discovered through the LTS programme and placed on the fast-track programme at the high performance centre in Pretoria. With the right interventions and financial support from sponsors like Gauteng Sports Academy, SASCOC and Telkom, Thabang has become one of the leading swimmers in the country and Swim SA believes that he has the potential to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Monei emphasises that swimming is a long term development sport. "What this essentially means is that swimmers really only start realizing their full potential once they reach maturity. However, it is imperative that in order for swimmers to achieve their full potential, they are given the proper grounding in their formative years and not deprived of basic facilities where they can train."

Many of the basic facilities are lacking in the poorer communities and in the townships. "We are committed to transforming our sport and believe that there many other young swimmers like Thabang in the townships who if given the opportunity can go on to make our country proud," proclaims Monei.

One thing is certain: the various initiatives such as "Learn to Swim" and transformation in swimming will continue to make waves in the market and in the water. Now that is something to splash about!

A current LTS initiative involves an SMS-campaign. The public can donate towards the Learn to Swim programme by sms-ing the word "swim" to 38585. SMS’s are charged at R10 and no free SMS’s may unfortunately be used. VAS rates apply.

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Bowls —

adapting for the next 2 000 years

Bowls, sometimes also called old man’s marbles has over years evolved from the dreary sport it was, into one that now calls people of all ages to its greens and any weekend you can see hosts of players occupying bowls greens on the many bowls clubs throughout SA.

One of the main reasons for this has been some radical changes in the way the game is played, changes that appeal to the younger set and a less conservative dogma about how bowlers should dress.

While you will still see the nurses in starched whites and the ice cream vendors in their whites on some bowls greens the trend has been more towards an exciting introduction of colour, coloured shirts and coloured bowls. Also expect some big changes in the way the game is played and its interest to outsiders soon.

There has not yet been much change in the habits of bowlers and their needs for bowls clothing and equipment, says specialist bowls clothing and equipment retailer Lorna Raubenheimer, who runs her business out of a converted cargo container at Edenvale Bowls Club in Gauteng.

Raubenheimer, who years ago took the bold step to sell only bowls goods, says her business is going well and she was happy with trading in the last year. “Of course, I know that my being there with my display of goods at bowls tournaments is a good selling point and sales from my shop have therefore been consistent.”

She travels all over Gauteng, and some other areas, to be at bowls tournaments and feels that bringing the mountain to Mohammed has seen interest in her lines grow with her presence at national, district and local events. She recently attended the Atlantic Championships at the Wanderers in Johannesburg with her trademark Bowls Shack and had a very good fortnight of trading, as players from sixteen countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean and beyond, stocked up with new bowls goods — and paid in American dollars!

She has found that white clothing — the standby of the bowls game — was still the best seller, but coloured shirts have their place, although most of these were private orders from clubs or associations who wanted distinctive colours for their teams.

In Gauteng there seems to be a return to the conservative, and to my mind, boring, black or brown coloured bowls, while the delightful pastels and primary reds, blues and yellows are not getting the support they need.

However, at the coast, and particularly in Cape Town, colour is the watchword again with the return of the exciting Super 10 competitions for U45s that began at Pollsmoor at the end of May. There coloured bowls are enjoying a good run. The vivid splashes of colour among the other dour, dark looking bowls, adds so much interest to the game, as does the now established trend of coloured clothes.

Another aspect of the change in clothing has been the introduction of peaked caps. Seldom do you see a hat on a bowls green nowadays as the vivid splash of many coloured caps takes your eye.

Changes in administration with a more realistic look at bowlers’ needs could, however, be on the cards. Moves to oppose sitting members of the national bowls board are afoot and if they are successful, one can see changes that have been needed for some time.

Expect a change in the attitude of the administration to all facets of the game, and more particularly, in the line of relaxing many of the stringent laws that preclude bowlers from expressing themselves freely; a more friendly attitude to new players of the game, and most importantly, a reaching out to members of races other than white to take the game to them and bring them into play.

This will, by its very nature, see an influx of players to the game and as the diehard group — now mostly in their late sixties and early seventies, disappear by natural attrition, imminent death lays heavily in bowlers’ minds — the number of bowlers is sure to increase and so bring even more markets to the retailers stocking bowls.

Bowls by its very nature is a personal game, but also a game where camaraderie and friendship are at the forefront. Often called the largest singles club in the world, it has been the saviour of many lonely people who have found new friends and a sense of being wanted at a bowls club, not to mention the number of partnerships and marriages formed after meeting like minded people of the opposite sex at the club.

Bowls is well, alive, and living in many countries throughout the world and the game is sure to still be around after all of us of have long been forgotten.

And the game has been around for a long time already. In the players’ manual Playing Bowls published in the year 2000, it appears to have been introduced into Britain by the Romans in 43 AD.

Interesting to note the Dictionaire Universal del Sciences and other sources indicate that the game of billiards originated from bowls. Historian Strutt, writing of billiards, says: I cannot help thinking that it started from an ancient game played with small bowls on the ground, and it was, when first instituted, the same game transferred from the ground to the table. The green cloth of the billiard table may have its origin from the green grass of the bowling green.

From 43 AD till now is a long time and bowls can surely survive another 2000 odd years.

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Can the youth set the bowls rolling again?

AYE

The national bowls federation believes that it has successfully arrested the dramatic decline in membership of this sport, says Michael Burger, administration manager of Bowls SA.

Bowls boast membership of about 34 000 individuals and 600 clubs, but there have been some significant developments that augers well for the future of the sport, says Burger.

One is that a national u.25-tournament, as well as development tournament will be hosted in Bloemfontein in July, similar to the Craven Week rugby tournament.

"Furthermore, the coal face of national level tournaments is changing. There are far more youngsters in our national tournaments currently," adds Burger.

Bowls South Africa has gone on a intensive development drive into schools to present bowls as an alternative sport and a vehicle for relaxation.

"In black schools in the townships, bowls were very, very well received, but the question is sustainability. We have to keep the children interested.

"We have introduced a short carpet project. We supply carpets of twenty and ten meters respectively, which have been used extensively by the schools."

Bowls SA ran a bowls exhibition at the Sandton Convention Centre from 5 to 7 June as part of their marketing campaign to attract new members to the sport.

It is true that the sport has lost members over the past few years, says Burger.

The sporting channels on TV have added entertainment value to weekends and have contributed to the decline in the membership of bowls.

Some bowling clubs — traditionally funded by Eskom, the municipalities and the mining industries — have closed down as a result of these funds being channelled elsewhere, which have added to the decline of membership, he said.

But, dwindling membership is not only a South African phenomenon.

"There is a big concern about dwindling numbers in England, Scotland, Wales and the Jersey-islands," added Burger.

Not that the country is in a state of melancholy and has gone into premature winter-hibernation because of the decline.

The Specsavers Mixed Fours Tournament will be hosted by Central-Gauteng from 27-31st August.

In September, the mixed pair championships will take place in Kimberley.

South Africa will play a series of two tests against Namibia, also in September.

The annual Botswana International Pairs will be played in Botswana in October with the World Bowls singles taking place in November.

All these activities will provide vital training for the World Bowls championship in Christchurch in New Zealand in 2008.

SAs men are currently ranked 4th in the world and the ladies are ranked 5th.

Lorna Trigwell of South Africa is the number 1-ranked woman in the world.

"She has been the top-ranked player in the world for the past 8 months and is a great ambassador for our sport," says Burger.

It might have been a coup d’état for South African bowls as a TV-sport if they could have entered into the World Bowls indoor tournament to be held in Australia later in 2007.

Burger explains that the Proteas decided to withdraw simply because the country has no indoor-facilities of note and it could have hampered preparation for the more important World Bowls championship in Christchurch if they had accepted the Australian invitation.

Tys Pringle, media liaison officer of Bowls SA, says bowls are growing internationally, and specifically in Japan and in Australasia.

SA’s intensive development program has had a positive impact in that more and more young players have been attracted to the sport.

Bowls SA has introduced a new membership card for school children to lure them to bowls. Children in possession of such a card do not need to be affiliated to a club to play the sport, he adds.

Herman van Rensburg, chairman of the development committee of Bowls SA says 1 200 of these affiliation cards for juniors, or red cards, have been handed out, which would give young players free access to competitions at club level.

Bowls SA want to change the perception of bowls as so-called old man’s marbles. "During the past ten years, that image has gradually changed, with more school children participating in the game," says Pringle.

Lately, some young players have gained international recognition. Amongst them is Wayne Perry, who played at u.21-level only two years ago.

Van Rensburg said that Piet Breitenbach, president of Bowls SAa, is still negotiating with the department of education about allowing bowls as a sport at schools level.

If the president succeeds, it will have a positive spin-off on the acceleration of membership of the sport at junior level.

In the drive to grow the active numbers of bowlers, the national body is also keen to promote the image of bowls as a vital cog in team building exercises of businesses. That is why Bowls SA is engaging in the exhibition in Sandton, says Pringle.

NAY

Not everybody agrees that targeting the youth will grow the sport of bowls.

Steve Fullard, owner of Drakes Pride SA, is very concerned about the decline of bowls members in SA, especially amongst the sport’s traditional participants.

When SA competed in the World championships at Zoo Lake in 1976, the country had 75 000 members. The number dwindled to 50 000 in 1989. A year or two ago, the membership had shrunk to 35 000.

Fullard says all amateur sports in SA are struggling. Research done in Gauteng revealed that soccer clubs in Soweto are dwindling and the main reason is that families love to spend time in shopping malls on weekends.

"We have further problems in bowls in that the sport has not really taken root in the previously disadvantaged market. It spread in colonial areas and has prospered in Australia, New Zealand, and England.

"But the sport has generally not appealed to people from different backgrounds. The white people in SA — the traditional feeding system of the sport locally, has diminished in numbers.

"Also, it is not a sport you could easily play in your back garden. They (bowls SA) have tried the indoor-stuff at school level. It will never take off," he added.

"Our climate is generally not conducive to indoor-sport. People want to play outdoors and experience the sunshine and the fresh air."

Three other factors have affected growth — sport on TV, the decline of clubs and crime.

With the advent of TV-sport and professionalism in sport, many older members have preferred to become coach potatoes, says Fullard.

The change to liquor laws that made alcohol available at any hours on weekends, have also made traditional sport clubs less attractive as an option for people to go to the bar of the sport clubs.

"Thirty years ago, clubs were vibrant social centres and liquor laws were different, but now that people can buy alcohol at any day or hour, and with the increase in crime, people don’t want to go to the traditional sport clubs any longer," says Fullard.

In Australia, bowls clubs are attached to big gambling casinos, which finance them every year, so they are not fighting for survival there.

In SA, the decline has been marked. He knows of at least fifteen clubs that have closed down in Gauteng, and two in Port Elizabeth.

There are one or two areas of growth.

The South Coast of KwaZulu/Natal is a thriving and fast growing bowls centre, simply because many older players retire to the South Coast and then continue playing their beloved bowls.

The retailers have also suffered because of the dwindling numbers. Usually, bowling coaches go to a bowling club and set up a small pro shop there, where they will coach the bowlers and sell them equipment.

The traditional sporting shops no longer keep all the bowls hardware and clothing. They go for the fast moving products – like cricket bats and hockey sticks that are purchased annually and even, sometimes, quarterly, he says.

So they are no longer a one-stop-shop where bowlers purchase everything they need at once.

The amateur bowler needs 2 sets of bowls once in a life time, while a top-bowler will replace his bowls every three to four years. Because it is not a fast moving item, sport shops won’t keep them, adds Fullard.

Fullard is adamant that while Bowls SAs enthusiasm and passion to grow the game amongst school children should be respected, it might not grow the game substantially.

"Firstly, I don’t believe that a child of 15 or 18 should be playing bowls, unless he or she has a physical disability. I believe the schools market might be a captive market, but could you create sustained interest in the game and attract masses of school children. I don’t think so.

"Maybe they should be shifting their focus to the traditional market and focus on rugby, hockey and soccer clubs where some people might retire within a year or two," he adds.

Fullard also emphasizes that one should accept that the sport would be predominantly practiced by elder people. The average age at the Port Elizabeth Bowling Club — the oldest club in South Africa — is 68.

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At last!

Some good tennis news for SA

Inflation is up from less than 6 % in 2007 to more than 11% in 2008. The price of petrol has increased by more than 50% in one year. Bank interest rates have escalated alarmingly. Export markets are closing doors due to the US meltdown. Tennis clubs have closed down.

And yet, tennis retailers and suppliers have not immigrated to Australia, or needed anti-depressants because they have become totally pessimistic about business prospects for the coming season.

They are, in fact, fairly optimistic.

“Tennis rackets have been selling consistently well over the past few years, but we do anticipate this slowing down over the next year or so. Thankfully, I think that there has been some growth in the sport as a whole,” says Brett Burnill, marketing manager and director of Leisure Holdings in SA.

He attributes the renewed interest in tennis to the excitement created by the rivalry between players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, says Burnill.

In addition, a plethora of national and international events promise to restore the high profile tennis enjoyed in SA during the 1970’s when we became Davis Cup champions and the SA Open was considered by many to be the fifth Grand Slam.

Retailers and suppliers mostly sing from the same hymn book as Burnill about the sales of tennis products in SA.

According to Jerome Goslett of Omni Sport, the return of the SA Open as an ATP event, and the prospects of this tournament gaining momentum and possibly attracting some top-ten players, can only benefit SA retailers and suppliers.

“If you have a tournament in your back yard attracting top players, with a potential bigger audience, it can only be a good thing for the tennis goods industry.”

The sales of tennis products seems to be on the up, agrees Steve Gallienne, owner of Dunslaz Distributors. More attention to junior tennis has been a positive factor to boost tennis sales and the fact that it is more an individual sport, instead of a team sport where politics seem rife, he believes.

Asked what the short and medium prospects for sales of tennis products are, Gallienne says: “I guess retail confidence has a large role to play here. With economies slowing and hesitant consumers, we will possibly see a slow down in top end sales as players will probably make a frame last for another round before replacing it. Previously, they had to have the latest, which is OK for those who can afford it. There will continue to be entrants into the sport and lower to mid-priced frames will do fine.”

Asked if anything can be done by the SA Tennis Association (SATA) to support the retailers or suppliers and their business prospects, Gallienne responds that it is the responsibility of the association to build a profile for tennis that will maintain structures and stability within the sporting code. This has greatly improved during the past five years, he adds.

Most suppliers are currently doing well, he says “but maintaining sales in an industry like this is hard work, believe it or not,” says Gallienne.

Retailer benefits

The visibility of tennis, the depth in talent in men’s tennis, as well as the attractive faces in the women’s game, has done a lot for retailers too.

“A factor that has enhanced sales, is the visibility of Grand Slams on TV,” says Marinus Potgieter, owner of M-Sport Tennis in Pretoria. “The fact that a Davis Cup-event was recently hosted in SA, has also created heightened awareness and interest,” he says.

The sales value of rackets and grips, as well as tennis shoes, are more or less the same as in 2007, but the economy has influenced the buying pattern. “People like to buy cheaper products that prove to be excellent value for money,” he explains. “They prefer to buy entry level rackets and upgrade as their level of playing evolve.”

Says Tony Jackson, owner of Jackson Sport in Durban: “Racket sales for the year so far have been pretty good, considering that I have had another two shops opening in opposition to myself. People do shop where it is convenient for them and the old loyalty seems to have dwindled a bit — but again, the happy customer always comes back if not satisfied with the service of others.”

He adds that suppliers of major brands need to promote their products during the good and bad times. This would boost sales in the tennis market.

Greg Moran, co-owner of Roscoe’s Tennis in Durban, says: “Being in a club that has a large membership of affluent people, we continue to have good racket sales, particularly to clients of our coaching academy. We are able to give prospective buyers professional advice on rackets, which make them more comfortable in spending on the frames.”

Moran says the Wimbledon final was a great catalyst in getting people out on court. Another contributor to growing sales is to stock the top tennis brands. The majority of the players at the coaching academy are kids and they are very brand conscious, he says.

Anchel Wiid, sport division manager of Kloppers in Bloemfontein, says their sales of tennis products have been excellent and they have seen double figure growth annually for the past few years.

All the surrounding towns regularly buy their tennis stock from them, and they have also had massive interest from Port Elizabeth and Durban.

He adds that Grand Slams have a massive influence in attracting people who want to start playing tennis socially. He believes the return of the SA Open, as well as TV-coverage in a good time slot, would do much to stimulate interest in the game and to lure prospective buyers of tennis goods.

A competitive price structure, and good product offering at different racket price levels, have contributed to the greater interest from other regions in buying from Kloppers, he adds.

Only one club in Vanderbijlpark

But, on the other hand, says Daleen van Rooyen, owner of Thinus Rakette in Vanderbijlpark, “my market has dwindled over the past three years. The lack of finances and social factors have played a big part in this state of affairs. Ten to twelve years ago, the whole family used to play tennis. The mother played in the morning league, and the father played on a Saturday afternoon. Now the parents don’t play anymore.”

In addition to interest rate hikes and other tough conditions, the residents of Vanderbijlpark have been hard hit by lay-offs in the steel industry, the main employer in the area.

“We have only one tennis club left in Vanderbijlpark,” she says. “A few years ago we had three. Other sports clubs have also suffered because of financial factors. The chairman of the squash club boasted 1 500 members six years ago. Currently, they only have 300 members,” says Van Rooyen.

Yet, new players are constantly being introduced to the game as, she says that junior tennis players still at school provide her biggest market.

The drop in tennis product sales is not limited to the areas surrounding Vanderbijlpark, as sales in other country areas have also been disappointing of late, says Andrew Wentzel of W.E.T. Sports Importers, who market and distribute mainly to independents in towns across the country.

He believes that this was due to a combination of factors — from winter being a quieter time, to the tough economic climate, which has left the consumer with less disposable income.

Wentzel says events like the hosting of the Davis Cup and SA Open in SA, and the events being televised, will help to spark an interest. But, ultimately the country needs a Wayne Ferreira or Amanda Coetzer compe-ting successfully in Grand Slams to act as role models, as that will have an impact on creating tennis growth. This will help to create greater junior involvement, which will help grow the tennis market.

In order to help ensure the development of young players, W.E.T. Sports sponsor the Boland Tennis Union’s RoxPro junior tournaments.

“Looking at the medium term, we believe that there will be an upturn in the SA economy with the World Cup around the corner, and hopefully this will create a knock-on effect that will boost tennis racket sales,” adds Wentzel.

“With 2008 proving to be a tough year for the retail industry, and consequently the wholesale sector as well, we have decided not to cut back on the marketing budget. We have just launched our catalogue and our agents will keep calling on our customers across the country on a regular basis.” The building of new tennis courts is usually a good indication of growth and interest in the tennis market. This industry has been on the wane since the 1990’s when most schools had to pay for their own tennis courts, instead of the education department providing the finances, says Harry Greenberg, owner of Plasto Top Barret’s.

After municipalities became responsible for the provision of local community sporting facilities, the building of municipal tennis courts also practically came to a standstill — a situation that SRSA hopes to address by making the provision of sports facilities a function of central government again.

Currently, Plasto Top Barret’s only provide court structures to a few clubs, while 80% or more of their income comes from private industries, courts at golf estates, or private families in the higher income group requiring private courts. Many private schools are also building new tennis courts.

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Can tennis beat the recession?

It ain’t pretty any longer, as they say in the classics. The economic recession has affected everybody, from the rich to the poor. Yet, there are a few sectors that have remained unaffected and have sailed untroubled through category 5-storms while the international economic downturn has affected millions. The sales of tennis goods, for example, have remained on par, while sales in many other sectors have dwindled.

There is, however, some disagreement amongst distributors if the growing interest in tennis (see below) has been converted into a growth in sales.

The improved profile of SA tennis has been a factor in the increase of sales, says Brett Burnill, a director of Leisure Holdings. “The state of SA tennis has been healthy the past six years,” he adds, and more people are probably taking up the royal game.

He says Prince has had a very good year with an overall increase in unit sales. The new Prince EXO 3 Rebel, popularised by the athletic and iconic French player Gael Monfils, is selling excellently internationally.

Monfils (22) this year again reached the quarter-finals of the French Open after eliminating Andy Roddick. As in the semi-finals of the tournament in 2008, he again fell prey to the eventual winner, Roger Federer. Injury prevented him from competing at Wimbledon.

The flamboyant Caribbean player has a large following among the youngsters because they like his attitude and the way he dresses, says Burnill.

“Our rackets are selling very well in the recreational racket price range between R500 and R1 000,” continues Burnill. “Although, there will always be a place for the top of the range rackets that are selling for close to R3 000.”

The spotlight on tennis has not necessarily grown sales, especially not at the top-end of the frame category, “but there are increased sales in the intermediate category, where most of the activity takes place,” says Steve Gallienne, national sales manager of Super-Brands, supplier of brands like Dunlop and Slazenger.

Overall, tennis sales remained pretty static during the past year, with most activity in the price points below R1 000, he says.

That indicates that players are making the more expensive frames last longer, and are restringing their frames more frequently than replacing them.

“Certain brands will still benefit from the dedicated player wanting the latest cosmetic frame to keep up with their hero player,” he says. “Junior frames are still showing a slight growth, but it is always difficult to have an accurate measure of sales figures across brands when statistics of frame sales are not monitored by any specific body.

“If one looks at the international economic downturn and the affect on all type of industries, we in tennis should be very satisfied with our growth,” he says.

Jerome Goslett, MD of Omni Sport, agrees that the SA tennis market has grown the past year, while he believes the international market is slightly down from previous years. “The market place is certainly buoyant. Other brands have also said that things are looking positive for them,” he adds.

Goslett says the fact that there are some lights on the horizon in terms of young up and coming SA players in the ATP and WTA might have aided the local companies in growing their products.

Andrew Wentzel, director of WET Sports Importers, paints a more sombre picture of tennis sales. He says: “To date we have not seen a great increase in demand for tennis rackets but we have found that accessories and strings have sold well. I think the economic climate being tough, people are rather restringing their old rackets than going out to buy a new frame.

“In our RoxPro brand the main focus is on value for money entry level and intermediate rackets and there is always a market for that. We have found that the racket market in general has been quiet this year and chatting to retailers it would seem that the market for tennis is depressed.

“Obviously, it is difficult to say whether we will see growth towards the end of the year when the season starts up again, but only time will tell.”

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Climbing, cycling & sailing now school sports

With a few exceptions, the love for a particular sport starts at school. It is very rare for an adult to suddenly develop a passion for kicking a soccer ball or testing the mettle of a cricket bat. A child that becomes passionate about rugby at a young and tender age, would be more likely to become a club player one day, than his neighbour who never enjoyed the pleasure of tackling a school rival in full flight.

There are a few exceptions: squash is not a traditional school sport, yet far more squash courts are filled with enthusiastic 20-30 year old yuppies, than tennis courts. Even though tennis is a sport offered by most schools. A passion for activities like golf, canoeing and fly-fishing also tend to develop later in life — or used to, in any case.

Be that as it may, most sporting codes depend on schools engendering a love for the game for their health, growth and sustainability.

The strength and growth of a particular sport at school level would therefore be of major importance for a sport retailer planning future stock items.

For some time now, we have been hearing of interesting — or non-traditional — sports being offered by schools. We have also heard that some sports like rugby, always considered to be one of THE major school sports, is losing its lustre.

We at Sports Trader therefore set out to discover what school sports have been pushed to the curb or placed on the bench and what new sports are being introduced. This is a long-term survey and our aim is to contact as many primary and high schools in SA as possible.

We started by contacting schools whose Email addresses we have. Half of them are in Cape Town, a third in Gauteng and five in Durban. We asked them what sports they offered now — and what sports they offered five years ago. We also asked them how many competitive teams or individual participants they had now, compared to five years ago.

Unfortunately, several sports masters/mistresses were not at the particular schools five years ago and were not able to provide figures for 1999. The sample used for comparing sport participation in 1999 is therefore less than half, but even so, the results are interesting.

These urban and internet-connected schools are naturally more sophisticated than the schools who do not even have fax numbers — and in some cases, no telephones. We therefore expected them to offer a much wider choice of sport than those who have fewer resources.

Although our sample is still small (just over 30 schools), the responses we received all confirmed the same trends. Besides, the trends that emerged were so interesting that we decided to share them with you. We shall report any changes in future issues.

Before we started, we simply assumed that the majority of schools would offer soccer, athletics, rugby, cricket, netball, hockey, tennis and swimming as sports … in that order.

The feedback proved us very wrong.

The gentleman’s game, aka cricket for boys, came through the strongest, with 83% of the schools that responded currently offering this sport option. Next in line was athletics and — yes — tennis, with 77% of the schools offering these sports. Netball and swimming were next in line (63% of the schools) … followed by soccer for boys, and hockey for girls offered by 50% of the schools.

No, we did not forget about rugby. Less than half (43%) of the schools that responded currently offer rugby as sport. The same number of schools have cross-country running as sport, and it is only slightly more than the schools who offer basketball and squash (37%). Further surprises were that 33% of the schools offered golf and waterpolo as sports, 30% had volleyball and 27% table tennis and judo.

Although mass gymnastic displays could lull one into believing that gymnastics is a common sport at schools, only 13% of the schools in the survey offered this sport.

When it came to schools volunteering information about the extraordinary sporting codes that they offer, we were even more surprised.

The numbers are still very small (only between 1-4 schools in our survey mentioned that they offered these sports), but the reality is that the following sporting codes can now be considered to be school sports:

Cycling, girls soccer and climbing (offered by 4 schools surveyed);

Surfing, sailing and target shooting (3 schools each);

Cricket for girls, aerobics, diving, synchronized swimming, indoor hockey, horse riding, rowing, mountain biking, touch rugby, canoeing and fencing (2 schools);

One school each offered the following: pool, darts, softball, kickboxing, adv-enture sport (whatever that may mean!), lifesaving, rhythmic gymnastics, water-skiing, weightlifting and archery.

No schools currently offer badminton, boxing or fishing as sport.

But, in 1999, badminton was offered as a sport by 27% of the schools surveyed — the same number who had judo/karate and cross-country as sports.

Athletics (offered by 93% of the schools) was then the major sport, followed by cricket for boys (87%). Equal numbers of schools offered netball and tennis (73%) and 67% had swimming teams.

Five years ago, soccer for boys and hockey for girls were offered by the same number of schools surveyed (53%). Hockey for boys was offered by 40% of the schools… the same number that had rugby as sport.

Rugby has — and had — this low profile despite the fact that 6 boys-only schools compared to one girls-only school responded. We can only attribute this to the fact that fewer Afrikaans schools, where rugby is still strong, responded than English-speaking schools. We therefore expect that rugby will get a higher profile as the survey progresses.

What is even more intriguing, is the relatively small number of schools that offer soccer as sport. Cricket, athletics, tennis, netball and swimming all seem to have bridged the language gap much better than soccer (traditionally English schools) and rugby (traditionally Afrikaans schools).

The number of major sporting codes offered by schools now also include sports that were previously thought of as non-traditional sports — for instance, volleyball, golf, table tennis, basketball, squash and water polo can now be categorised as school sports. Learners can now play these sports at between 37% and 30% of the schools that responded.

Non-traditional sporting codes have made a huge leap over the past five years in terms of what options are offered to learners, as these schools did not offer these sports five years ago.

We also asked the schools to provide statistics about the number of teams or learners participating in the different sporting codes, but unfortunately only a few (14) schools provided these figures.

These figures do, however, show that although fewer schools offer sports like rugby and soccer than anticipated, where these sports are offered, there is relatively high participation.

The participation figures supplied reflect more what we expected the norm to be. Athletics is the most popular participation sport. Almost a quarter (24%) of the learners that participate in sport, take part in athletics, followed by netball (15%) and cricket for boys (14%). Even though fewer schools offer these sports, soccer is played by 13% of all the learners and rugby by 10%.

Hockey, originally considered to be a girls-only sport, now enjoys almost equal support from girls (7%) and boys (5%).

Even though tennis is offered by 77% of the schools, it is played by only 4% of the learners.

Judo made up 2% of the total, while 1% of the learners participate in cross-country running, soccer for girls, volleyball, gymnastics and basketball.

Participation in table tennis, golf and squash are still low, with 0.5%, 0.3% and 0.2% learners participating in these sports respectively. Unfortunately, no schools supplied us with swimming and water polo participation figures.

We’ll keep you updated if the information we receive from schools changes the results… we’d also like to hear from you. Tel:021 461 2544 if you have information.

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Coaching future heroes

Did a disgruntled newspaper reader who blamed a flawed schoolsport system for the sudden collapse of the Protea cricket team in the home test series against Australia, make a valid point? A reader wrote in a letter to the Sunday Times that the test losses by the Proteas, after winning in Australia, showed that the we lack the skills to be a consistent winning team.

At the heart of the battle is the school sport system, he wrote.

The majority of those involved are more concerned about the results between their respective schools than what it takes to develop long-term champions… the mindless pursuit of results involves rigid training within a team environment with a single objective — win a match every weekend. Minimal focus on individual skills development is only exposed when teams reach international level and battle to compete consistently due to technical deficiencies, says the Sunday Times reader.

The development of champions requires a more holistic focus on the enjoyment of sport and individual self-esteem. The short term poaching of players to mindlessly win matches with almost the only interim being to market a school, is often at the expense of the child and not in the best long-term interests of SA sport, declared the frustrated cricket lover and author of the letter.

Research by the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) on behalf of Sport & Recreation SA (SRSA) showed that the experience of sport at school is the most significant factor that determines whether you will do sport later in life. Therefore, every young cricketer who stops playing the game because he does not enjoy it any more, or cannot get a place in the team, is lost to the sport for ever.

As seen in the previous article (see Cricket heroes DO sell bats), young players follow the lead of cricket heroes who conquer their opponents with bat or ball — which will not happen if future players lack the skills. In addition, the national euphoria when a national sporting team is doing well spikes interest and greater participation — and more equipment sales. But, when a team is performing badly, interest wanes.

School sport bad for game?

Is the newspaper correspondent therefore correct that the school sport system could be detrimental to the nurturing of future cricket heroes? Is the mindless pursuit of results being driven at the expense of individual skills development, and is the development of more players and long-term champions being forgotten? Should more be done to encourage broader participation of cricketers in school sport?

Representatives from schools cricket, with whom Sports Trader spoke, had a mixed reaction to the sentiments expressed in the letter.

Jacques Faul, chief executive director of North West cricket and a man who can boast involvement with youth cricket for twenty years, agrees with much of the criticism levelled against schools cricket in the letter.

Unfortunately, short term glory is emphasized at the expense of long term benefits in SA cricket school, he says. Winning at sports has become a very useful marketing tool for any school. Results are used abundantly to drive the image of a winning school. Thus the first team coach will be under pressure to win and to try and win every match.

Add to this mix the fact that there are increasingly longer seasons for the various sporting codes, fewer teachers who are able to coach, a more scientific and technical approach to coaching cricket that will scare many newcomers to the game, and the fact that cricket is seen as an all-day-in-the-sun-activity, whereas other codes are shorter.

The result is quite simple: Less capacity to do skills training with more players, or to just give more players a reasonable chance of playing cricket.

Deny players chances

“The harsh reality is we are denying a late developer an opportunity, or even a true talent a chance; by having too small a base of players,” adds Faul.

He is, however, mindful of the role that school sport has always played in promo-ting performance in traditional Commonwealth team sports.

But, with so many recreational options available to the youth, one should actively promote your specific sport code, he stresses. “If it is not fun, your average sports person will not play it for too long. We need innovative coaches to bring the youth back to the game.”

Poaching players

Another ill is that players are bought from other schools, says Heinrich van Jaarsveldt and Helen Jacobs, senior teachers at Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in Pretoria. Good players, especially from rural areas, are coaxed away.

“Instead of developing your own learners, you take a child away from his own school and deny him the privilege of playing for his own school.” (At the same time you deny a learner from your own school a place in the team).

There is a supposed to be a gentleman’s agreement between headmasters in Cape Town about poaching, says John Young, first-team coach of Pinelands High School. Sometimes it is ignored to improve the one school’s transformation credentials or to improve their win ratios.

“But it is not only poaching. I know of senior schools who send scouts to primary tournaments and festivals looking for potential, armed with cheque books. So schools have become like Chelsea and Manchester United,” adds Young.

If a school coach simply buys next year’s fast bowler, he really is taking a lazy short-cut; but perhaps the old boys demand it. If they do, they are stupid because the chap in Grade 11 might be the greatest fast bowler ever — if the coach just took the time to work on him, explained Young.

Smaller schools do suffer because of a myriad of reasons, like the lack of skilled coaches, lack of players, financial strife and the lack of equipment, says Van Jaarsveldt and Jacobs.

A few factors hamper the development of school sport, they say. One is competitive sport — some schools are so focused on silver ware in the trophy cabinet that they lose perspective. “Players do not get the opportunity to express themselves on the sporting field. They must stay within a certain pattern, and are afraid to make mistakes.“

A school prepares learners for life in general by participating in sport, says Dr Pierre Edwards, headmaster at Affies.

“Therefore, we believe very strongly that every child should participate in sport and that school sport involves more than the A-teams and the first team.

“A second factor associating with the previous point is the increasing trend of professionalising sport at school level. Almost all leading schools currently sport gymnasiums, because if your A-team do not gym, they cannot compete with the top-schools.”

Edwards says a topic on its own is the sporting father who tries to fulfil his dreams through his son. His whole life is focused on school sport and then they expect the school to abide by their plans and dreams. These types of parents become an increasing problem. They smother the fun that every parent should get out of school sport.

Win and grow the game

There is a certain amount of truth in the letter — but winning matches does not necessarily mean that you discourage greater participation, explains Peter Knowles, a former senior WP provincial player and director of cricket at Wynberg Boys High.

There is enormous pressure on schools to produce good results, and sometimes definitely to the detriment of the game, he agrees. At Wynberg they do focus on results at A- and B-team level, but never at the expense of the boys’ enjoyment or the right way to play the game. But, the school also has seven U19, five U15 and seven U14-teams. They therefore encourage boys of all skill levels to play — and they do so with tremendous enthusiasm and enjoyment.

They try their best to give good coaching to all, and to this end a cricket professional runs open nets on Friday afternoon when any boy in the school may attend (and they do).

The school tries to keep abreast of the latest coaching methods via the local coaching authority. They also run specialist clinics with the likes of Denys Hobson, Geoff Love, Aubrey Martyn, Adrian Holdstock and Peter Kirsten coming along to share their expertise.

Disagree with correspondent

“Winning is not the alpha and omega at Hoërskool Grens,” says Lourens Koorsen, director of sport at the East London high school. “Our purpose is to encourage young players to participate according to their level. We emphasize competition. The pressure to win is big, because the position of every player hinges on his performance.

“But at Grens, the players present at every training session who demonstrate the necessary self-discipline, are awarded with selection. Many excellent players have missed out on selection because of the above-mentioned reasons. We are willing to lose a match, rather than to forsake our principles,” adds Koorsen.

Rob Dalrymple, a former senior batsman of the Boland team and director of cricket at Rondebosch Boys High school, also disagrees with the criticism levelled against SA schools as being too focused on winning at all costs.

At Rondebosch, they are very conscious of the development of individual players and there is not much emphasis on the results achieved by the teams, he says. The team does specific goal-setting at the beginning of every season and the goals are never allowed to be result-orientated. They place a heavy emphasis on the process that you need to follow in order to become a successful cricketer.

Much time is spent discussing the mental aspects of the game, as well as working on the technical aspects of it.

To blame the schools for technical inadequacies at international level, is ludicrous, he says.

Most schools cannot afford to employ international standard coaches and make do with whichever teachers are prepared to give up their weekends for cricket.

Also, many of the flaws develop from season to season — a player making his national debut at 24 (still young) has already been out of school for six years. Surely this is the provincial coaches’ responsibility? adds Dalrymple.

“Although there is a fair amount of interest in the school’s results, they are not regarded as paramount. However, if you concentrate on technical skills, coupled with a knowledge of how, as a player, you can ensure that you can replicate what you practice in a match situation, results will look after themselves,” adds Dalrymple.

What’s wrong with winning?

A representative of Grey College said the results of matches should be important: Life is a competitive environment and the scoreboard next to all sports fields prove that people play to win. Teams that regularly lose can surely not claim that they are enjoying the activity!

In order to win, individuals and teams must train with determination and the will to succeed and this would also involve individual and team skills development.

However, winning at all cost, is not educationally sound and therefore the practice of buying players should not happen. Loyalty to the team and/or school you represent is one of the more positive benefits of school sport and that loyalty is in the heart of the player concerned, not in his wallet.

Grey College believes it is important to make players in all teams feel that they contribute to the success of their team, their school. Should a team only have eleven cricketers, that team will battle against schools with 100 or more players.

Also that sport is part and parcel of the educational process and should not inflate the egos of only a few individuals, especially since those individuals will need the support of the whole school community when they play in inter schools matches.

Emphasis on skills development

At Bishops there is a great deal of emphasis on skills development, especially in the first team, second team, third team, U15 A and B and U14 A and B, but with much emphasis also on enjoyment, says Geoff Kieswetter, director of cricket at Diocesan College and editor of BishopsBlue.

“For example, I hire two dedicated professional coaches to work specifically with the second team and U17 A’s (third team) and the U15 A and U14 A teams, mainly to help the teacher-coaches cope with the demands of their jobs, with cricket not being their main business. Across the board the focus is on skills development, fitness and the psychological aspects of the game.

“The first team coach and his assistant are as good as any professionals I know in the Western Cape.”

The school organises specialist clinics where people like Denys Hobson (on spin bowling), Vaatjie Minnaar (captaincy), Adrian Kuiper (batting) and a variety of wicketkeepers highlight specialist skills. The competitive environment in which Bishops operates, does mean that the first team is the key team, but the philosophy of the school allows them to focus also on cricketers across the board.

Professional coaching

Several companies help to develop and promote cricket through professional coaching at schools, or clinics for individuals. Among them are Sporting Chance in Cape Town with a strong grassroots focus, Ryan Maron Cricket School, Dale Hermanson’s Sports Horizons in Johannesburg, Danny Becker and many more.

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Darting ahead

During the past few years the game of darts has been transformed all over the world.

It has now been two years since the first Professional Darts competition (PDC) was held in SA, allowing South Africans to win large sums of money by playing darts (see box "A new era for darts in SA").

Worldwide, darts has been given a much bigger profile with broadcasts of entertaining and lively darts competitions shown on Sky TV and other channels.

But, the darts scene in SA is still broken into two distinct camps — the glamorous, razmatazz professional competitions represented by the PDC, and the leagues and competitions catering for all levels of players, represented by Darts SA.

“Darts SA has sanctioned the PDC tournament played in SA during 2007 and allowed its members to participate in the said tournament,” says Graham Stark, president of Darts SA.

“The situation in SA is similar to what is happening on the global darts scene in that a country has its national federation, which is the controlling authority for the sport in the country, and then you have an outside organisation like the PDC coming in to provide playing opportunities for the elite players — but without making an investment at grassroots level.

“After all, most, if not all, players start at grassroots level and need to be nurtured and developed to elite level. This requires resources.”

When PDC SA was launched two years ago, the relationship between them and Darts SA was not harmonious at all.

“This happened mainly because Darts SA falls under the banner of the World Darts Federation, which was in conflict with the PDC,” says Jon McGowan of PDC in SA. “Through much negotiation and meetings, we finally found a path by which we could grow the sport together, whilst working in unison.”

When asked if the fighting between Darts SA and the PDC has harmed the sport, Stark maintains that there has never been any fighting between the two organisations. “Darts SA merely disagreed with an overseas organisation coming into our country and staging a tournament without consulting with the national federation for the sport in the country,” says Stark.

“Darts SA also rejects the claim that players who win a PDC tournament represent SA. The only players who represent SA are our Protea players, who are selected by Darts SA in terms of an approved selection process subject to the National Sports Colours Regulations.”

Stark believes that in all its endeavours, Darts SA always puts the welfare of its members first and attempts to, at all times, protect them from exploitation.

Did interest in sport grow?

The two organisations also disagree on the benefits that a professional darts competition will bring to SA — and whether the exposure on TV has grown, and will grow, the sport.

“Any form of news and publicity is good for any sport,” says McGowan. “The players, even though they remained loyal to Darts SA, expressed their views and excitement about bringing the PDC to SA — Darts SA listened to their players and decided to do what’s best for the sport. As we stand, we have laid the foundations for achieving our goals.”

McGowan believes that the global darts scene has a huge effect on what happens in SA as many of their players follow the latest news from overseas. Phil Taylor has been a role model for many years and most of the players use Phil’s success as a vision to where they want to be.

Stark, however, doesn’t believe that the public’s interest in darts has grown due to the publicity generated by the PDC.

“Interest amongst the players has grown, but the interest is more in the prize money than in the sport as a whole,” says Stark. “It is my opinion that the playing of a professional tournament in our country hasn’t grown the sport in the home market — the players are also the spectators.”

McGowan feels it is too early to measure the success of the PDC tournaments at this stage as they have only staged two so far.

“I have seen a massive increase in interest from both existing and passive players, so much so that I feel that in the not too distant future, we will see our numbers double in both the Darts SA and the PDC tournaments,” says McGowan.

The PDC tournament is played with Unicorn darts. Anne Vilas of local distributor Opal Sports agrees with McGowan that the darts market has grown due to the additional publicity generated by the professional tournaments — and her impression is that this resulted in more people playing social darts.

Francois Plaatjies of De Wet Sports agrees that the exposure of darts on Sky TV has grown the number of social players. “What I would like to see, however, is televised local competitions. This would help children and social players strive to be more professional and play competitively.”

Vilas belies that watching the PDC can help dart players around the world to improve their game. “By our players getting exposure to this competition, they can only improve their ability to play in these high exposure tournaments,” she says.

Unicorn and Harrows darts manufacturers both sponsor the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA), which represents the approximately 300 professional darts players in the UK who make a living from playing in cash-rich tournaments like the PDC and other televised exhibition matches.

With pro nicknames like Eric Crafty Cockney Bristow, John Old Stoneface Lowe, Phil The Power Taylor, Mark Flash Dudbridge and Wayne Hawaii 501 Mardle — with their own personal logos, too! — there is no doubt: these stars have made darts a fun spectator sport.

According to Colin Farrer, sales director of LGB Distributors who locally supplies Harrows darts, professional darts can play an important role in promoting the sport.

“This can only do the sport a world of good. It is exciting to watch and the sport is definitely geared for television audiences. More needs to be done in SA though,” he says

From a retail point of view, Harrows’ sales are very strong says Farrer.

“However, we are always mindful of changes in the industry and believe that we must become more active with our trade partners in helping to grow their sales at regional level, for example, sponsoring prizes and tournaments,” says Farrer.“Based on improved sales, year on year, I can only assume that the sport is growing in SA.”

“Putting big prize money into a sport can only improve the focus of clubs and representatives participating in that sport,” says Farrer. “I am sure that things will pan out well for darts in SA.”

But, according to Stark, their membership figures do not reflect that more people are joining darts clubs.

“In fact, the sad reality is that membership figures are on the decline,” Stark says. “Where people do join, it is because they are seeking an alternative recreational activity, not because they want to participate in a professional tournament.”

Andrew Wentzel of Wet Sports agrees that these televised tournaments will not have a significant impact on darts sales. “Not that many people are aware that darts are shown on TV and besides, not everybody is able to watch Sky TV on a pay channel.”

More social players

But, where there has been a slight decline in competitive club players, this has been offset by a growth in social players, says Plaatjies, resulting in the darts market remaining stable.

Their biggest volume sales are therefore in the social market, who predominantly buy cheaper brass darts. “Our top end tungsten darts are marketed towards the competitive club players,” says Plaatjies.

Wentzel agrees that the market has remained fairly stable and that there has been no sudden spike in sales.

On the other hand, they still record strong sales of all their darts stock to a good mix of both club players in the Western Cape (buying 80% tungsten) and surrounds and “because our prices are competitive, we also have a fair number of social players buying our Datadart and cheaper ranges,” says Wentzel.

The way ahead?

Consolidation and empowerment are key factors in strengthening the future of darts. “The future of darts in SA can only be secured if we first consolidate our existing membership and empower our officials (who are all volunteers) at all levels to provide good governance and efficient administration and management,” Stark maintains.

Darts SA does have a development plan called Operation Bullseye, which covers all these aspects, although it does not have the financial resources to implement this plan in all corners of the country.

“Growing the sport from the bottom up is imperative,” states Stark. “It doesn’t bode well for the future just to provide playing opportunities for the elite players who, anyway, plough very little back into the sport.”

Stark is confident that, amongst the existing membership, the sport has a bright future. “The challenge is to entice more new people to play the sport. This can only happen if you have an attractive product, namely a sport of darts where players conduct themselves in an exemplary, sporting manner and become positive role models as well as competent administrators who provide good governance without fear or favour.”

Plaatjies agrees with Stark that the future of darts will only be secured if more people are encouraged to play competitive darts by either joining or forming a club.

“As with any sport, darts needs a competitive league system for it to grow.”

But, he says, the biggest problem facing many clubs is the lack of resources and support from the governing bodies. “More needs to be done to develop the game in areas where there is traditionally a lack of finance or know-how in the marketing of clubs and leagues.

“Also, more needs to be done to promote darts as a bona fide sport, as opposed to its traditional stigma of it being a pub game.

Wentzel believes that the future of darts lies with the youth. “Darts SA should look at getting the youth involved by running clinics and creating awareness around the sport, as this would bolster their number of club players in the future.”

Big money, big excitement

McGowan, however, maintains that for the first time in SA darts, the players have the opportunity to earn REAL money.

“This in itself is a huge motivation for the players and sponsors,” McGowan says. “Big money attracts big attention — hence we are looking at getting a permanent spot on television, and once this happens... well as they say: the rest is history!”

McGowan’s long term goal is to have six established annual tournaments hosted in all the major cities. The spin-off will be a pro circuit like in England, where there are many players that have turned professional in darts and have made a lot of money.

“In SA this vision up till now has been nothing but a pipe dream,” says McGowan. “Should we be able to achieve this goal, we too can have professional players not only competing on stage in front of millions of viewers, but helping to promote the sport throughout the country.”

Barry Hearn, chairman of the PDC, has taken darts out of the pubs and placed the sport firmly on the world stage, he believes.

“Barry Hearn’s drive and passion has expanded darts around the world from England to Australia, China, Las Vegas America, Germany etc, and now SA,” McGowan enthuses. “With the backing of the PDC and Barry Hearn, I see no reason why, one day, darts cannot become one the biggest sports in SA.”

Time will tell as to whether these views are on target.

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Healthy growth in pool & snooker

Although snooker and pool have different organisations, affiliations, rules and equipment, they are often lumped together as a sport that offers an indoor alternative to rugby, soccer or cricket.

While snooker was first played by English gentlemen as far back as the 15th century, and was introduced to the rest of the world by British army officers, pool has a much more robust heritage. Originally known as pocket billiards, the game gained popularity in gaming – or pool halls – where money were pooled so that bets could be placed, and hence became popularly known as pool.

For many years the authorities tried in vain to call the sport pocket billiards because they thought pool had a negative connotation — but the name stuck and the families who nowadays buy a pool table to keep the children occupied at home give no thought to gambling.

The first snooker world championship was held in 1916, and in 1927 the legendary Joe Davis, considered by many to be the father of modern snooker, helped establish the first professional world championship. He was world champion until his retirement in 1946. But it was only after the snooker world championship was featured on BBC television for the first time in 1976, that the game took off as a mainstream professional sport. These championship broadcasts draw millions of viewers – it was estimated that 18.5-m UK viewers watched the 1985 world championship on TV.

In the modern era professional players like 7-times world champion Stephen Hendry and 11-championships winner and former England captain John Parrott draw the fans. Hendry has won more than £8-m in prize money.

Local growth

In SA, snooker has grown tremendously over the past five years, says Flip Bester, president of Snooker and Billiards SA, although it is difficult to provide an accurate figure for the number of people playing the sport competitively. It is especially popular in urban areas, where it is being played at all times, but it is not played much in rural areas, says Bester. The Western Cape is the strongest region, where snooker is very popular and is also growing the strongest.

There are many factors contributing to the growth of the sport.

As people become more aware of snooker, more people realise how interesting the sport is, what skills are required and come to regard it as an alternative to sports like rugby, soccer or cricket, instead of a pub game, says Bester.

Mini-tournaments organised by some retailers have also made many people more aware of the sport.

Another factor is that snooker is an international sport with SA players participating in four international events per year. It is also televised, which makes the sport seen and known.

"We are proud of the growth in snooker over the past 5 years," says Bester. "I cannot say if competing in the four international events are enough or not, but I can say that it has helped to change some perspective about the game."

Participation in the international events have definitely boosted the sport. SA snooker is ranked 15th in the world.

But, what will be a tremendous boost for growth, is admittance to the Olympic or Commonwealth Games — objectives that the international organisation have been aiming for. "If snooker becomes a Olympic or Commonwealth Games sport, it will definitely help grow the sport."

While snooker is an organised sport, pool is more often played for fun. It is more accessible to people in urban and rural areas, says Temba Wiso, president of Pool SA.

He does not have exact figures for the number of participants as the player numbers per region are constantly changing, but says that there are between 4 000 to 6 000 registered players. There are many more recreational players playing in pool halls, pubs or at home.

"Pool has grown tremendously. It has grown strong in a sense that you will find a pool table in most taverns and shebeens," says Wiso. "It is one of the most accessible sports in the country."

While most pool players fall in the category of social players, there are structured leagues in the cities, while the rural areas still need to be structured, although taverns often organise mini tournaments in rural areas.

Wiso says that pool is more accessible than snooker as the latter is played predominantly in the urban areas. "Snooker tables are big and expensive, unlike pool tables that are smaller and more affordable. Because pool tables are set up in so many pool halls and pubs, even the disadvantaged people can afford to play the game."

Day Motion

The pool market is certainly vibrant, says Glenda Babaya, who last year took over the Day Motion manufacturing business from Alon Monastursky.

"We have had very good sales of pool tables," she says. "We get a lot of orders for them from all over the country,"

As a matter of fact, the demand for pool tables has prompted them to start developing one or two new lines that will be launched later this year.

Business in general is booming, says Babaya, who recently also moved premises to 32A 13th Rd, Kew, in Johannesburg.

De Wet Sports

De Wet Sports reports that the increased market presence of their Riemann branded snooker and pool equipment range has led to unprecedented growth in this sector. "The main reason behind this growth is that Riemann offers the retailer reliable products at the most competitive prices," says Kevin de Wet.

"High standards of quality control ensure the retailer can sell Riemann products with confidence, and this confidence translates to increased levels of consumer satisfaction."

The range includes cues, cue bags, balls, tips and various other accessories. The extensive cue range ensures that every conceivable budget and skill level is catered for — starting at the entry level 1 piece Ramin cues and culminating in the top of the range 2-piece Graphite cues.

"The most popular Riemann cues are the mid-priced range of designer cues which include the Snake, Spider, Lion, Leopard, Flame and Marble models. The Riemann brand is a must for any retailer interested in meeting the increased demand for snooker and pool products in SA," says De Wet.

Snooker & Pool Warehouse

Jörgen Noordermeer of Snooker & Pool Warehouse has, once again, paid one of his regular visits to their agents in China and Taiwan in order to stay abreast of changes, trends and new products on the market.

The result is that Snooker & Pool Warehouse now have their own branded air hockey, commercial and home soccer tables.

"This Orlando range is robust, sturdy and pleasing to the eye and looks good in any home," Mike Slabolepszky.

All tables come with accessories and spare parts are available.

One of the Chinese innovations is a lazer cue — a graphite cue with a red lazer light that shines on the cue ball through a pin prick hole in the tip of the cue. The light and an energizer battery have been placed in the ferrule, which also serves as a switch for the light when turned. The two-piece cue is sold with batteries included.

Another new product is a 2-piece laminated bamboo cue with brass ferrules that is becoming very popular, says Slabolepszky.

The range also include 2-piece graphite cues with titanium shafts in bright neon colours — even pink for women.

They have also extended their Peradon range and are still the exclusive agents of Joe Davis.

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Money makes the squash & badminton world go round

Like many smaller sports, the fortunes of squash and badminton in SA is closely linked to the availability of resources. That, in turn, depends on how much investment support the sports can attract.

It is a bit of a Catch 22 situation.

Talented local squash and badminton players will only be able to prove themselves against the rest of the world if they compete internationally. In order to do that, they need funds. But, once they prove themselves internationally, sponsorship investment is likely to follow, that will not only help grow the sport, but also enable more players to compete on the international circuit. Who will attract even more sponsorship, which will enable the sport to send more players overseas...

Therefore, any funds spent on developing players and improving their world rankings can be seen as an investment in the future of the sports.

Dunslaz Distributorship, supplier of Dunlop squash equipment, has made this kind of investment in players in the form of performance bonuses as well as sponsorship and support of the SA Squash Association, who has the responsibility of attracting sufficient sponsors to finance SA players abroad.

By sponsoring Richard Castle, the coach of the SA national team "we yet again emphasise that Dunlop is serious about the game and that we, togerther with Richard, will drive the game as hard as we can and develop players who will , and can, perform internationally," says Steve Gallienne. "We are working closely with the international head office to push top performing SA squash players to international heights."

While European players can stay home and travel relatively short distances to compete in international events, SA squash and badminton players have to relocate if they want to join the circuit. The cost of travelling, accommodation, food, joining fees and international coaching is prohibitively expensive.

Yet, several SA players have made the leap. According to Squash SA "in 2007 there were more SA players on the international squash circuit than during the previous decade".

And this is starting to pay off in terms of improved world rankings.

The undisputed star is Tenille Swartz (see below), but other SA squash players are also starting to come to the fore.

Jesse Engelbrecht, who was the number one South African in the world Team Championships in India, is ranked #75 in the world. Stephen Coppinger is ranked #99 on the men’s circuit, after he jumped from # 185 to #87 at the end of 2007.

Capetonian Clinton Leeuw, who has been playing and coaching squash in Germany since 2004, has also dramatically improved his world rankings. He climbed from #302 in the WISPA rating in August 2006, to #140 in April 2007 and #114 in December 2007.

Leeuw spends half of the year in SA, playing the local circuit, where he is currently ranked #2 in the Western Province and #4 in SA. He makes sure that he meets his local commitments as he wishes to remain eligible to be selected to represent SA.

As players gain experience and confidence by playing in international tournaments, their rankings improve. In 2006 the SA women’s squash team was ranked #12 in the world, but they finished 6th at the Women’s World Team event, having beaten Australia. The SA men’s squash team was ranked 12th and finished 11th.

SA therefore has the potential players, and hopefully with more home tournaments on the horizon, local players will get an opportunity to gain valuable experience — but the costs of hosting a tournament is also high.

Boost for badminton

Interest in badminton is sure to peak during the Olympics as it seems fairly certain that the Dednam brothers, Chris and Roelof, would represent SA in Beijing. Currently #59 in the world for doubles, this ranking would allow the siblings to qualify — and there are still a few tournaments left to improve their rankings before the May 1st Olympic qualifying deadline.

This high ranking is to a large extent thanks to the scholarship that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded him last year, says SA champ, Chris Dednam. This enabled him to gain valuable international experience as a singles player, and with his brother, to gain sufficient doubles international ranking points to qualify.

Badminton is a relatively small sport in SA, and a lack of funds for international participation is therefore always a problem, although they are sponsored by the major badminton supplier, Yonex.

"You need to participate in a minumum of ten international tournaments in order to improve your ranking," says Dednam, whose whole family is concerned with the growth of SA badminton — his father is a Free State and national administrator.

There are currently six SA players on the international circuit. Apart from the Dednam brothers, SASCOC grants enable Michelle Edwards and Chantelle Botts (doubles gold winners at the All African Games), Wiehan Viljoen, and Dorian James to participate internationally.

Previously, SA badminton players would only travel to international tournaments in the year of a major event like the Olympics, but the IOC scholarship made it possible to gain more exposure over a longer period, says Dednam.

Apart from gaining ranking points, this helps them to get to know their international opponents, which helps them to achieve better results.

Growing squash & badminton at grassroots

While the achievements of SA players on the international circuit will help to lift the profile of sports like squash and badminton, sales of rackets and shoes will only grow if the sports could be grown at grassroots.

It is obvious that if more people in smaller communities and at school start playing the sports, more products will be sold. It is less obvious how to attract them to the courts.

The development of sports like badminton in smaller towns is very dependent on the availability of decent facilities and the drive of the organisers, says Andrew Wentzel of W.E.T. Sports, distributors of RoxPro rackets.

"We try to supply decent quality rackets to our retailers so that they are able to attract new players by offering a good racket at an affordable price."

W.E.T. Sports does not sponsor individual players, but believe that by offering a competitive intermediate level product, they are able to help grow the sport. "We believe that the development of facilities would allow more players to enjoy the sport and for talent to be unearthed," says Wentzel.

In SA Dunlop sponsors ten of the top events on the calendar, which is currently governed by Squash SA, "but I am sure that if the organisers could choose a preferred ball for their events, Dunlop would be at the one," says supplier Steve Gallienne.

Squash footwear brand Hi-tec has been sponsoring a mixed team tournament at Parkview squash club for the past five years. The month-long tournament that is played from end October to end November attracts squash players from all over Gauteng. Players receive prizes and playing shirts with the Hi-Tec logo, creating a lot of brand awareness. They also sponsor the SA Schools Squash Association Tournament at the Parkview squash club, in which the six best juniors per province compete against each other.

"Hi-Tec’s involvement at a schools level is very important to us," says marketing manager Lauren Ploos, "as we are reaching out to these youngsters at an early age.

"Hi-Tec also sponsors local squash players, as this gives us the opportunity to get involved with squash at a grassroots level."

Apart from about ten Gauteng league players, Hi-Tec also works closely with former SA national champion Craig Van Der Wath who is still a force to be reckoned as a doubles partner for young Clinton Leeuw and as a Masters player.

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Morabaraba Matters

Morabaraba is an ancient and traditional African board game that has been played for thousands of years. Its origins predate recorded history in Africa. Today, Morabaraba is played in several countries — there is even a World Championship and South African players have been awarded national colours. It has been claimed that approximately 40% of South Africans know how to play Morabaraba — which would be about 20-m people!

Morabaraba is an accessible game that is easy to learn, although its strategic and tactical aspects run deep. While it may be played on specially-produced boards (or computer software) with special counters, it is simple enough that a board can easily be scratched on a stone or into sand, with coins or pebbles, or whatever comes to hand, used as the pieces.

It is far easier to learn than chess or draughts and the rules can be internalised in a mere few minutes. The game is, however, not just a variation of noughts and crosses and has been described as subtle and thought-provoking.

On the surface this popular game seems to be a simple variant of the European game Nine Men’s Morris (also known as Muehle, Mill or Merelles). On closer scrutiny it seems more likely that Morabaraba evolved from Mancala games, known to date back to ancient Egypt. A Morabaraba board has actually been found carved into the Great Pyramid of Khufu. One can only speculate as to whether the board was perhaps placed there for the Pharaoh to use in his afterlife, or maybe for the relaxation purposes of the stonemasons. If the board is indeed the same age as the pyramid then the game could be dated back to 2560 BC!

Closer to home, Morabaraba boards that are 800 years old have been found at Mapungubwe in South Africa.

Morabaraba, derived from the English Morris, is its Shangaan name and the one which has come to be actively used in promoting the game. In South Africa it is also commonly known by the Xhosa form of the name umlabalaba. The name is ultimately derived from Latin merellus meaning a gaming counter. In the traditional European game the counters are commonly referred to as “men”, but in the South African version the counters are referred to as “cows”, the game being particularly popular amongst youth who herd cattle.

Over the centuries Morabaraba has played an important role in African culture, and has been used to teach herdboys an appreciation for tactical thinking, as well as evaluating the strategic skills of a chief’s advisers. The game is taken very seriously by its players and, according to legend, African chiefs would select the best Morabaraba players as their advisors and council members! With a recent revival of interest in traditional African culture, Morabaraba is being well received, and is thus being promulgated by many organisations, as well as the department of Sport and Recreation SA (SRSA) as part of the annual Indigenous Games tournaments supported by the department.

Building a New Identity

The game obtained official recognition from SRSA, as well as the National Sports Commission (NSC), SASCOCs predecessor, in 1996. Thus, South Africans may obtain Protea colours in the sport.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has taken on the mandate of putting Morabaraba on a sound sporting footing in South Africa and internationally. They promulgated a standard set of rules, and organise tournaments at regional, national and international levels. They also designed, and registered, a Morabaraba board and counters that have to be used in all official local and international competitions: the board has annotations along the side and the MSSA logo appears on the board and counters.

According to Colin Webster, president of MSSA, the organisation’s members have invested financially, and through devoting their time, to the development of the game. This has resulted in regular, and very successful, tournaments being held across SA, helping to popularise the traditional game with a new generation of players, he says. They run an annual championship for mineworkers, as well as the SA national and provincial championships, school national and provincial championships, and inter-school leagues.

In order to qualify for the national team trials, a player has to finish in the top 20% or top 3, whichever is greater, of a recognised provincial and/or national championship. The national team is then selected at the national team trials. Any registered player can enter the provincial and national championships.

MSSA is affiliated to the International Wargames Federation, which allowed for the establishment of an official Morabaraba World Championship.

Webster claims that through MSSA the game has grown enormously in both numbers and stature.

“Not only has a player (David Hlophe) received the President’s Award — Silver Class — in 2002, but there are now universities, like the University of Johannesburg, that offer bursaries to players who excel in the game,” says Webster.

“From having argued with the NSC in 1996 to have Morabaraba recognised as a sport, it is most rewarding to see the joy on the faces of players receiving provincial and national colours.”

According to a report published in the Sowetan, it is estimated that as many as 40% of all South Africans have at some stage played Morabaraba on a recreational basis. Webster points out that the competitive field is a lot smaller. “The largest entry that the MSSA has ever had in any one year is 36 000,” he says.

While the official boards with notation must be used in all the MSSA-organised Morabaraba championships and international competitions, there are millions of South Africans that play Morabaraba on a non-competitive basis, even if the Sowetan estimate is only half correct. When Morabaraba is played for leisure, any board and counter may be used — whether self-made, or supplied by the growing number of distributors supplying retailers. Which can translate into sales of thousands of boards, even if only 10% players choose to buy a board, instead of drawing their own.

Webster is excited that the game is growing every year on a global level. “There is no doubt that with the right support, Morabaraba can be one of the biggest games in the world,” he says.

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Outlook good for squash, says SA coach

More people, however, play squash as a leisure activity and this market segment is definitely growing as more and more people realise the health benefits of squash. Squash is also becoming more popular with athletes who excell in other sport like hockey and cricket, as it improves their ball skills.

He comments that more players from different races are enjoying squash in SA and the transformation can be seen in the number of black, Indian and coloured players that are playing squash.

The reason for the decline in league players, says Castle, is that people are too busy to commit to playing squash seriously. Also, club membership fees have become higher and the expense is a turn-away point for many players.

A few years ago the average age for male squash players in test series was 30; now the average age is 25. The fact that the players are younger means that the involvement in the sport is getting stronger. A sport can only grow and benefit if the youth has a strong interest in it. Most professional squash players start at a young age and have already shown potential before they go to high school.

The problem is that schools simply cannot afford to build squash courts and membership to fitness clubs are expensive. Castle believes the solution lies in building what he calls a multi-zone — an open-air cement construction with two walls where children of all communities, especially disadvantaged ones, can bounce balls off the walls. It is also suitable for basketball or tennis practice.

Castle has been playing squash since he was four and was national junior squash champion at the age of 12. At the age of 16, he started coaching at school level and by the time he was 21 he was a level 2 squash coach. In the 90s Castle became the Gauteng senior squash coach, but also played professionally.

His team won the Jarvis/Kaplan cup three years in a row and in 2003 he was asked to coach in KwaZulu-Natal. During that year the men’s squash team won in the A, B and C section and the women’s team the C section.

In 1997 Glenn Whittaker, former SA champion, started training with Castle. In 2001, 2002 and 2003 Castle and Adrian Hansen won the men’s doubles tournament and had great winnings with Jeanne Cowdrey. In 2004 Castle was appointed by Squash SA to coach the national team.

Funding is the biggest problem for squash. The National Lottery started funding Squash SA in 2005 and these funds enables them to send four players overseas to expose them to the international arena. SA squash players therefore have the opportunity to turn professional, but only when they are within the top 40 in the world — for example 20-year old Tenille Swartz (world #35) who is currently training in Germany. Swartz has been training with Castle for two and a half years and he says she has the potential to become world #1.

Some squash players return to SA to receive training, for example Milnay Louw, but Holland, Germany and other European countries are the best training grounds since the world’s strongest players train there — and, according to Castle, you can only better yourself once your opposition is the best.

The most expensive aspect of squash, and the reason why many SA children cannot play squash is the price of the racquet. Castle therefore appreciates it when brands try to bring out the best racket that they can and sell it at a lower price range.

His sponsorship with Dunlop is in an advisory capacity — and while he will not sell Dunlop products to his players, he does believe that Dunlop’s new range of Aerogel rackets have really hit the spot with the extended sweet-spot and a very good multi-filament.

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Own water polo body?

Since its inception in 1908, FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatics, has provided a standard to the rules and regulations of aquatic sports such as swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, water polo and open water swimming under one federation.

As a result, many countries govern all aquatic-related sports under one federation. South Africa, the Netherlands, Montenegro and Germany, to name a few, are examples of countries who run water polo and swimming under the same governing body.

But, it is also not unusual to find that swimming and water polo are administered by different bodies. In fact, the water polo teams that performed the best at the 13th FINA World Aquatics Championships in Rome this year, are from countries with a strong independent water polo organisation.

The most prominent independent water polo associations are US Water Polo, Water Polo Canada, Australian Water Polo, Russia Water Polo, Water Polo Federation of Serbia, Croatian Water Polo Federation, Water Polo Federation of Serbia,Water Polo (Greece), Hungarian Water Polo Federation, New Zealand Water Polo, and Turkish Water Polo Federation. In addition, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Israel have their own separate water polo associations.

The top four teams at the 2009 FINA World Championship were.

Women:

US (Gold)

Canada (Silver)

Russia (Bronze)

Greece (4th)

And the men:

Serbia (Gold)

Spain (Silver)

Croatia (Bronze)

US (4th)

The US was the 2008 Beijing Olympic Silver Medalist for both the women’s and men’s water polo teams. As teams from Europe traditionally dominate the men’s side of the sport, America is the only non-European country to win medals at the Olympic games. The US women’s team are the reigning World Champions for the second consecutive time and the third time this decade.

Not only is America one of the strongest water polo countries, they cultivated some of the world’s greatest swimmers as well - think Micheal Phelps – and have been dominating the swimming medals tables. At this year’s FINA Aquatic Championships in Rome, the US again topped the medal table.

Could this dominance in both sports be attributed to the fact that they have two separate governing bodies. The US Water Polo association provides it’s members with training, educational resources, opportunities to compete and insurance. This association allows its members to benefit from membership at a local club, certified coaches and officials, Olympic training, water polo clinics, regional and national tournaments and cutting edge developments in sport science.

The Canadian women’s team this year came an extremely close second place at the July/August World Championships this year. Their men’s team came 8th . The Canadian Water Polo Association Inc (WPC) is a separate governing body from swimming in Canada with their own by-laws, code of conduct, apeals process, dispute resolution and discipline, anti-doping program and anti-discrimination and harrassment” policy.

The Montenegro and Croatian teams participated under the Yugoslavian flag till 1991, and Serbia participated under the Yugoslavian flag untill February 2003. These Eastern-European countries, as well as Hungary and Romania, have traditionally always been the dominating teams in men’s water polo. In 2000 Yugoslavia won the Bronze medal in the Olympic games and in 2004 Serbia and Montenegro won the Silver medal and in 2008 Serbia won the Bronze medal again.

Croatia formed the Croatian Water Polo Federation as soon as they gained their independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The Croatian national swimming team has always been a strong contender as well and is organised by the Croatian Swimming Federation.

Having an independent governing body for water polo is, however, not a guarantee of success. The Netherlands women’s water polo team, Gold medal winner at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is an example: one organisation is in control of both swimming and water polo. This year the Netherlands women’s water polo team achieved 5th place in the 13th FINA World Chapmionship.

The Netherlands has always had a strong women’s water polo team and during the 1980’s and 1990’s they were considered one of the leading teams in the world. The tradition of women’s water polo in the Netherlands stems as far back as the early 1900’s. They have also produced strong swimmers.

Germany, which have also actively participated in water polo since the 1900’s, is also governed by a single organisation in charge of swimming and water polo. The German women’s water polo team this year came 10th and the German men’s team 6th. Traditionally, the Germans have also been quite strong in swimming, with Britta Steffen currently breaking records for them.

But, why would it make a difference if water polo is administered by an organisation separate from swimming?

It does not take a sports scientist to realise that swimming and water polo are two vastly different sports. For one, water polo is a team sport and requires good ball handling skills. The pool in which water polo events should be held does not have the same dimensions as a competitive swimming pool - it must, for example, be a minimum of 1.8m deep to ensure that no player touches the bottom of the pool during play.

Using the sides of the pool during water polo constitutes a foul, whereas the starting kick-off in swimming is a determining factor in eventual success. It is necessary for water polo players to be fit and able swimmers - but swimmers ned not be fit and able water polo players.

The style of swimming used during water polo is also vastly different to the style swimmers would use – water polo players keep their heads out of water at all times to observe the field, the arm stroke used is also a lot shorter and quicker and is used to protect the ball at all times. Water polo backstroke (used by defending field players to track advancing attackers and by the goalie to track the ball after passing) differs from swimming backstroke as the player sits almost upright in the water.

The cap used by water polo players is different to that used by swimmers – and their swimwear also differs.

In fact, the only thing water polo and swimming have in common is that they are both played in a pool. To quote Steve Douglas from a 2008 Sports Trader article on water polo “… Just because rugby and soccer are both played on grass and with a ball, should we do away with SAFA and allow SARU to run soccer as well? Of course not.”

Swimming and water polo both have a very long heritage. Swimming has been an Olympic sport since 1896 and in 1900 water polo became the first team sport admitted to the Olympic Games.

The problem with having one federation arises in countries where swimming has a stronger tradition than water polo - often leading to the latter recieving less promotional and developmental attention than the other - and vice versa. In SA, swimming is the undisputed leading aquatic sport that has traditionally been one of the main medal winning codes at the Olympics.

Women only started playing water polo in SA in the late nineties, and apart from this year’s 16th place at the FINA World Aquatics, their previous international exposure was in the Commonwealth Games (in 2006), where they came 4th.

SA men’s water polo team has only qualified to participate in the 1952 and 1960 Olympics. At the World Aquatics Championships, which FINA founded in 1973, SA’s men came 15th in 1994 and 2005 and 2009; and 14th in 1998 and 2007.

This means that they are ranked among the best in the world – and are the undisputed African champions. During the African qualifying leg for the FINA World Championships they clocked the second highest score ever to be recorded in water polo when they beat Libya 60-0. Since international matches last 32 minutes SA had to score a goal every 32 seconds. They compounded this massive success with victories over Morrocco (22-3 and 32-6), Libya (42-0) and Algeria (25-6 and 34-2). Not bad, when compared to a sport like soccer!

Yet, these victories are overshadowed by performances by swimmers.

The importance of having an association dedicated solely to the advancement water polo, would be that the association then takes full responsibility for the promotion and marketing of the sport, for the legislation and regulation of the sport and competitions, training and national representation, development of proper facilities and the staging of national water polo championships. Also, that association will be held accountable for financial and organisational management of water polo.

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Pro vs amateur darts

Worldwide darts is breaking out of the pub game mould and is gaining recognition as a sport. Just as in other sporting codes about a decade ago, a heated debate is now being waged on whether darts should remain an amateur sport or embrace professionalism. The SA dart world is divided: the amateur and the professional camps both believe that their way is the right way forward for the future of darts.

The growth of professionalism

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) was initially formed after 16 top professional players, along with their managers, decided to break away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) and the World Darts Council (WDC) in January 1992.

The two organisations have since resolved their differences and will stage a combined Grand Slam tournament from this year.

Since 2001 a specialist team, headed by top promoter Barry Hearn, have been running the PDC. "Hearn has done wonders for the sport through exposure on TV," says Harrows Darts president Robert Pringle. "He offers TV stations a package deal, consisting of a whole stable of diverse sporting events like fishing, boxing, darts, etc. They have to take the whole package if they want to televise one specific event. That led to the growth of darts in countries like China, where it was unknown before."

The televised tournaments have had the further benefit of establishing darts as a proper sport — resulting in sales of higher end products as people strive to improve their game. "The professional tournaments have given credibility to darts as sport and increased its profile," says Pringle. "People who watch see how much fun it is and want to start playing."

Worldwide, professional darts has grown considerably and there are currently 28 Pro Tour events in the world where players compete for £2.5-m in prizes.

Five ranking tournaments are staged live on Sky Sports each year, broadcasting to a global audience of more than 300-m viewers, and 2005 saw the introduction of the successful Premier League where crowds of 4000-5000 weekly fill UK arenas to cheer on their favourite amongst the top seven players competing in one of ten different towns.

PDC in SA

At the first professional tournament in SA, the Emperor’s Palace Masters held in Johannesburg in September last year, players competed for R225 000 in prize money.

This was the biggest prize fund in SA darts history and the winner, Wynand Havenga, got the opportunity to play in the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship in the UK, the biggest darts tournament in the world. This tournament, sponsored by Unicorn, will this year have a purse of £2.5-m.

Havenga surprised everyone by reaching the final 16 — and beating the 2005 runner-up, Peter Manley, in the process. This earned him R68 000 in prize money, in addition to the prizes worth R75 000 he won at the SA Masters.

Conflict in SA

There is, however, a rift between Darts SA and the PDC.

"I am still trying to get Darts SA on board with our goals of making darts the 4th biggest sport in our country," says Jon McGowan, the SA representative of the PDC.

"The main goal we have at the moment is to establish the SA Masters tournament as an annual event with a prize fund of R250 000, and the PDC have the infrastructure to help us achieve all goals," he says. "From there, we wish to have at least four tournaments a year televised, following that, we will introduce a televised premier league, and eventually we will have a pro circuit.

"The top players would be able to make enough money to play professionally by travelling around the country to the competitions, as well as do marketing and promotional work to help grow the sport."

But, according to Graham Stark, president of Darts SA, overseas intrusions have the potential to divide the sport as it was divided in the Apartheid era.

"It is my view that a clear distinction should be drawn between professional and non-professional organisations, as well as professional and non-professional players, and that there be no inter-playing allowed between the two, other than in mutually agreed tournaments."

The stance of Darts SA is that players who participate in tournaments of a professional body, or any other body not endorsed by Darts SA, will not be eligible for selection for the Protea teams.

"This may change in future, when all dynamics have been worked out and agreed upon," Stark explains.

"Our national championships will be played in Cape Town in July and we would welcome a sponsor for this event. The Protea teams that will compete at the World Cup in the Netherlands will be selected at the championships."

Stark points out that when one subscribes to membership of any sport organisation, one is expected to adhere to, and uphold, the constitution and other rules of the organisation. It is also not unreasonable to expect members to be loyal to the organisation, he says.

"Members who play in events not endorsed by Darts SA are effectively guilty of misconduct," says Stark. "Despite this, it is my view that we cannot just wish professionalism away. We have to find a way to reconcile our organisation with players who choose the professional avenue. I believe that if you cannot slay the beast, you can try to tame it."

Stark believes that while consensus is sought regarding the place of professionalism in SA darts, members should abide by the rules and be loyal to Darts SA as it is the national controlling authority for the sport.

"We offer our members the highest honour in any sport, namely selection for the national team, the Proteas." Thus all players who go the professional route will not be officially recognised with SA colours.

As far as professionalism goes, The SA Masters will again be held later this year, offering SA darts players the chance to compete for a purse of R225 000. The winner will compete against the 32 top ranked players in the world in the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship, with a minimum prize fund of £3 500, even if he or she fall out in the first round.

"This is a very exciting time for darts in SA," says McGowan.

The PDC plans to stage at least four televised provincial tournaments a year in future and the winners of each tournament will automatically qualify for the staged event at the Masters.

"Our main goal is to establish a pro circuit in South Africa," McGowan states. "There are no limitations as to how far we can go, and with the PDC as our foundation, the world is our oyster."

Stark believes that Darts in SA has a bright future. "The sport offers members the opportunity to spend their leisure time constructively and productively. It provides competition as well as time to socialise.

"However, if we cannot alleviate the financial plight of the member, then the sport will suffer as is indicated by the present decline in membership. A person who cannot support his family financially, cannot be expected to play any sport where he has to pay financial dues," says Stark. "Sponsorship can relieve such circumstances."

Darts SA currently has one sponsor, Winmau, supplied by Sportsmans Warehouse.

McGowan believes that darts is bigger than any man, player or political point of view. "We can only hope that one day we can all unite, until then, we must all do what we can to benefit the sport. If we leave it up to fate, the chances are our sport will die. Thus far, the PDC have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have the winning formula to take darts to the next generation of players and beyond."

But, according to Stark "any rift between parties is easily reconcilable if all parties display a willingness to seek solutions together, instead of just forging ahead with an agenda that is in conflict with the constitution and rules that govern our sport."

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SA squash win from world attention

Jahangir Khan, Peter Nicol or Sarah Fitz-Gerald are not the only ones to blame. Yet, if the growth of South African squash was a crime, the three former world champions might have been convicted of changing the hearts and the minds of the South African sporting public and contributing to a movement that could only have lured disciples away from the state religion, soccer, and the temple god, rugby... it is not too late to notify the Scorpions and stop this squash-defection!

The visits of Khan, Nicol and Fitz-Gerald in 2006 to SA, as well as the annual general meeting of the World Federation in Cape Town and the eighth World masters championships, also under the shadow of Table Mountain, have benefited squash and contributed to its growth in South Africa.

"These visits and international events definitely had a positive influence on squash in SA," says Ilse van Buynder, national director of Squash SA.

"There were more squash-related articles in the media and more exposure on radio. It had all the players talking. It also inspired the juniors to new heights."

The motivating factor was evident when the players competed at the Women’s World Team Championships in 2006. The women, ranked 12th, ended 6th.

Within months, Tenille Swartz moved from 134th to 43rd on the world rankings of the Women’s International Squash Professional Association (WISPA) circuit.

Squash South Africa had 21 juniors participating in the British and Scottish Junior Championships. Rudi Willemse lost in the final of the Scottish tournament and in the semi-final of the British tournament.

Currently, Swartz, Clinton Leeu, Stephen Coppinger, Richard Colburn and Gary Wheadon are competing on the WISPA and Professional Squash Association circuits, said Van Buynder.

It is encouraging, and also a revelation, for during the past ten years, Rodney Durbach was mostly the only South African shining light in the professional arena.

Peter Nicol was the world’s highest-ranked player for 60 months. He won 1 World Open-title and 2 British Open-titles, as well as four Commonwealth Games gold medals. In April, he went on a four day promotional campaign, visiting Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town with the local distributors Leisure Holdings SA, in association with Squash South Africa.

The English legend challenged Craig Wapnick and Craig van der Wath in Johannesburg. In Pretoria he competed in matches against Richard Colburn and Craig van der Wath, while Rodney Durbach and Gary Wheadon tested his skills in Cape Town. Nicol was a special guest on the program Super Saturday on SuperSport, Morning Live on SABC and also did three radio-interviews.

He also conducted some coaching master classes for juniors in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

"His visit created huge enthusiasm, and everywhere he went, all the tickets (for his challenge matches) were sold out," said Van Buynder. "I know that the Prince O3-racket that he played with, was sold out in all the shops, and Leisure Holdings simply ran out of stock.

"Nicol is a special athlete — a good example for everybody with his fluent movements. He is a magician with a racquet. He also inspires everybody because he is well-mannered, is committed and his attitude towards squash and life is exemplary."

South Africa hosted the World Masters squash championships in October 2006.

In all, 677 players from 33 countries participated. Five South Africans won gold medals, Craig van der Wath (40 to 44 year old), Angie Clifton-Parks (40-44), Mike Tootill (35-39), Janet van der Westhuizen (45-49) and Peter Fahrenheim (75 years and older).

Glenda Erasmus (65 years plus) and Vivienne Doeg grabbed silver, while bronze-medalists Jonathan Leeb (40-44), Gary Fourie (45-49), Peter Stephens (50-54), Alan Colburn (55-59), Nick Pebnstone/Des Schultz (60-64), Brian Heath (65-69), Alex Hamilton/Terry Christy (75+), Sharon Wakeford (35-39), Sharon le Roux (40-44), Margie Hunt-Kemp (55-59), Jean Grainger/Lix Pratten (60-64) and Dawn Kaiser (65+) completed SA’s successful quest for medals.

The 36th annual general meeting of the World Squash Federation at the Cape Town International Federation Centre focused on taking the sport to the next level.

Sixty five representatives from thirty international countries were gathered for the conference.

Newcomers like Iran, Qatar, Norway and Chinese Taipei attended.

Jahangir Khan, long considered the world’s greatest-ever player, was re-elected as president of the World Squash Federation at the conference. Khan went unbeaten for 555 consecutive matches and won 6 World Opens and 10 British Opens. When another Khan, Jansher, emerged and dominated Jahangir for a while, the older statesman rallied to win 11 out of their next 15 encounters.

Discussing the conference, Van Buynder said Squash SA acknowledged that it had to compete internationally more regularly and had to host more PSA- and WISPA-events to ensure more exposure.

"We also have to exploit more new technology to our advantage, like a glass court with glass floor panels, like that introduced by Horst Babinsky.

"But the reality is that we are in need of sponsorships to host such big events. We expressed the view to the WSF that the currency plays an enormous role and that is why we currently cannot host big tournaments.

"The registration money to host tournaments on behalf of WISPA or PSA, amounts to thousands of rand and one has to provide accommodation for the qualifying players. But Squash SA is very positive. Hopefully we all will see an international event on South African soil in 2007," says Van Buynder.

The new glass court is a wonderful concept, yet moving and assembling this modern technology at show-venues, is astronomically expensive, according to the national director.

Bermuda will host the World Open championships for men and women in 2007. Swartz will represent South Africa, and Van Buynder hopes she will excel.

The 19-year old Swartz is a committed athlete, and extremely talented. In November last year she beat the Italian Manuela Manetta, 35th on the world rankings, to win the international Meersquash Open.

One of Swartz’s privileges in 2006 was to compete in a challenge match against the legendary Australian Sarah Fitz-Gerald, arguably one of the four greatest-ever squash players in the world.

The young Free State-champion’s big scalp in 2006, was the Kiwi Shelly Kitchen. Kitchen was ranked 12th in the world when Swartz beat her.

WISPA crowned Swartz as young player of the year at the end of 2006.

"Tenille is a wonderful example and inspiration for junior women. She is surely a role model and ambassador for SA.

"The massive contribution of the Lottery enabled us to host the test series against the Netherlands in 2006, as well as our participation in the World Doubles championships and the Commonwealth Games in March, have given opportunities to our young generation," says Van Buynder.

Steve Gallienne, director of Dunslaz Distributorship, one of the official sponsors of Squash SA, says Van Buynder has done wonderful work for the development of squash over the past four years.

"She has taken the game to a new level and has generated more cash as well as game-time for the sport on TV."

The visit of Nicol as well as hosting the 8th World Masters squash championship did much to enhance of squash in South Africa. So did the presence of Fitz-Gerald. The Australian player endorses Dunlop, the official racquet of the PSA.

"While she was in SA, she did much for brand sales, and assisted in reaffirming its position as the leader. While she was playing or socializing, she promoted the brand 110%," says Gallienne. "A key to improved sales would be the marketing behind the individuals who represent a specific brand."

The former winner of five World Open-titles attracted many more spectators while she was participating at the world masters-event in Cape Town.

According to Gallienne Dunslaz witnessed a growth in squash products in 2006. One of the greatest increases has been in the growth of premium frames. "We have seen a nice improvement in the sales of these frames. It is seen as tactical moves by players to enhance their play by acquiring a frame that will offer more feel and control and could benefit their performances," he says.

Yet, for all the positives, the down side is that there is no real squash-specific sport magazine in South Africa.

While the World Masters championship was being played in Cape Town, many members of the general public were unaware of the event.

"There was no real advertisement campaign in Cape Town, no or little radio coverage. A lot of money is needed to have a marketing drive and TV-coverage.

"The South African Open tennis tournament in Durban is a case in point. You hear a bit about the event on the radio, but not an intensive advertisement campaign. It is simply because the federations do not have the money to blow R200 000 on a media-campaign that will publicize the event," adds Gallienne.

Van Buynder’s vision is to host a World Open for men and women at Sun City. She would require R5-m to R6-m to fulfill that dream. With the growing squash-interest in SA, anything is possible.

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Soccer stars in their eyes

A unique project by a Dutch shoe company is aiding disadvantaged SA youths to improve their lives through soccer training

Stars in their Eyes, an international football project aimed at taking sport and personal development in disadvantaged communities to a higher level, has been introduced by the Dutch suppliers of Q and British Knights footwear, Quick Sports International BV.

Using the internationally proven Dutch football for development coaching model, Stars uses soccer coaching clinics and one-on-one mentoring to instil discipline, self respect and pride in individuals living in rural, disadvantaged communities. An integral part of the program is to twin SA communities with Dutch football clubs.

In February 29 South African coaches from 11 disadvantaged South African communities attended an intensive Soccer for Development programme in Stellenbosch. During this project, 6 highly qualified Dutch football coaches from 6 different Dutch amateur clubs were twinned with their counterparts from various South African disadvantaged communities.

In addition to the mentoring processes which took place, the exchange of information, skills and knowledge during the pilot project has since illustrated that the Stars-approach works extremely well in the SA communities.

The second phase of the Stars-program is due to kick off in August, followed by a series of coaching clinics and exchange visits between SA and Dutch clubs and communities.

Ultimately the objective of the Stars-program is to create a pyramid of SA coaches. These coaches/mentors will become the central figures in a community development program, in which soccer will create new perspectives for disadvantaged communities.

The Stars-program also involves:

Linking Dutch schools with rural South African schools (e-learning).

Integrating Aids awareness and health guidance, norms and values, and leadership development as training subjects.

Utilising Dutch soccer and empowerment training techniques to create a focused programme for disadvantaged youths.

Imparting skills to community officials regarding corporate governance and all financial issues.

By 2010 they hope to have trained a pyramid of 50 senior lecturers, 450 regional coaches and 1500 community coaches. They also want to twin at least 40 SA communities with 80 Dutch/European soccer communities.

The Western Cape department of Sport & Recreation is lending its support to the project. Whitey Jacobs, Minister of Culture Sports and Recreation of the Western Cape, recently visited the Quick Sports head office in Strijen, in the Netherlands.

The village of Strijen is twinned with Bitterfontein in the Western Cape. Voetbalvereniging Strijen, a first league Dutch amateur soccer club, is sponsored by Quick Sports International BV.

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August 2004

The new SA sport structures:

Good or bad news for the industry?

The sporting goods industry is in the unenviable position that factors outside its control determine profits and losses. The number of participants in a sport directly translate into how well or badly a particular market sector will do. The success of the new sport structures, due to be implemented in March next year, will therefore have a direct impact on the sporting goods business

If all goes according to plan, the Department of Sport and Recreation, together with the provinces and municipalities, will embark on a mass participation program for schools and community clubs. Apart from that, a non-governmental Sport Confederation will look at elite athletes and ways to improve our medal tally at future international events (Beijing, watch out!)

In his Budget Speech in parliament earlier this year, Rev. M. Stofile, Minister of Sport & Recreation, stressed the necessity for community clubs to be revived and for children in township and village schools to be assisted to do sport. "School sport is a crucial lever in empowering young people towards healthy and active but disciplined lifestyles," he said.

"There are many reasons for the non-participation in sport by most school children. One key reason is the absence of a well-oiled machine to organise and manage school sport. Such a machine needs to be adequately backed by the state and needs to be accountable to all stake-holders. The Department of Education and our Department (Sport and Recreation) are fine-tuning how this vision must be implemented."

The government therefore allocated money to the provinces to kick-start mass participation in sport. The leadership of the SANDF, SAPS and Correctional Services are also revamping organised sport and recreation programmes in their sectors.

Concern about childhood obesity

Worldwide, there is growing concern about the drop in activity levels amongst school age children.

In October, the findings of a SA research project on physical activity in schools, that involved researchers testing the fitness levels of about 10 000 learners, will be discussed at a conference in Johannesburg. "Running, jumping, being active is essential for a child’s health, growth, wellbeing and self-esteem," says project leader Karen Sharwood of the UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine.

The research project was prompted by concern that our children, like the rest of the world, are becoming fatter and more unhealthy as computer games and TV replace sport and running games as activities.

"The Birth to Twenty study shows that less than a third of black SA children are offered physical education at school. The study revealed that more than 40% of SA youths in Grade 4-5 do not regularly participate in physical activities," says Prof. Tim Noakes of the Sports Science Institute of SA. (SSISA). "This results in children becoming more obese – the SA National Food Consumption Survey of 1999 showed that 1 in 13 urban children aged 1-9 years are overweight."

The fitness scores of schools that participated in the research will be entered in a national database, which will enable schools to compare the fitness level of their learners with their peers. In conjunction with the Heart Foundation, the school researchers will also look at the fare on offer at school tuck shops. "The long term vision of this project would be to empower schools to take up this fitness assesment themselves," says Sharwood. "Schools will then be rewarded based on their participation in the project as well as any improvements in their fitness profiles".

Examples of rewards for participation could be new sports facilities or fitness equipment like skipping ropes, etc.

They hope that schools where the learners have a low fitness level will be encouraged to concentrate more on physical education programs and that the unfit children will be motivated to change their lifestyles.

Global problem

Childhood obesity is a global problem as an estimated 155-m school-age children worldwide are overweight or obese. In developing countries, 7-10% of children aged between 3-9 years are obese.

In the US, physical education had to begin competing with subjects like art, music etc. in schools when participation in physical education became an optional subject. It is usually the athletically inclined children who choose to participate in sport, not the children who are less athletically talented, but equally in need of exercise.

Concerned stakeholders like the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) of America, therefore started to lobby the US Congress until the PE4Life Bill was passed to provide funding to encourage children to start taking part in physical activities. Between 2001 and 2004, Congress provided $235-m for the hiring and training of more physical education teachers and to provide equipment to schools who could not afford it.

In the UK, there has been a threefold in-crease over the past 20 years in the number of children with Type 2 diabetes. During this period, physical education had been phased out in many schools and sports field were sold to developers. This is now also a source of major concern and the UK government is supporting various programs to reverse the trend.

Interestingly, though, a Sports Trader survey of the sports offered by SA schools, indicate that not only are the number of schools offering the different sporting codes increasing from five years ago, but schools are now offering non-traditional sports like shooting, surfing, mountaineering, table tennis, pool or fencing as sport for their learners.

The number of schools that now offer most sports, compared to five years ago, have increased substantially. Soccer (for boys) is, for instance, now offered by 26% more schools than in 1999, golf by 19% more, tennis, cricket and soccer for girls by 13% more schools.

Creating winners

But, while a nation on the run and jump is good for health and sport retailers’ pockets, the national pride is bolstered by teams winning cups and athletes winning medals. Just think back to the heartwarming glow of "Wow, but we are great!" that we all felt during that wonderful weekend when our swimmers out-swam the Aussies and Americans to break the record AND we thumped the All Blacks in the Tri-Nations.

When countries battle it out on the sports field during times of peace, a nation’s con-fidence and sense of accomplishment are boosted by good performances. And, unfortunately, dashed by poor performances.

While the harshest critics sit in arm chairs in front of TVs, it is also true that youngsters do get inspired by top performers returning as heroes. The resulting hype around a winning team or athlete, do translate into more spectator interest and participants for a sport – just compare the empty seats in the stands of a team on a losing streak to the sold out matches of the team at the top of the log.

Winning teams are therefore also good for business.

After the SA Olympic team returned from Sydney in 2000 with five medals, the then Minister of Sport & recreation, Ngconde Balfour, appointed a Ministerial Task Team (MTT) of various experts to investigate ways of improving high performance elite sport. The report by the team, including recommendations from Jim Ferguson, former CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, is available on the SA Sports Commission’s website (www.sasc.org.za).

As a result of the recommendations, ratified by cabinet, sport will be divided in two tiers: the Department of Sport and Recreation responsible for mass participation and sport development as one, and a non-governmental Sports Confederation responsible for high performance sport, as the other. This confederation, already abbreviated to Sports Co, will comprise of the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (NOCSA), parts of the South African Sports Commission (SASC), Disability Sport South Africa (DISSA), the South African Commonwealth Games Association (SACGA), the South African Student Sports Union (SASSU) and the United School Sports Association of South Africa (USSASA).

"I am convinced that the new arrangement, that should be consummated by the end of this year, will eliminate the confusion, especially amongst athletes, of who to relate to and will certainly eliminate much of the administrative duplication and "turf wars" that prevail in sport and recreation currently," the minister said. "The National Federations will retain their responsibility for developing their sports through the entire development continuum and will work closely with government who will take greater responsibility for the mass participation base of the pyramid. The arrangements will enhance the potential for attracting sponsors for multi-sport events to the extent that the Sports Confederation will be able to offer them a package of products that will ensure maximum exposure on an ongoing basis rather than only once in four-year cycles, as is presently the case."

Sports academies

R10-m has already been invested in the establishment of a national sports academy system that helped prepare athletes for the Olympics and Paralympics at the Universities of Pretoria and Stellenbosch. The first permanent national academy, that will be linked to the existing system of provincial and regional academies, will be established in partnership with private enterprise. These, in turn, work with sports federations from club level upwards to identify and develop talented athletes.

It is expected that legislation will be passed during the current parliamentary session to repeal the SA Sports Commission and pave the way for it to merge with the Department of Sport & Recreation so that the new structures could be implemented by March next year.

The brief of the MTT was to recommend ways in which the performance of elite athletes can be improved and they recommended that the National Federations must accept ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of their sports — and each must develop a plan for the strategies they plan to follow to improve the sport. "A vital element of each plan must be an analysis of the sport’s performance as measured against its major international competitors," the report recommends.

Funding, as always, is expected to be limited and "in order to achieve success in the shortest possible time it will be necessary to give priority to those sports with the best chance of success for every Rand expended. For example, in team sports it is necessary to support all the members of the team for the chance of only one medal, whereas in others, for example boxing, swimming, cycling, track and field, multiple medals can be achieved for the same financial outlay," the MTT recommends.

"This may be hard on some sports but, where resources are limited, it will be absolutely vital to set priorities and stick to them. It is therefore proposed that a simple classification system be established taking account primarily of the potential for success. Those sports judged as having the greater potential should be funded at a higher level per athlete than those with a lesser potential."

They recommend that wealthy professional sports like rugby, cricket, soccer, golf and motor racing, which receive lucrative commercial sponsorships, should not get Government funding — except at development level to encourage participation in that sport. This will make more money available to create winners in sports that do not attract commercial sponsorships. To the benefit of the industry.

What we can learn from the Aussies

Australia has not always been the sports powerhouse it is today. After the Montreal Olympics in 1976, where they won 5 medals, Australia decided they wanted to do better and set out to identify sports where they had a chance of winning more medals. With the help of sport scientists high performance academies and programs were established that systematically helped improve their sporting performance in each consecutive Olympic Games. Investment in sport became a priority.

The turnaround started about ten years ago, says dr. Deborah Hoare, who was co-ordinator of the Australian Institute of Sport’s talent identification program in the build up to the Sydney Olympics. If a country has a relatively small population, like South Africa or Australia, a few high profile sporting codes tend to attract the majority of the school athletes. The country usually performs fairly well in these sports as the talent pool is big enough to ensure that top performers come to the fore. But, in order to win more medals, top performers are needed in a wider spread of sporting codes. In sports where there are only a few participants, medals can only be won if you go looking for potential winners and encourage them to join the small talent pool. The Australians therefore looked at the attributes of the best performers in a variety of sports and developed a system of measuring the physiological attributes that would identify the athletes with a predisposition to perform well in a particular sport. This talent identification program became an integral part of the Australian team’s seven-year preparation for the Sydney Olympics.

"The talent searchers would go to schools with a model of the physical attributes of an athlete likely to perform well in a certain sport," explains dr Hoare. "The learners with a predisposition to perform well, were then approached and asked if they wanted to join the talent program. Some learners who never believed they had any athletic talent, went on to win gold medals."

While it is possible to predict the predisposition to perform well fairly accurately based on physiology, height, weight, etc, in team sport factors like decision making ability during the game, coaching and early or late maturing play a role, she says.

The program generated worldwide interest and between 1995 and 2000 she was asked to address conferences and help set up programs in thirty countries – including China (who ended 3rd in Sydney with 59 medals, including 28 gold and dominated in Athens) England and some European and Eastern European countries. In 1999 the Australian Sports Commission seconded her to the SA Sports Commission to develop a talent identification program as part of a development aid agreement.

But, while it is gratifying to identify talent – what you do with the talented youngsters makes the difference. The SA Sports Commission therefore first had to establish Provincial Academies of Sport in all nine provinces where the talented athletes could receive expert coaching and all the assistance needed to enhance their level of performance. At the end of 2002 academies were established in all nine provinces and the building of a winning team could start. Some benefits were already seen at the Athens Olympics, but the real medal growth is only expected over the coming decade. (Exerpt from article in C&S Sport).

Even help for cricketers

Teams that perform at the highest level usually have a whole squad of expert advisors assisting them – but not necessarily South African teams. "South African sport administrators must realise that the teams we compete against use many backroom boys." says Prof. Timothy Noakes of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.

Making use of the expertise from other disciplines is also entrenched in Australia. Before the last Cricket World Cup, Noakes addressed a Science and Medicine Conference on cricket and the Australian cricket board immediately requested copies of the papers … the UCB showed little interest.

The technologies, research and analyses used by other top performing countries is available in SA, he says, but the concept still has to be sold to athletes and administrators, says Noakes. While IT programs providing data like statistics and feedback on cricket or rugby games are freely available, an academic can give added value by analysing the statistics and detect patterns, strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, during a cricket test series against New Zealand, former coach Bob Woolmer spent six hours watching video clips of Chris Harris, who was giving the Proteas a hard time, before he noticed the instinctive movements Harris made before specific deliveries. Once Woolmer had "broken the Harris code", he could devise a plan for the fielders and bowlers to neutralise him. Noakes believes that academics can give that kind of analysis in a fraction of the time … or at the very least, relieve the coach from watching videos and get on with his other duties.

"Sure, the coach can sit and watch archive material and see for himself who bowls where, but after several hours, he would still not be able to remember and analyse with the same level of sophistication as we can within a short period with a computer. "Besides, the human eye can only see so much, while data on a computer presents a more accurate assessment," says Noakes.

During a cricket game, a sport scientist can measure the speed and accuracy of deliveries, where the opposition scores runs, and analyse these results for the coach.

A scientist can also analyse the involuntary cues that a bowler gives before releasing the ball that would give the batsman that fraction of a warning to play the correct stroke. Scientists can therefore show batsmen how movements differ before each delivery. And then further analyse the anticipatory cues given by the batsman when he decides to play a stroke, which can help to show where the ball is likely to land.

In cricket, fitness is crucially important. "We can anaylse a cricketer’s fitness during a competition. Mkhaya Ntini, for instance, bowls at the same speed from the first to last delivery — which indicates an incredible level of fitness. Pollock can place every ball where he wants it to land. That is fitness. Those two set the standard. We can measure the rest of the team against them: as soon as skills drop, balls start to spray, a player is getting tired. That means he is not fit enough."

From 1995 to 1997, while Bob Woolmer was coach, the SSISA did assist the Protea cricket team. But they fell out of favour with the late captain Hansie Cronje when the scientists voiced concern about the patterns of individual and team underperformances that they began identifying.

Seven years elapsed before the cricket fraternity invited them back after Gary Kirsten was appointed high performance manager. (Exerpt from article in C&S Sport)

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The off-field Olympics

The Olympic year has been synonymous with world records as athletes drive themselves in a relentless pursuit of excellence and gold, and it has been strongly associated with new releases as brands endeavour to create global awareness of their new, revolutionary products.

Some of these product innovations have not met with universal approval. The Italians, for example, are not impressed with the latest developments in bodysuits. The Italian Swimming Federation wants to ban all new generation technology suits (including Speedo’s LZR and TYR’s Tracer Rise) from youth and beginner’s competition. They’re simply too good, say the federation.

FINA convened a special meeting recently to address protests raised by Arena over the TYR Tracer Rise and Speedo LZR Racer Suits, requesting they be banned from future competitions due to their alleged performance advantages. FINA upheld their previous ruling on Tracer Rise as well as the Speedo LZR Racer, namely, that they offer accepted and certified technology.

Athletes are allowed to choose their own technological equipment, but must wear the clothing from the official teamwear supplier.

This has also resulted in conflicts between the bodysuit manufacturers and some national federations, who insist that swimmers must wear the sponsors’ teamwear.

This becomes more problematic when the swimming team sponsor is not the national teamwear sponsor. For example, US swim coach Mark Schubert insisted team members swim in Speedo, although the Olympic teamwear sponsor is Nike.

This resulted in TYR Sport filing a legal action with the US District Court citing unlawful restraint of trade and an attempt to monopolise the competitive swimwear marketplace against Warnaco Swimwear (Speedo US), US Swimming and the US swimming coach Mark Schubert.

In SA, brands are also in discussion with SASCOC regarding their ruling that swimmers must wear Arena swim- and body-suits. Arena sponsors Swimming SA.

Speedo celebrated their 80th birthday in style in April at the ninth FINA World Swimming Championships in Manchester, where 132 medals were won and 17 world records were broken by swimmers wearing Speedo, 13 of them in the new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit.

That brought the total number of world records broken in the Speedo LZR Racer suit to 35 (correct on 16th April 2008) since the suit was launched in February 2008.

According to Speedo co-president, David Robinson, 78% of the medals at the recent World Championships were won by swimmers in Speedo and 35 world records were broken in less than eight weeks.

The introduction of the TYR Tracer Rise technology has also seen an improvement of between 2–4 % in the performance of swimmers using this suit, says Steve Furniss, CEO of TYR. Tracer technology has seen the breaking of one world record, four American records, two European records, two French national records, the world’s second fastest time in the 200m fly, three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal at the world championship.

New footwear developed

The Olympic years usually inspire innovative new footwear and clothing aimed at making athletes perform faster, stronger, higher and more gracefully.

Nike recently launched their new Olympic footwear (in some cases in the nick of time) to the international press at the Nike Beijing Innovation Summit. They have developed a sport-specific shoe for every conceivable sporting code. Even those that usually go barefoot. Minimalist gets a new meaning with some footwear styles that barely cover the most important foot contact points.

The smallest of their small shoes is the Pidima (Greek for leap), designed for use by gymnasts in the vault competition. It looks like a rubber-spiked pouch that covers the toes and ball of the foot, with the rest of the foot unencumbered. The rubber traction helps the gymnast to build up speed during the run-up and then leap with force, before sticking to the landing spot.

Nike’s track athletes wearing the Zoom Victory Spike will carry a mere 100gm in weight. Every single component has been chosen to reduce weight — even the thread used is the lightest available. Instead of a sock liner, the designers used a single piece of lightweight suede. Instead of fitting a heel counter, a hole was cut to expose the foot itself, which also ensures a snug, custom fit that prevents slippage.

Kayakers usually go barefoot, but the US rowing team asked team sponsor Nike to develop footwear for them that would provide lightweight protection and traction for their feet during a race. The result is the Grigoros (Greek for quick), a low-profile skin that easily slips over the foot made from a single piece of Nike’s 100% recycled, stickiest rubber compound.

As official sponsor of, among others, the US Olympic team, Nike can expect to get good exposure for their almost nothing footwear range with quite a few records broken and podium appearances.

Yao Ming and Reebok

Deane Northard of the PR and communications department of Reebok in SA, says the brand will focus on two Olympic inspired shoes that will be launched during the Olympic season. Those are the Taikan RRP and the Yao Ming Pump Omni Hexride.

The Taikan is a lightweight racer for middle to long distance runners. It has all the cushioning, support and durability needed for long distance marathons, but built into a lightweight, mesh-lined upper to give Olympic gold medal contenders that extra advantage.

The Yao Ming Pump Omni Hexride is named after Yao Ming, a professional basketball star who plays for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association.

He is one of China’s most successful exports, and currently the tallest player in the NBA at 7’6’’. Ming has been honoured by being named in the NBA All Stars team three times to date.

This signature series Yao Ming Basketball shoe is inspired by the 2008 Beijing Olympics with red and gold Olympic colouring and Chinese styling. It is a tribute to China’s most popular sports hero with the Olympics being held in his home country.

But, Olympic exposure does not only come from sponsoring athletic stars and national teams. Asics will gain exposure as the 2008 Beijing Olympic broadcast sponsor of Eurosport, which will include TV ads, indents and break bumpers.

As part of this deal, Eurosport has created two special programmes for the benefit of Asics and its two ambassadors, Stefano Baldini and Viktor Röthlin, says Janine Stokes, brand manager of Asics in SA.

Dressing Team SA

The Olympic year is not only about new product, world records, law suits and controversy. Many brands are official teamwear suppliers to national teams, with a proud heritage of involvement with the greatest sporting tradition in the world.

The 135-strong SA Olympic team will receive their team kit at their base camp in Daegu, South Korea where they will attend a training camp in the week leading up to the Beijing Games. This will be the last part of Team SA’s preparation before leaving for the hot and heavy Beijing air. All athletes are expected to arrive in the athletes’ village three days prior their competition commencement date.

We have been reliably informed that the SA team kit will be supplied by Mizuno, but the SA distributors Leisure Holdings could not confirm this.

The team from Swimming SA (22) will form the biggest contingent in Beijing and are also expected to bring home the most medals.

At the time of going to press, athletes from the following other sporting codes have qualified for Beijing: archery (1), boxing (Jackson Chauke), cycling (5 — including Robbie Hunter), fencing (6), gymnastics (Odette Richard), sailing (3) and shooting (2).

The announcement of qualifiers from other sporting codes are to be made after Sports Trader had gone to press.

Team SA at Paralympics

The SA Paralympic team members have always been much stronger medal contenders than their able bodied counterparts. At the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games the SA team finished 13th on the medal table with 15 golds included in a haul of 35 medals.

At the time of going to press, athletes from the following sporting codes have qualified to participate in the Paralympic Games in Beijing: athletics (which should include possible medallists Ernst van Dyk and Oscar Pistorius), aquatics (with Natalie du Toit set to repeat her previous magnificent medal haul), cycling, equestrian, power-lifting, rowing, table tennis, wheelchair basketball (men) and wheelchair tennis.

The SA Paralympic team will be kitted out in new teamwear designed by Puma SA.

Puma is also the official supplier of several teams competing in the able bodied Summer Olympics, including Sweden, Jamaica and Morocco, says Brett Bellinger, marketing director of Puma SA.

Puma’s mantra for their Runway Collection launched earlier in 2008, and extended into an Olympic Runway Collection, is: Look better, feel better, perform better.

“Suffice to say that not only will the products have the latest technical advancements, but they will also look amazing on the track and field, ensuring that the athletes compete in style,” says Bellinger.

Not only will the technical advancements in terms of lighter weight and speed enhancement assist the Olympic athletes, but also the fact that the product looks and feels better than anything else to date. That will ensure that they have a feeling of looking good, which will hopefully also translate into an improved performance, adds Bellinger.

Puma medal winners can look forward to receiving their prizes in outfits like the Podium Suit Jacket sporting the signature eight lane Puma Runway graphic and the Podium Suit Pant, featuring an inside drawcord and knee articulation detail that makes this pant stylish and highly functional.

The Ceremony Dress worn by the women during official occasions features the Runway eight lane graphic across the front of the dress, adding a little fun and flash to the collection.

Apart from the national teams, Puma also sponsors Usain Bolt of Jamaica, who recently ran the second fastest 100m of all time and looks like a massive prospect for the Beijing Olympics. He and other athletes will benefit from the development of the new Cell Meio L and other running styles. The Cell Meio boasts the new inverse DuoCell technology, which creates a ride specific to each runners footstrike, the Cell Meio also has a TPU injected heel and forefoot that provides responsiveness, energy return and comfort.

Who’ll have the balls?

As with the FIFA World Cup, adidas also has a long-running agreement with the International Olympic Committee to supply the match ball for football.hile individual athletes are entitled to use the equipment supplied by their sponsors, all team sports have official Olympic ball sponsors.

Mikasa will be the official Olympics sponsor for water polo and volleyball. Commenting on this, Nick Wiltshire, general manager of Pat Wiltshire Sports, says Mikasa’s active involvement with the Olympic movement goes back to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

In Beijing this summer, Mikasa will be the official game ball for volleyball, which will be represented by 288 participants of which 144 are men, and 144 are ladies from the twelve countries who qualified for the events.

Beach volleyball will be represented by 96 participants, while water polo will be represented by 260 participants, of whom 156 are men and 104 are ladies.

Ivan Kukuljevic of ABT Imports, supplier of Molten, the official Olympic basketball sponsors, emphasises the fact that the Molten BGL7 and BGL6 will be the official basketballs used at the Beijing Olympic Games for men and women.

Activists threaten sponsorships

Sponsorship of teams and athletes are usually a badge of honour that is closely guarded against possible ambush marketers, the Beijing Olympics almost became a poisoned chalise as human rights activists, protesting China’s harsh action against Tibetan protesters, threatened to boycott products of all Olympic sponsors.

Especially adidas came under fire. Critics of their sponsorship of uniforms for staff, volunteers and technical personnel for 27 sporting codes at the Olympics in Beijing voiced their concern at the adidas AGM that brand was being linked to human rights abuses. Some members of the German team, also sponsored by adidas, threatened to wear protest armbands with the slogan Sport for Human Rights.

“We will not let ourselves be held morally responsible for a situation which we did not create and for which we are not accountable,” adidas CEO Herbert Hainer responded.

Of late, the brand’s association with the Olympics has not been too happy. Following a ban by the International Olympic Committee of the three stripes on team uniforms, limiting brand exposure, adidas said that they will reconsider their future sponsorship of some sporting codes.

But, as sponsors of the Chinese Olympic team, as well as all Olympic officials, they hope to benefit this year from sales in the massive Asian market that accounts for about a third of their annual sales — and in the process threaten Nike’s dominant position.

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Swimming bodysuits

The swim brands take FINA to task

FINA probably rues the day when they approved the use of the first bodysuit fifteen years ago. Their decision that a full bodysuit is equipment, not teamwear, when the controversy over allowing swimmers to wear their sponsor’s bodysuit at the Olympics instead of the official teamwear supplied, has now come back to haunt them.

After all, it was argued then, an athlete should be able to choose the equipment that will allow him to perform at his best — thereby acknowledging that bodysuits enhance performance, rather than merely clothe a body.

And now that the suits seem to be doing just that, FINA heeded calls by critics and voted 168 to 6 to ban the use of bodysuits in competitions. From January 2010 only swimsuits that cover men from below the navel to above the knee (jammers) and female suits that don’t go past the shoulders or below the knees will be allowed for competitive swimming.

The irony is that the biggest record breaker this season, Michael Phelps, does not swim with a full bodysuit, but indeed wears one that starts below his navel!

No plastics

Part of the controversy centred around Speedo’s use of polyurethane panels in their LZR Racer that had other swimmers breaking contracts to switch brand as fast as the records were broken. The other brands objected to the construction — which was believed to aid buoyancy — because they believed it was illegal. But FINA initially approved the suits. They have now retracted and ruled that swimsuits will have to be made from textile in future.

Speedo has called the decision by FINA to ban full bodysuits a retrograde step that could be detrimental to the future of swimming.

“We recognise the catastrophic effect and controversy that the introduction of fully non-permeable wetsuits by certain manufacturers has had on the sport of swimming in recent months,” the Speedo statement further reads. “Speedo has always believed that there is no place in the sport for buoyancy aids. We were and remain highly supportive of FINA’s Dubai Charter which recommended the banning of these suits from January 2010, whilst allowing some elements of non-permeable materials.”

The furious debate around the bodysuits centre around two issues: sport scientists claimed the 158 records broken during the past year could be attributed to technology rather than the swimmers; and the fear of coaches that junior swimming will become the exclusive domain of the super rich as the belief grows that you cannot win without a bodysuit (costing around R5 000 each, and they don’t last a competitive season).

After the Beijing Olympics, the focus was on Speedo because most medals were won by swimmers wearing Speedo (many switched brands in Beijing as their sponsors were not ready to provide the technology offered by the LZR Racer).

But, at the recent Rome world championship Paul Biedermann (left) beat Michael Phelps in the 400m freestyle, improving his Beijing time by 4 seconds (a new world record) in an Arena suit. Suddenly the attention shifted to Arena. Its the Arena suit, not the swimmer or his coach, the critics claimed.

TYR has already given notice that they are taking legal action against FINA for banning their new suits. According to a statement released by TYR, the company has instructed its legal council to file a complaint against FINA with the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Strasbourg, France “in the interest of fairness, and out of responsibility to our athletes”.TYR is asking the court to nominate an independent legal expert to determine why some suits, that are nearly identical to TYR’s, were approved by FINA and not TYR’s.

The statement continues that FINA has admitted to no testing protocol and that the governing body has not yet provided the test results TYR asked for at the end of June.

Not suitable for children

The main critics of the bodysuits have, however, been the coaches of swimmers at junior level. For more than a decade the full body suits were considered to be for the exclusive use of elite athletes, who receive the suits from their sponsors.

The use has, however, gradually been growing amongst junior athletes until now in the US, no prospective medal winner will dare go to a meet without a bodysuit. At junior swimming competitions in SA the parents of young swimmers also queue up to buy these suits for their children.

This means that only the rich will in future be able to excel in swimming — especially since a regular competitive swimmer will have to replace the bodysuit during the season (maybe even several times), coaches complain.

While the benefit for top elite athletes may be debatable (it will be interesting what Phelps and co do to their own records next year), coaches say the compression elements of the bodysuits do help align the swimming posture of less accomplished swimmers and can also make them more aerodynamic.

The US National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Swimming and Diving therefore pre-empted the FINA ban by limiting swimmers to wearing one swimsuit at a time, which must be constructed of a woven/knit textile material, permeable to water and air, constructed so as not to aid in buoyancy, and shall not contain zippers or other fastening systems. They design of the suits must also confirm to FINA’s rules that will be insitituted in January.

“These high-tech suits had fundamentally altered the sport and become more similar to equipment, rather than a uniform,” said Becky Oakes, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Swimming and Diving Rules Committee. “The rules of swimming have always prohibited the use or wearing of items that would aid in the swimmer’s speed and/or buoyancy. The technical suits and styles had evolved to a point where there was little, if any, compliance with these basic rules,” Oakes said.

“These new requirements were necessary to promote fair play and the educational values of high school and could not wait for another year,” Oakes said.

Despite the bans, the bodysuit debates have not by been settled by a long shot, and the swimwear manufacturers are still in discussion with FINA.

They will, no doubt, point out that the developments in swimwear fabrics that allowed for the development of skintight competitive swimsuits surely also gave the first wearers an advantage above swimmers still wearing suits made from knitted fabrics? And will all swimmers have to submit to a size test to ensure that their regular swimsuit does not offer compression benefits if it is worn too tight? And what happens if the records keep on tumbling without bodysuits because of the incredible talent of swimmers like Michael Phelps?

In all sporting codes equipment developments have influenced athlete performance — think back to the old wooden tennis rackets. Few will argue that these sports suffered. Why is swimming any different?

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Water polo:

A tale of two sports

How will the interest of water polo athletes and the sport be best served? One group says this can only be done through a new federation that looks after this niche sport exclusively. This view is opposed by Swimming SA, currently governing the sport. They say they have grown and transformed the sport and have the resources to do even more in future. You be the judge

EBRAHIM MOERAT spoke to water polo enthusiasts whose views are represented on the website named Water Polo SA (see www.waterpolosa.com)

Swimmingly is not quite the word to describe the relationships within the aquatic community of SA today. Many seem to believe water polo is being neglected by the powers that be, restricting its potential to grow and develop as an independent sport. Despite the fact that Water Polo SA has shown tremendous increase in the number of new players over the last few years, it appears the sport is slowly drowning in the wake left by the governing body, Swimming SA (SSA).

Although interest in water polo seems to be on the up, it’s very difficult to establish exactly how many players are currently involved, says director of the independent body, Water Polo SA, Steve Douglas. “Water polo is estimated to have in the region of around 20 000 to 25 000 players countrywide. The numbers are thought to be even higher, however SSA’s failure to keep an adequate register of players has allowed them to under support and underfinance the sport over the last couple of years.

“Even though most of the growth has happened in schools we are losing players across the board to overseas clubs and not realising the full potential at club-level due to the fact that in this country water polo has been marginalised by SSA. Unless water polo is acknowledged as a mainstream sport, it will always remain a subsidiary of swimming and will never develop to its full potential. There is no future for water polo under SSA,” Douglas added.

Internationally, both Australia and New Zealand have successfully negotiated their independence from swimming, which in theory should make it easier for SA to follow suit. This, however, does not seem to be the case, explains Douglas. “You’d think it would be easy to do the same after the way has been paved, but there are a lot of legal matters which make it very difficult. It just doesn’t make sense. Underwater hockey is a registered sport, but water polo is not. It is quite obvious that swimming is not water polo. Just because rugby and soccer are both played on grass and played with a ball, should we do away with SAFA and allow SARU to run soccer as well? Of course not.”

Douglas believes that SSA has never recognised the individuality of water polo and in doing so; the national body is putting the sport at a distinct disadvantage.

“They’ve behaved disgracefully in the past, especially when they didn’t enter our juniors for the 2007 FINA Junior World championships. And that after they named two teams (boys and girls) 18 months prior to the event. Parents spent over a million rand getting players to compulsory training camps across the country only to be disappointed by what SSA refer to as an administration error.”

The annual budget of SSA in the 2006/2007 season was R40-m, of which only R350 000 was spent on water polo. A meager R30 000 was allocated to the national team, although players are required to carry all expenses themselves.

“I have had countless telephone conversations with the Ministry of Sport, SASCOC and FINA, trying to get them to realise that water polo is a sport for life. SSA is squeezing the lifeblood out of our sport and they are being allowed to do so with impunity.”

Water Polo SA operates on a shoestring budget and limited infrastructure, yet the code has managed to consistently develop over the past few years.

Douglas stresses that with proper backing water polo could be a major power in the sporting fraternity. “The national coach for water polo is not a paid position, but swimming on the other hand has a permanent paid national coach along with a high performance centre and athletes who are funded. If water polo was given the proper opportunities, and the correct funding, we would certainly be a world-force.”

Furthermore, he believes that SSA have failed dismally to transform the sport over the years. “Water polo is the most transformed aquatic sport in SA and it’s all thanks to the dedication of schools and clubs, not the involvement of Swimming SA. We have the best transformation strategy and policies in place and would make SA proud.”

Sales growing

Amidst the uncertainty surrounding the survival of water polo in SA, manufacturers and distributors of water polo equipment and accessories are apparently all for the separation between Water Polo SA and SSA. Increased demands for gear across the country confirm the growth in popularity, as well as the need to make a breakthrough.

Kevin de Wet (De Wet Sports, Cape Town) says his sales went up by just over 20% from last year and he is looking forward to more expansion. “Most of the balls are distributed to schools or privately. Compared to rugby balls, we don’t sell a lot, but water polo seems to be growing at a rate and that is a good sign.”

In Durban Rob Atwell (Thuthukani Manufacturing) has also noticed developments in recent times. “The growth in the sport is quite apparent. There has definitely been an increase in inquiries from clubs and schools for water polo goalposts, but most of the growth and development, it seems, is taking place in the schools.”

SHAUN ADRIAANSE, CEO of Swimming SA, responds to Water Polo SA

Firstly, I would like to inform you that Steve Douglas is not a member of Swimming SA (SSA) and is not in any way related to SSA activities.

Douglas has indicated in the past that he wishes to be involved in administration at national level. We, however, pointed out to him that he then needs to register via his local provincial affiliate and be nominated by his province to serve on the national technical committee of water polo.

Your document refers to Water Polo SA — and I hereby inform you that no such body exists. We at SSA have a national technical committee that makes technical decisions regarding this exciting aquatics discipline.

With regard to player statistics, the estimate is exactly that, as our records indicate that there were 967 players registered for the period May 2006 – April 2007. For the period May 2007 – April 2008 our records indicate a total of 818 players registered.

Responses to specific comments

1: “Even though most of the growth has happened in schools we are losing players across the board to overseas clubs and not realising the full potential at club level due to the fact that in this country water polo has been marginalised by SSA. Unless water polo is acknowledged as a mainstream sport, it will always remain a subsidiary of swimming and will never develop to its full potential. There is no future for water polo under SSA.”

SSA RESPONDS: Swimming SA knows of two players playing water polo overseas and both played in the national team. We have identified water polo as a potential growth area in both the number of players and improving the standard of our national teams to compete at international level.

2: Internationally, both Australia and New Zealand have successfully negotiated their independence from swimming, which in theory should make it easier for SA to follow suit. This, however, does not seem to be the case, explains Douglas. “you’d think it would be easy to do the same after the way has been paved, but there are a lot of legal matters that make it very difficult...

Underwater hockey is a registered sport, but water polo is not. It is quite obvious that swimming is not water polo. Just because rugby and soccer are both played on grass and played with a ball, should we do away with SAFA and allow SARU to run soccer as well. Of course not.”

SSA RESPONDS: While we do benchmark our systems and programmes against international equivalent organisations, we are a SA organisation that have to deal with local matters in a way that is best suited to local conditions within the context of our socio–economic realities.

3: Douglas believes that SSA has never recognised the individuality of water polo and in doing so; the national body is putting the sport at a distinct disadvantage. “They’ve behaved disgracefully in the past, especially when they didn’t enter our juniors for the 2007 FINA Junior World championships. And that after they named two teams (boys and girls) 18 months prior to the event. Parents spent over a million rand getting players to compulsory training camps across the country only to be disappointed by what SSA refer to as an administration error.”

SSA responds: If individuality refers to an environment where decisions are made by a particular individual without regard for the collective organisation by following due process, such as consultation with stakeholders, then the comment would be factual. However, the matter with regard to the juniors has been dealt with by the relevant stakeholders. We have put in place processes and procedures to ensure such an incident does not occur in the future.

4: The annual budget of SSA in the 2006/2007 season was R40-m, of which only R350 000 was spent on water polo. A meager R30 000 was allocated to the national team, although players are required to carry all expenses themselves.

SSA SAYS: This is factually incorrect. SSA spent in excess of R375 000 to send the senior men’s team to participate in the FINA World Championship in Melbourne, March 2007.

5: Water Polo SA operates on a shoestring budget and limited infrastructure, yet the code has managed to consistently develop over the past few years. Douglas stressed that with proper backing water polo could be a major power in the sporting fraternity. “The national coach for water polo is not a paid position, but swimming on the other hand has a permanent paid national coach along with a high performance centre and athletes who are funded. If water polo was given the proper opportunities and the correct funding we would certainly be a world-force.”

SSA SAYS: SSA certainly agrees with Mr. Douglas that water polo has the opportunity to grow into a major sporting activity.

The reality is that with a relative low registration base of competitive athletes compared to the 11 000 in swimming, this means a bottom up review of water polo which we have started to implement in the last two years.

This included a FINA Coaches Clinic in October 2007, increasing the number of high level games that players can compete in, including the introduction of the Samsung National Water Polo League in February 2008, and the forthcoming opportunities for the SA national team to compete against African opposition at the African Senior Aquatic Championships in Johannesburg in December this year.

From a financial perspective, SSA subsidised the teams from the various provinces to travel to each of the legs of the Samsung National Water Polo League.

The introduction of the Samsung National Water Polo League allowed SSA to negotiate increased television exposure on Supersport as part of our strategy to increase the media exposure and public profile of water polo in SA.

6: Furthermore he believes that SSA have failed dismally to transform the sport over the years. “Water polo is the most transformed aquatic sport in South Africa and it’s all thanks to the dedication of schools and clubs, not the involvement of SSA. We have the best transformation strategy and policies in place and would make South Africa proud.”

SSA RESPONDS: Again Mr. Douglas refers to a fictitious Water Polo SA. We certainly do not have an organisation such as that registered with us. We do, however, have a transformation policy and long term strategy in place to ensure that SA aquatics, including water polo, is transformed to reflect the demographics of this country.

These are the exact same policies and strategies that Mr. Douglas questioned and opposed. However, we must add that both schools and senior water polo have continued to have difficulty in fielding one black player in some of their teams during the last season.

7: Amidst the uncertainty surrounding the survival of water polo in South Africa, manufacturers and distributors of water polo equipment and accessories are apparently all for the separation between Water Polo SA and SSA. Increased demands for gear across the country confirm the growth in popularity as well as the need to make a breakthrough.

SSA RESPONDS: Again, we cannot comment on the fictitious Water Polo SA. We would assume though that the increase in activity has a lot to do with increased media exposure leveraged by SSA.

Further reading:

1. Tony Ferguson, former chairman of the Swimming SA Water Polo Technical Committee and chairman of Central Gauteng Water Polo resigned from the technical committee at the end of last year. In a hard-hitting statement (read in full on www.waterpolosa.com/newsflash/tony-ferguson-speaks-out-about-ssa.html) he comments on various issues regarding transformation in the sport, including the way a decision by Swimming SA was implemented not to allow the top teams to play in the final at the SA Schools and Kramer tournaments in Cape Town at the end of last year. He also comments on funding of transformation programmes for swimming vs water polo and that Gauteng have, for the second year running, sponsored a team of black water polo players to play in the league.


2. See the letter Water polo is Drowning on www.waterpolosa.com/newsflash/dark-clouds.html about the transformation of water polo at school level.



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October 2001

What is the value of sponsorship?

International stars like Tiger Woods and Anna Kournikova who earn millions for linking their names to a sports brand, have created the impression that sporting goods companies have vast amounts of money to spend on sponsoring athletes. Is this true? And what does a brand actually get out of sponsoring events or athletes? We invited a panel of experts to discuss this thorny issue

The participants:

GC: Gavin Cowley, Marketing Director adidas SA.
PB: Paul Barrett-Smith, Vice-president Speedo SA.
TB: Trevor Burger, Marketing Manager Foschini Group Sports Division
TVB: Tex von Beuge, Director Maestro Sport Management.


The questions & replies:
What do companies expect to get out of a sponsorship?

PB: You expect to get, in return for funds, or product, some rights and association that can be used for your Brand’s commercial advantage.
GC: The word “Sponsorship” creates certain expectations and sounds like a handout. We prefer to talk of a “partnership”, which is a more business-like arrangement to the mutual benefit of the athlete, company and ultimately the retailer. Companies expect to get exposure and want the sponsored athletes’ to be loyal to the brand. In SA we do not seem to expect the same level of active involvement from our athletes as abroad. Sponsors need to educate athletes and discuss with them what their expectations are.

PB: The problem is that one spends all that money, but the consumer is still not aware of what brand the athletes are wearing…
GC: …except the youth, who are very brand conscious.
TB: The Springbok jersey is an interesting example — the Springbok is the brand … irrespective of whose logo appears on it, the jersey will sell. But, on the other hand, NIKE gets brand exposure on TV by 15 people wearing the swoosh for the duration of a match, getting their branding message across.
TVB: It’s horses for courses – depending on how well the sport is organized, whether you are going to build brand awareness or generate sales.
GC: Brand extension is important, but in the final analysis the bottom line is performance. What does a company actually get out of a sponsorship?
GC: You expect to get out as much as you put in! There are stumbling blocks, like the lack of understanding of a brand’s culture and values by an athlete. Top athletes have limited time to build an image and when they have to travel a lot, you have limited time to use them. It may also happen that a brand chooses the wrong athlete, or choose an athlete for the wrong reasons — for instance, signing someone to prevent other companies from doing so. “Money grabbing agents” are also an industry concern.

PB: It really depends on how much effort YOU put into the sponsorship. Unfortunately, in SA there is still very little professionalism in the “minor” sports. It varies from individual to individual, and from team to team how much you get out of it. But, having a number of swimmers based in the States really does not work. Speedo has had a monopoly in the swimming market for more than 10 years, but there is no doubt in my mind that the buyers do not know how many medals Speedo swimmers have won.
TB: We found that it does affect sales, though: people do ask for the brand. Speedo is in the enviable position that it is perceived to “own” a sport… and the public bought into it.

PB: We do run product clinics, but it is difficult to get access to buyers. They are often too busy to attend our product clinics … we have to find a way to link retail to sponsorship and synergise the money that is spent.
TB: I believe that the greatest benefit is derived from top international sponsorships — it is not relevant to sponsor everyone. Everyone knows what brand Anna Kournikova represents… but who know what Jacques Kallis wears?
TVB: It is not a static process — two years ago Hansie Cronje was a fantastic product. Now... But I believe the question was: does sponsorship work. There is no question about it, of course it works — maybe the problem is just that in SA we have limited disposable income.
TB: Athletes like Anna Kournikova and Tiger Woods do a lot of work for their sponsors, but many local athletes are not expected to do more than just wear the sponsored clothing. An icon like Bob Skinstad, could do much more to promote his sponsor (adidas). Athletes like Anna Kournikova and Tiger Woods do a lot of work for their sponsors, but many local athletes are not expected to do more than just wear the sponsored clothing. An icon like Bob Skinstad, could do much more to promote his sponsor (adidas). Perhaps brands should allocate more money to less athletes who promote the brand more effectively and therefore help to sell more product. If an athlete is not going to sell products — why bother with him or her? Joe Bloggs in a team will not do anything for a product — but Bob Skinstad will. Identifying these athletes at a young age will be very important.
GC: Locally we also have to provide for developmental funding, which is an important part of the mix.Core athletes should have a charitable link … Hansie was very good in this respect, he gave a percentage of his earnings to charity. That sort of thing fits in with our brand image.

PB: You can never predict what kind of publicity an athlete will get… sometimes something out of the blue will happen to generate a lot of publicity, like the accident and recovery of Natalie du Toit. Then again, one can spend a lot of money and nothing happens. How do sponsors measure the exposure they receive from a certain sponsorship?
TVB: Sponsorship hinges on performance… brands should measure the exposure time on TV.
TB: When a range of clothing is directly linked to a sponsorship, you can measure the worth directly through sales.
TVB: The right athlete will generate more money and exposure than a TV ad … how much money must Speedo spend to run an ad campaign, and how much do they spend on swimmers? You get much more through spending on athletes.

PB: Numerous companies have approached us to measure our publicity on TV — but in the end, it depends on how much control you have over what is broadcast.
GC: Developing licensed products are important as there is a measurable return on the investment. Incidental exposure outside sport can also do a lot to promote a brand... adidas has used personnel in Hollywood for product placement on key entertainers.
TB: Big Brother was a great opportunity outside sport for placement of products… Is it necessary for a brand to be associated only with sport?

Is it important for a brand to be associated with a certain sport?

TVB: Consumers usually identify a brand with a specific sport. Asics, for example, is “stuck” in the road running category, Gunn & Moore is not going to sell apparel.
PB: Once consumers identify a brand with a product, it is difficult to get them to accept that you have other products. There has been some resistance, for instance, to accepting Speedo’s board shorts. Women are, however, more inclined to move to other products like fashion and road running, than men.
TB: Some brands can only sell specific products as that is where their credibility lies.

PB: But, does it really make such a difference that a brand sponsors a sport? Speedo took Penny Heyns on a road show after the Atlanta Olympics and she met the staff at retail outlets all over the country. They thought it was great… but 6 months later, they’ve all left. The high staff turnover negates all the effort you put in.
TB: Buyers only respond to sales and trends — not to how much they like a brand or athlete. If they once bought too much of a line that did not sell, they will never repeat the mistake.

PB: Does it give you an edge if you push a brand and invest a lot of money in promotion?
TB: A retailer will not support a brand because the distributors spends money … we look at factors like last year’s sales. How does it do internationally? Do the customers want it? Things happen because consumers want a certain product, it is a question of profit. But, without sponsorship and investment, a brand will not become desirable. A small brand or company has to sponsor a sport or top athlete to be taken seriously. Sometimes events will influence buying. For instance, the Soccer World Cup will result in us buying in a lot of soccer products because we know there will be a big demand for it. One must also be clear what constitutes the brand. For instance, the Stormers is the brand — not the company sponsoring them — unless you consider the Stormers as a billboard for advertising your brand
TVB: But then, the billboard needs to give intrinsic value … All Gold is not going to get as much mileage out of the Stormers as adidas.
TB: Everything that contributes to the success of a brand should be considered successful promotion.
TVB: Well, track and field is a high profile sport, with high impact, one would expect more promotions there.
GC: Sponsoring track events that take place in front of the Grand Stand and the TV cameras is OK … but sponsoring field events like discus does not provide the same exposure.

PBS: In a niche sport like swimming, where there are not many competitors, we do find that we have a lot of credibility with the buyers because we are closely associated with the sport. The buyers listen to us and believe what we say … how do you put a value to that?
TVB: On the other hand, administrators of a sport see how much money is spent on participants — and they ask questions like: how come the company spends so much money on athletes and we can not even afford a CEO? Partnerships create loyalty – and we need federations to buy into this. Direct investments are necessary to keep sport alive.

Do sponsorships help sell products, or is it mainly brand building?

PB: Brand building comes before selling the product. We have about a 50/50 advertising and sponsorship spend. The key word is partnerships.
GC: But it needs to be long-term. You can not achieve much in a single year.
TB: Players who are only in it for the money, can damage a brand. Sponsorship only works through people who can drive a product and build a brand image.
GC: People need to understand what you want to achieve — loyalty also means that the brand will stand by the athlete if he is injured. We used Chester (Williams) more when he was injured, because he then became more readily available. The same with Skinstad. They knew that they could count on us to keep on paying them despite being injured.
TVB: I don’t like the word sponsorship — you are not given something for nothing. You want a return on investment, and there is a duty on the athlete to perform.
GC: Brands are at fault too — how often do you not give a team some jerseys and boots and then get upset if they wear an unbranded tracksuit. The problem is, you must make it clear that you have certain expectations from the sponsored team. There is no such thing as a half sponsorship — you either do it properly, or not at all. You have to kit them out from tip to toe and you must make sure that they understand the brand properly.

Do sponsorship work better in some sports than in others?

TB: We sell more Manchester United shirts than Springbok jerseys... but that is because they wear Man United as a fashion item as well. An interesting example of a sponsorship that seems to work well is the number of black and white adidas T-shirts we sell in the Southern Suburbs of Johannesburg ... it can directly be linked to adidas’ sponsorship of Orlando Pirates. The fans buy the black and white T-shirts in the Pirates colors because they can’t afford the replica strips.
GC: The trend is towards niche branding. Soccer is big in SA — we place the products in store with high expectations for sales. But why has the netball market — the second biggest participation sport in SA — not been as successful in terms of sales? It is a huge sport, but it attracts no sponsorship.
TVB: Crowd support is very important and it has to be an appealing game to watch.

What works better — sponsoring a sport, athlete or sports body?

TVB: Sponsorship is misperceived in SA. There is a perception that there is big money in sport, but not so! I think we tend to overestimate the number of consumers. We are over-geared in terms of seats. Then we bargain on an event like the World Cup, to fulfill these expectations.
TB: Remember, it’s the black and white T-shirts that sell, not the player replicas. Sponsorship of a sport can work when you sign deals — for instance, Gilbert with rugby balls, or if you supply tennis balls or cricket balls to a federation. But with equipment like cricket bats, it is crucial to sponsor an athlete because the kids will pick the bat that their hero plays with.
TVB: If a player switches brands often, the consumer becomes confused about which brand he represents and the sponsorship does not work. It is not good for the athlete either. How can everyone work together to benefit from sponsorships?
PB: Sponsorship must be directly linked through the sport to both product and retailers. We all have budgets, but we do not synergise enough.
TB: The people who sponsor athletes do not do enough to promote sales with their top athletes. I’m not talking about signings in stores — that means you lose turnover for two hours and you also have the problem of shrinkage. But what about having Bobby (Skinstad) on a poster in the store window, wearing the latest range of clothing? That kind of exposure should be in his contract, because that will sell products.
GC: I believe we could work together if everyone understands what we need to achieve. We must move away from prostitution to professionalism. In the past, an athlete would have a beer with a mate, and the mate would ask: Do you have an agent? Next thing you know, he’s the agent. And that is where things go wrong. There should be a Code of Ethics for agents – or sports managers as I prefer to call them. Some people have become involved in ambush marketing, without any regard for the industry.
TVB: We have, for instance, strategized Jacques Kallis’ career way beyond 2003 — he has a lot more to offer than cricket, he has a media value way beyond sport.
GC: That is a classic example of how it should be done for everyone to benefit.
PB: The bottom line is that we HAVE to build better relationships between brand, retailer and the sport in order to maximize our joint sponsorship spend.

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June/July 2009

When times get tough, people play pool

In tough economic times more people entertain at home — and many of them choose to do the entertaining around the pool or snooker table. PHUMLANI DUBE reports that the sale of pool and snooker accessories grow as the economy weakens

Clever blogging helps build brand

In times when consumers become reluctant to part with their cash, it takes some innovative thinking and brand building to ensure that when they do spend, they buy your product. The internet and all its chat rooms are where consumers are spending more and more of their time. There are, for example, a few hundred forums where pool and snooker and everything related, are discussed.

Good for the sport, not so good for a manufacturer or brand. Because in these chat rooms anyone is free to say whatever they like about a brand or products. There is clearly nothing that brand owners can beat, or control, and Unicorn Group MD Edward Lowy therefore went one better: he joined them.

By engaging with consumers in chat rooms, he can set the facts straight when uninformed views are expressed, can and also learn first hand if their are concerns with any of their products. He can therefore rectify problems — and win the respect of consumers — and also be one of the first to pick up on a new trend developing.

The world economy is a mess and the SA economy is in recession for the first time since 1992. The cost of living has increased tremendously and economic growth is slowing, impacting on jobs. As can be expected, this has lead to a change in lifestyle for consumers. Restaurateurs report that more potential customers prefer to entertain at home — and for many, entertaining often involves a game of pool.

The sport is better positioned than ever before, says All Africa Confederation of Cue Sport president, Peter Hawley. “Youngsters don’t want to go out any more, therefore families save to buy pool tables and play at home. In that way they practise their game, while having fun at home.”

Hawley, who is also the president of the All Africa Pool Association and the executive director of the World Pool Association, says the sport has shown steady and healthy growth on a competitive level over the last five years.

“I’d be lying if I said pool hasn’t been affected by the economic crisis — but the effect has not been very significant. The reason for this is that pool is one of the few sports that is really cheap to play.”

He continues: “The bulk of our players — at least 80%, if not more — come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. Obviously, we have been affected by all the other issues that confront the world — like unemployment — but still the passion for the sport has not subsided.”

Hawley insists that pool is not a game but a lifestyle. “We are creating champions. We have four world champions in SA. Wetsi Morake from Soweto is the number one black ball pool player in the world. He clinched the title in Swaziland in August 2008. SA is also very well established in the sport internationally.”

As tough times continue to hit people’s wallets, it certainly does seem that sports like pool and snooker can be relied upon to generate sales for retailers.

A family would be much more likely to buy more cues and replenish accessories when they are playing more often, or entertain more friends at home, instead of going to the cinema or to clubs. They would also be more inclined to spend a little more on affordable, interesting accessories.

Cape Town based De Wet Sports, which imports Riemann pool and snooker accessories, reports that they experienced a 20% increase in the sale of accessories in the past year alone. “There were price increases, but still the trend is that more people are using pool equipment. Sales have definitely increased in the past year, compared to the last couple of years,” says Kevin De Wet.

De Wet doesn’t foresee any trouble for the cue sport market in the future — even if the recession takes deep root in the country. “I don’t think it will affect us that much. The economy has been bad for a while now, but the market is alive and well.”

The pool accessory market has generated good sales, agrees Andrew Wentzel of W.E.T. Sports. “We initially started carrying a small range to satisfy some of our clients’ needs, like some basic cues and a few accessories like chalk , tips and so on.

This has grown to include triangles , cue and black balls and cue racks to satisfy the growing demand, he says.

“We find that this is a good range to carry in winter as most people like to stay indoors — and it would seem that many people have their own pool tables.”

He believes that another reason for the growth in the market for pool and snooker accessories could be because more pubs now have pool tables and “their rate of attrition on cues is high.”

Stateside Pool’s Pankaj Sanghavee concurs that it’s business as usual. “We haven’t seen a drop in the sale of pool accessories. People are unemployed, but they still want to do something and therefore go and play pool.”

One would, however, expect that the sale of expensive items like pool tables would be affected by the economy. Yet, although table manufacturers have been affected somewhat, the damage is not all that bad, says Shahin Furmie of Shoot Games.

The spending bubble of two years ago when people splashed out on extra pool tables for their holiday homes and upgraded to newer, better R20 000 customised tables has however burst, says Glenda Babaya of Day Motion. “While there is still interest, the demand for luxury items has slowed.”

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August 2007

Who should pay for growing the tennis market?

Most sporting codes sign a lucrative contract with one brand as the exclusive and official supplier of balls, clothing or equipment. The sponsorship agreement helps to fund the work of the federation while the sponsor, and his retail stockists, benefit from good sales of the product that must be used in all official matches and tournaments. The SA Tennis Association (SATA) has, however, appointed all suppliers willing to pay a levy as official tennis ball suppliers. FANIE HEYNS looks at the pros and cons of this agreement and how it affects the growth of tennis

There have been a few turf wars between suppliers to the SA Tennis Association the past three years. Call it the battle of the balls, if you wish, or the ferocious arm wrestling about alleged "monopolistic practices."

Apart from this "fight" around ball sponsorship, there has also been a lively debate ranging within South African tennis circles about the question: should the suppliers of balls pay for the growth of tennis, or should suppliers of other products, like racquets or shoes, also make a financial contribution to SATA?

Suppliers of equipment for most sporting codes know that the honour of being selected as the "official equipment supplier" to the federation come at a hefty cost — in exchange for which the federation protects your status as their official sponsor and you are assured of good sales because your product is used exclusively in official tournaments.

Three years ago, SATA awarded a contract to Dunslaz Distributorship to be the exclusive SATA-approved ball supplier.

That decision was, however, overturned when Wilson lodged a complaint with the Competition Board that the wording in the contract excluded Wilson from competing on equal footing with Dunslaz in the official ball supplier-market.

"There was never a ruling by the Competition Board, but rather a settlement," says Johann Koorts, president of SATA. "The Board felt that the word ‘exclusive’ was not fair, and that SATA should rather have used the phrase ‘preferred ball’. That specific wording would have allowed Wilson entrance into the process."

"This year, we had a reverse situation: when SATA only signed an agreement with Wilson, Dunslaz Distributors approached the Competition Board about being excluded from the process. We had to reformulate our contract and we now have an agreement where a number of ball brands pay the same sanction fee and every one of those suppliers can exclusively supply the balls for an equal number of official SATA-sanctioned tournaments," says Koorts.

Initially, suppliers paid SATA 50c for every tennis ball sold, but currently, every tennis ball brand that have an agreement with SATA pay a set sanction or affiliation fee.

Steve Gallienne, director of Dunslaz Distributors, says that the brands Dunlop, Slazenger and Wilson each have 34 %, 33% and 33% access as sponsors and ball suppliers to SATA-sanctioned tournaments.

In essence it means that no balls of other suppliers should be used in SATA-sanctioned tournaments or club events — because if the ball of another company (even the event sponsor) is used in an official tournament, the points amassed at the tournament would be declared null and void.

"Say we currently have 45 tournaments and three suppliers are involved, we would divide that by three to use the balls of every supplier in 15 tournaments," says Koorts. He says that other suppliers who want to become sponsors of the tournament structure at the end of the next term in 2008 would be welcomed.

Gallienne explains that there are two options for affiliated ball suppliers. The first, or A-option, classify the ball brand as a "conforming ball". The ball can be used for play in league matches, but not in SATA tournaments.

The second, or B-option, costs more than double the A-option, and it affords a brand "conforming ball" status so that it can be used in leagues, but also in a certain number of allocated tournaments as per agreement with SATA.

"This decision to ask the ball suppliers to pay a sanction or affiliation fee, has resulted in an injection of cash into the coffers of SATA. But recently we have also invited the suppliers to negotiate with the provinces and to offer their sponsorships at regional level. It has added much to provincial tennis," says Koorts.

The stronger the federation and regional structures, the more resources are available to attract new participants and grow the sport.

But, since all suppliers and sellers of equipment for a sport benefit when that sport grows, Gallienne asks if it is fair that only one kind of equipment supplier — tennis balls — contributes to the coffers.

"What about the number of tennis shoes and other products that are sold? If the ball suppliers do not contribute to the growth of the sport, the sport will decline and shoe sales will also drop," he says.

Another supplier, who wishes not to be named, says they have actively supported the development of tennis in SA, and have sponsored some SA tennis athletes overseas. "Why then should we be paying twice for development of tennis?" he asks.

Brett Burnill of Leisure Holdings, SA distributor of Prince, says they opted not to pay the affiliation fee or levy for the simple reason that they did not derive any benefit from supplying balls for the tournaments. "We are not a significant enough player in the tennis ball market. In return we opted not to pay an increased ball affiliation fee."

Brad Summers of Wilson distributor The Golf Racket, however says that the levy was a good system implemented not only to assist SATA, but also to help grow the game of tennis. "It has always been our position that we will support any ball policy that helps better the game and is not detrimental to the Wilson brand. We firmly believe that it is in everyone’s interest to keep the sport strong," says Summers.

"Better organization, more leagues and tournaments lead to retailers and wholesalers selling more product. Wilson took SATA to the Competition Board for unfairly enforcing a sponsorship monopoly, not because we were not prepared to pay a levy. We feel that under Ian Smith’s leadership SATA has not only grown strong again, but tennis seems to be thriving," he adds.

But, says Gallienne: "We feel that we should support and respect the intentions of any governing body: the initial levy on the sale of tennis balls was instituted to help SATA to get back on their feet and functioning at a level where provinces etc. would regard them as a legitimate and strong association … something which they had been lacking for years due to weak structures.

"That credibility and legitimacy has now been restored — with the help of the funds raised through the ball levy. But there was no way that the levy was going to continue forever and unconditionally.

"Again, why should one product — tennis balls — be targeted when other suppliers to the same sport are profitting from the growth in the tennis industry, yet contribute nothing financially towards the game?" he asks.

SA tennis was plagued by political in-fighting and persistent rumors of an incompetent administration for a part of the 1990’s and the early part of the new millennium. Koorts, Smith (CEO of SATA) and the new executive board — introduced in 2002 — brought a new level of professionalism to the sport.

Under the guidance of Koorts and Smith, the sport has introduced a solid administration and a more unified executive board. It has established an excellent working relationship with the major ball suppliers as well as with the SA Lotto Board, interested sponsors and with the leading guiding body of men’s tennis, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Koorts says SATA is communicating on an almost weekly basis with the ATP. The ATP might decide to move the current date of the South African Open tournament from the second week of the Australian Open to late in February, if it so wishes.

The governing body is also restructuring the whole calendar and might decide to give the SA Open the status of one of the three compulsory 250-point category tournaments that the top-players in the world have to compete in come 2009.

If the ATP supports SATA by giving the SA Open this exalted status, SA tennis might revive the glory years of the 1970’s.

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February 2007

Why Pilates and yoga top fitness charts

First it was weights, then treadmills, cycles and aerobics that kept muscles firm and hearts and lungs healthy. Now, the health focus has shifted to mind-body disciplines like Pilates and yoga. Carin and Trudi du Toit asked experts why these mind-body fitness disciplines currently top the fitness charts and how retailers can benefit from the trend

The reason for the growing interest in Pilates is because it has such wide appeal, explains Colleen Craig, a well known Canadian Pilates expert and author of Pilates on the Ball, the book on the method she pioneered (visit her website, www.pilatesontheball.com, for more information).

"Pilates appeals to those who do not wish to train in a gym-environment, but know they need to do exercise and make their muscles strong, to those who are older, and especially those who suffer from back pains," she said during a recent visit to SA to promote the Pilates techniques she developed, using huge inflated balls.

"Another reason Pilates is such a popular excercise technique is because it works most of your major muscles all at once — instead of you having to concentrate on one specific muscle, and risk the chance of neglecting another."

Pilates makes use of both weights — but the weights are smaller than those in the gym and used merely for resistance — and exercise balls for strength and resistance training.

The ball adds resistance to the workout, allowing for a more 3-dimensional workout regime where all the muscles are targeted. The ball is an unstable surface, which allows for balance training, and therefore recruits the muscles used in your body to stabilise you.

For example, if you are going to work on your biceps using Pilates, the trainer would also be concerned with your shoulder and neck muscles, and while working on the ball, you have to concentrate on your balance, which works your lower abdominal muscles.

In addition, the method is endorsed by professionals like doctors and chiropractors who refer patients to a Pilates trainer.

But, it is mostly ordinary people who have tried the exercises, experienced the benefits, who spread the word.

Everyday uses of Pilates

Part of the appeal of Pilates is that you do not need a gym or designated exercise period to benefit from it. There are several everyday uses for the Pilates ball that you might not be aware of. You can use the ball as a chair in the office to improve posture and to provide an overall workout, because it forces you to concentrate on how you are sitting and to maintain your balance.

In the US and Switzerland these balls are even used in certain schools, because studies have shown that children concentrate better when they are not slouching in their chairs, and it is quite difficult to slouch on a round object that can bounce out from under you.

Due to back fatigue, these balls cannot be used continuously during a work-day as a chair, but it has been noted that switching between your ball and a normal work chair can give you a quick pick-me-up during the day, which comes in quite useful.

However, there are chairs on the market that are essentially a Pilates ball with a back rest. These can be used through the day, because there is less stress on the back.

The beginning

Although it is now tops of the pops, Pilates has been around for nearly a century. It was founded early in the 20th century by Joseph Pilates, born in 1880 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was an excercise enthusiast, trained nurse, boxer and circus performer who developed Pilates while he was interned in the Isle of Man with other German nationals and Prisoners of War (POWs). He was especially interested in developing a form of exercise that can be done while bed-ridden, and subsequently developed the Pilates Reformer, a wooden bed-like structure still in use in various designs.

He called his method Contrology, which refers to the way the method encourages the use of the mind to control the muscles. It is an exercise program that focuses on the core postural muscles that help keep the body balanced and are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and strengthen the deep torso muscles, which are important to help alleviate and prevent back pain.

He wrote at least two books about the Pilates method — Return to Life through Contrology and Your Health: A Corrective System of Exercising That Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education.

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February 2007

Yoga for all

Actors do it when training. Some schools do it as part of physical education. The Sports Science Institute do it. Gyms and fitness studios do it. Grannies do it. Children do it. Gone are the days when only the initiated few knew what pranas and chakras were. Nowadays, just about everybody can talk about the benefits of the dog position, the pro’s and con’s of Ashtanga versus Iyenger and the benefits of yoga compared to yoga-flex

Yoga is fast becoming THE fitness trend — even in ordinary fitness gyms.

"There is a growing interest amongst fitness trainers to be qualified as yoga-flex instructors," confirms Armand Botha, MD of the Bodyline Fitness Academy. "Students usually combine yoga-flex with Pilates."

There are now about 10-12 students who register for a yoga-flex course, which is about a 10% increase on previous years. "This is due to the focus on mind-body concepts, and in particular yoga, in consumer magazines," he says.

While yoga-flex teaches the safe yoga poses, with the emphasis on flexibility, increased muscle strength, improved posture and stress management, it is not yoga as most people know it.

Authentic yoga classes in all of the many styles available are also experiencing an influx of students. "The demand for yoga teachers who have completed a comprehensive training course has increased considerably," says Swami Yogasar of the Satyam Yoga School, which offers a 2-year training course for yoga teachers.

This demand for yoga teachers has been growing over the past 3-4 years, he says — and interestingly, especially amongst men who now constitute between 30-40% of the classes. There is also a growing trend in children joining yoga classes in order to improve concentration and to help balance hormones during puberty, he says.

Swami Yogasar attributes this growing interest in yoga to "a modern lifestyle that created a society that is overworked and experiencing a high level of stress. This is due to a competitive consumer based society that has eliminated the natural forms of work as an exercise to keep the body healthy and promote clarity of mind," he says.

"The aerobic exercise of the gym does not solve these issues. Yoga, on the other hand, creates a slow prolonged release of hormones and endomorphins that result in a feeling of calm and tranquility.

"People also realize that yoga is more efficient in treating specific health conditions, while aerobic exercise is basically limited to cardiovascular workout and tightening of the muscles that only increases the tension and general stress of the body."

There are currently about 60-80 different styles of Hatha Yoga, an ancient system of self development aimed at relieving stress that started in India about 6 000 years ago. Although there are so many different styles, all rely on teaching asanas (stretching exercises) and breathing based on the science of Hatha Yoga.

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Feb/ Mar 2009

Does the economic downturn affect badminton and squash sales?

Squash and badminton are not promoted by schools to the same extent as rugby, cricket and netball and they are therefore considered by many to be adult sports. The question therefore arises: will adults in the present economic climate cut back on recreation as they struggle to pay the bills... or seek release on a court to relieve the stress? FANIE HEYNS found out how the current economic climate affects squash and badminton sales

The number of South African badminton players have grown steadily the past few years, while squash boasts 529 000 adult participants and about 700 000 adult spectators, not even recording the fans supporting the 45 junior open and closed championships in the country annually.

Judging from the “State-of-the-sport-addresses” by Larry Keys, president of Badminton South Africa, and Liz Addison, chief executive officer of Squash SA, retailers could be performing well as there is enough interest in the sport.

There is one major problem, though...

South Africa’s leading indicator of economic growth, which predicts trends six to 12 months in advance, fell by a record 13,9% in November, as official data showed at the end of January.

The Reserve Bank’s composite leading business cycle indicator — compiled with data from surveys, local share prices and SA’s main trading partners — has been falling since April 2007, with the pace gathering momentum late in 2008, reported Business Day in January 2009.

Economic growth stuttered to 0,2% in the third quarter of 2008, its slowest pace in a decade, curbed by contractions in mining, retail and manufacturing.

No wonder that sports retailers were not too happy with the amount of money customers spent over the holiday season — which is supposed to give most retailers a comfortable cushion for the year.

Healthy state of SA squash

According to the BMI Sport Info report, there are 529 000 adult participants in squash, of whom nearly 53% are social or casual players. There are about 700 000 adult spectator interested in squash, making it the 37th most popular sport in South Africa. Of them, 42% are black and 58% white, coloured and Asian.

There are 45 junior open and closed championships held countrywide annually, while 34 senior championships are contested every year.

The interest in squash at school level is stable. In Central Gauteng, for example, 36 schools are taking part in the Central Gauteng league, and even more schools are participating in Cape Town.

There are 270 clubs, representing about 1 500 courts, affiliated to Squash SA. In addition, a number of private people, including former provincial players, have their own courts. There are squash courts in numerous secure complexes in Johannesburg and around the rest of the country.

Hotels, holiday resorts, for example Sun City, a number of game lodges and even corporate companies have courts.

While all this indicates healthy growth in the interest in the game, Squash SA unfortunately has no idea how many players that represents, says Addison.

“But, there has definitely been a trend over the past few years of a swing away from structured league squash amongst senior players, and in particular women, in all areas. Country district areas have the added challenge of the distance needed to travel and safety at night,” says Addison.

Badminton’s big brag

Keys, president of Badminton SA, says at this stage there is no sign that the current economic slow-down has affected the popularity of badminton.

The South African membership increased by 13% from 2006 to 2007. “We have no finalized figures for 2008, but 80 % of our provinces have recorded increased membership, so it looks good.

“Our strength is in the schools. In 2008, we had 38 schools participating in our SA Schools tournament, which was a record. We estimated about 60 000 people are playing the sport, competitively and recreationally,” says Keys.

Five South Africans participated in badminton at the Beijing Olympics, while eight athletes are currently world ranked.

John Abrahams, of Shuttle Sports, distributor of Yonex, says the South African badminton market has performed steadily the past year. “At our major outlets sales of badminton products have increased nicely,” says Abrahams.

“Our sales of badminton units were almost identical in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, however, the sales of shuttlecocks increased by 14%, which is a positive sign. Players might hang on to their rackets a while longer, but they are using more shuttlecocks, which points to an increased activity in badminton,” he adds.

A few big chain groups mostly stock entry level rackets for the social players, while they might also make the odd racket at intermediary level available, he says.

Ebb and flow for retailers

Ronel Louw, owner of Baseline Runners, says the sales of squash rackets have dropped over the past two to three months. Normally, she has to replace a bundle of leading brand name rackets after two to three months – at one stage she sold about twelve rackets per brand per month, but in January she sold no rackets of some of the brands.

Also, customers currently prefer to buy the cheaper squash racket. They would opt for a R599-product instead of one with a price tag of R1 000.

There is, however, an increased demand for the repair and restringing of graphite rackets, she says. She has been selling a lot of squash socks, but not shoes, as her main supplier ran out of stock.

She does not sell badminton products, as she believes the activity level in her area has dropped dramatically the last few years, says Louw. “This sport was very popular at a stage, but that is no longer the case,” she adds.

Tony Jackson, owner of Tony Jackson sport, says squash and badminton sales account for about 30% of his turnover, with tennis providing the bulk of his business. The economic slow-down has affected his sales by about 10% over the past twelve months.

“Last year was an average year for trading. Turnover was pretty static and there were no excellent months. I find that squash players are not as faithful as tennis players. Therefore, they will buy wherever they are at the time when they need a racket. Badminton is very quiet in this part of the world,” says Jackson.

“Prices have just gone up (some by as much as 30%), so I cannot give any details of what to expect with the current slow-down. I think it will definitely affect our sales, but only time will tell,” he adds.

Ahmed Ayob of Ayob Sports, says excellent customer relationship and their ability to offer five star service, has enabled Ayob Sports to maintain steady growth in the sales of squash products. The sales of badminton in the Durban-area have declined a bit, though. “The government is not doing enough for this sport,” he says. “There is a market out there, but it has slowed down.”

In terms of squash products, the sales have remained steady for the past year. That is mainly due to the customer-relation policy of his company. “My dad has been in the business for 27 years. Our policy is that the customer is king. When a customer buys a product, we view it as an investment in his career.

“South Africa is a highly price conscious country and when players say he can only afford a racket costing R700 instead of R900, I usually let him play with the cheaper racket to see if that is what he wants. Sometimes he comes back and says he would rather take the upgrade.

“Generally, it is true to say that we have maintained our sales over the past twelve months,” adds Ayob.

Anton Klopper, director of Kloppers Sport in Bloemfontein, says he recorded strong and dramatic growth of squash products the past year. That is partially because of a thriving schools market in Bloemfontein. Grey College boasts the fifth or sixth best team at schools level in the country, while St. Andrews has the second best schools team in SA. As a result, squash as a competitive and social sport is healthy and thriving.

“The tendency in this unfavourable economic climate is that players buy the cheaper rackets. Aluminium rackets are by far the best selling, followed by cheaper composite rackets. That part of the squash market has grown a lot. The top-end market has shown a drop, but is not totally dead. The top-end market in badminton has dropped, though.

“The squash and badminton shoe market have shown the same tendency: the cheaper shoes of all the brands are selling the best,” said Klopper.

Although the cheaper badminton rackets and shoes are selling well, there has been a drop in the general interest in the sport, he believes. At one stage, in the years after 1995, badminton grew strongly, but currently there is a drop in interest, Klopper believes.

Yonex wins all

Yonex made history at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games when all 24 badminton medals were won by players contracted to them. The medal-winning teams China (8 medals, 3 gold), Korea (3 medals, 1 gold), Indonesia (3 medals, 1 gold) and Malaysia (1 silver) are all sponsored by Yonex, the Japanese brand founded by Minoru Yoneyama in 1946.

Since their first branded racket was launched in 1961, Yonex have been a market leader in badminton – a sport that enjoys huge support in Asian countries.

For the new season, their SA distributor, Shuttle Sports, will not only be introducing several new rackets and technologies in the SA market, but also the first racket specifically designed for women.

The Arcsaber 10 nanoscience racket, featuring their new CS Carbon Nanotube structural fabric in the frame, offers more impact power as it absorbs and harnesses the energy created upon impact with the shuttle, and then explosively transfers it into a powerful return shot. Resembling a stack of multi-layered cups, the CS Carbon Nanotubes provide increased durability and improved flexibility, allowing the frame to return back to its original shape faster. By positioning the “Cup-stack Carbon Nanotube” technology at the sides of the racket, the frame elasticallly “holds” the shuttle on the string, which provides better control at the point of impact.

The Super HMG (high modulus graphite) outer frame produces high repulsion power, while the strong UltraPEF (ultra poly ethylene fiber) shaft has high shock absorption, yet is light enough to float on water. The racket also features a new grommet system and an Isometric Square Head shape, which equalizes the length of main and cross strings in the stringbed, enlarging the sweetspot for more consistent accuracy. The new built-in T-Joint is manufactured from an epoxy resin material that enhances the level of quality and performance by increasing the stability of the shuttle on the string bed and through the air. The Control Support cap is now thinner to reduce air friction, whilst still providing an area for racket control, allowing for maximum manoeuvrability.

The Nanospeed 9000 Type X nanoscience racket features Elastic Ti technology, which provides the high elasticity needed for structural strength and a powerful rebound effect. It also boasts a new grommet system and Yonex’s Muscle Power design, which seats the string in the rounded archways of the racket frame. This eliminates stress-load and fatigue through contact friction. The Nanospeed 9000 also has an Isometric Square Head shape and a Built-in T-joint design.

The Armortec 700 racket features the Power Armor System, which means that the edge of the frame top is reduced to minimize distortion and maximise control. This results in Armortec rackets generating more speed, better face stability and provides a robust “metallic feel” upon impact. It also has a C.S Cap, Isometric Square Head shape and Built-in T-Joint. The Ultimum TiTM technology is moulded into the racket to store energy on impact and then releases it in a snap-back action.

The Armortec 250 racket also features the Power Armor System, which is combined with a Delta Power Frame that creates a stable and solid hitting face without sacrificing any of its power. The Armortec 250 comes with an Isometric Square Head shape and Built-in T-Joint.

They are also introducing the SHB-100 LX shoe that is suitable for squash and badminton. It features a Hexagrip sole that is specially designed for agile and stable footwork on the court, as it offers more gripping power and is 20% lighter than ordinary soles. The fact that it boasts a round sole means that the shoe provides all-round support for the forefoot and heel. This minimizes power loss and ensures smooth movement on the court.

The Super msLite construction in the shoe is due to a polymer-base midsole that is lighter and 20% more durable than ordinary EVA. The Yonex Tough Guard II leather is 3 times stronger than synthetic leather and is heat resistant to ensure long-wearing performance and comfort. The fine mesh in the shoe provides more air-exchange than ordinary mesh for maximum moisture release.

A power cushion absorbs more shock than the ordinary utherane power cushion. The Lateral Claw construction in the shoe ensures the stability for the sides of the feet and prevents lateral movement upon landing. The Ergoshape thechnology provides more comfort and stability in the forefoot and toe area of the shoe.

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