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SA Senior National Team Men and Women 2009 – Camp latest

By on February 1, 2009 in News

It is with great pleasure to finally inform you of the dates for the Senior National Teams for Men and Women, these dates are now confirmed after the Zonal Confederation chopped and changed them.

Camp 1 (men and women): 04 to 09 February 2009 at the High Performance Center (HPC) in Pretoria

Camp 2 for Women: 01 to 05 March 2009 at HPC in Pretoria for selected players

Women will depart for Mozambique on the 06th March 2009 and will return on 15th March 2009 (NB: We are awaiting the Zonal Confederation to confirm the number of Countries to Zimbabwe so that we can negotiate that the number of days be reduced accordingly)

Camp 2 for Men : 04 to 09 March 2009 at HPC in Pretoria (Scientific Testing Full Protocol) for selected players.

Camp 3 for Men        : 20 to 25 March 2009 at the HPC in Pretoria for selected players

The Team will leave for Mozambique on the 26th March 2009 and will return on the 05th April 2009 (NB: We are awaiting the Zonal Confederation to confirm the number of Countries to Mozambique so that we can negotiate the reduction of days accordingly)

We would like to apologise for the delay as the Zonal Confederation only confirmed the finality of the Preliminaries today.

Let us go to Zimbabwe and Mozambique and show the region that we are the best.

Information supplied by Tsepo Nyewe

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There Are 19 Brilliant Comments

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  1. Peter Quinn says:

    Hi. I am a long time reader. I wanted to say that I like your blog and the layout.

    Peter Quinn

  2. kim says:

    It would be nice if players can be informed in time about their travel arrangements cos they are panicing now!!!

  3. Molupe says:

    How much is the talent, time and skill of a national team player worth? And the know how of a national team coach? What about the logistical nous of a team manager? How much are we willing to give them to represent us? How much is basketball in SA worth? I know of players who will do anything for the national cause and yet they owe tens of thousands of Rands at their tertiary institutions. How many of our national team members can afford to buy new shoes for the upcoming qualifiers, get themselves a leather ball to practice with or even afford a cellphone to make the necessary phone calls to find out what the plans for the national team are? Which people with family responsibilities can truly spend so much time away from home and have nothing to show for it? In this day and age can we afford to have national team players who do not work out regularly at a gym? Are we, the nation, not willing to pay for their gym fees? I know of national team players who do not always eat three healthy meals a day. These are the people whom we are asking to hold our sport and our nation aloft amongst the nations. How much are they worth to us?

    In my mind, where national teams do not have huge sponsorships like soccer, rugby and cricket, they should be paid monthly (for as long as they are in the national team) as if they were government employees. The grades at which they are paid would depend on myriad factors – governance of the sport, popularity and growth of the sport, government budgetary constraints, graduation rates of participants in the sport (the country needs skills for economic growth), win/loss records and rankings, etc. Herewith my rudimentary salary scales of government officials quickly gleaned from City Press and Sunday Times. (Could not work out grades 1 and 2 unfortunately, perhaps those in the know can correct and complete the table). As a start I would suggest that depending on experience, playing time etc – senior national team players should be paid between grade 3 and 5 – including medical aid (critical for a sportsperson) and something towards a pension. Coaches and team managers should also fall within that scale.

    Monthly (All-Inclusive) Package
    Grade Min Max Diffs Diffs as % of Min
    3 4573 5310 737 16%
    4 5368 6231 864 16%
    5 6350 7372 1023 16%
    6 7861 9126 1266 16%
    7 9792 11368 1577 16%
    8 12160 14118 1958 16%
    9 14520 16857 2337 16%
    10 18124 21040 2917 16%
    11 28671 33234 4563 16%
    12 33979 39397 5418 16%
    13 46428 55510 9083 20%
    14 56273 68291 12018 21%

    In case it is not clear above, executive committee members and board members also need to be paid, if they are not paid already. Their time, strategic and tactical skill, leadership and oversight needs to be tangibly rewarded. The board members should be rewarded per meeting attended AND PARTICIPATION in the meeting. Executive members should be paid on a government salary scale as determined by the board. Representing one’s nation is a privilege but the nation also has a duty to take care of those representing us. Thoughts?

  4. Thabo says:

    Im very close to one of the senior natiuonal team players, even though he doesnt like to admitt it he is taking a major strain when it comes to playin ball and working. Its very depressing to see our nation’s best breaking their backs and havin nothing to show for it or everytime they are amongst their peers who play at a lower level compared to them but they cant say it out loud how much the sport has done for them. Sho there not much money in basketball and the situation is very unhealthy. This particular player trains 6 hour a day and doesnt see anything wrong with it because he loves the sport and everytime, according to me, the sport seems to let him down.

    We need to fix this situation or we will lose the best players to family responsibilities

  5. kim says:

    Here is the calculations for 1 and 2 before I make some inputs
    1 3555 3965 410 12%
    2 3982 4443 461 12%

  6. kim says:

    Molupe
    The true grade 11,12 would between 70% – 76% of his/her gross.This because of the current government structure in terms of medical aid,pension,car allowance etc…so the REAL grading for grade 11 would be as follows:

    11 21525 24925 3400 16%

    Issues such as medical aid for grade 1 and 2 would be such that if the employees took out a GEMS medical aid they wouldnt pay but the employer would pay for them.Grade 11 would be where the employer wouldnt make any contributions to the employees medical aid and as such employees pay for their own medical aid.So from 1 -10 the employer would contribute towards the medical aid.The amount would be depended on many factors ie level,dependants etc…there is an option at level 1 that the employer pays 100% towards medical aid.

    My take is that it would be a administrative nightmare to implement this unless federations were allocated funds to cater for players at these levels mentioned.level 3 -5 is in most depts are entry level for messengers,drivers and cleaners.Do we think that level is worth the recognition?Dont forget that the calculations made are reflecting only the gross salary and not the net……if 1 graduates then what recognition in terms of salary will they get?Should they be rcognised for increase for graduating in IT whilst being paid to play basketball?
    and the questions will arise…..

  7. kim says:

    Molupe
    I laughed when I saw PARTICIPATION…..How will ones participation be analysed…Quantity or Quality?…..who will analyse this?

  8. Joe says:

    How does SAFA pay players for call ups?

  9. Molupe says:

    Kim,

    I agree that R3,555 to R7,372 (gross) is not a lot for a national team player to sustain him or herself. But they do not get that right now and so it is a lot better than where they are currently. A gross of R3,555 works out to be about R700k per team for the year (12 players, 3 coaches and a manager). That should be achievable. Is it worth it? For a student in the national team owing R30k in fees I think it is worth it. For a player who gets seriously injured and medical aid cannot cover everything it helps. If Basketball SA has R4.1m then sure R21,525 per month must be paid. But I suspect that will be considered a little too much.

    I do not understand where the administrative nightmare would come from? You have a contract with Basketball SA but you are paid directly out of a government account until such time that Basketball SA rescinds the contract. If I am not mistaken I am advocating exactly the way that cricketers and rugby players are contracted with the difference being that the payment (the EFT) is done via central government. Is something like this tough to do?

    Participation has numerous aspects. It involves being a member of comittees and sub-comittees that deliver. It involves raising pertinent issues at board meetings and these can be checked by looking at minutes. Similarly, regions who are indeed communicating what the board has decided to their constituents and communicate their constituents sense to the board are participating. There are many ways to check and analyze.

  10. kim says:

    Molupe
    I was laughing at your proposal but rather at the idea that people would start contributing at meetings knowing well that it doesnt matter what they say but as long as they reflect in minutes…….

    Hey,the idea you have is much better than any that has come out but I feel that the money would be too little considering other factors.Would these players be fulltime or parttime?If part-time how would the players be monitored?Would the national team coaching jobs be fulltime?Dont hear me wrong,I am for the ballers to be paid but not sure about the manner in which it will done.

    Joe
    Last time I remember,SAFA was not paying anyone for national duty.This was the reason why a number of players did not want to comeback home to play in friendlies and qualifiers as they would lose their salaries overseas.SAFA would only pay their transport(If any).That was then and I am not sure now.I dont think it would be proper for us to compare with established sports but I would rather want us to compare ourselves with sports that are having the same situations as us.A sport that doesnt have a profesional league,doesnt have sponsors etc.

    We mustnt compare apples to pears….

  11. Setlogelo says:

    Kim

    You are right, we should not compare apples to pears. One reason for this is that we might feel short changed.

    Every sports code, BSA, SAFA, SA RUGBY, you name it, receives an annual grant from the National Government. This money is must “usually” be used for capacity building.

    Nonetheless, the differentiator between all sports is sponsorship. For example SAFA never calls any player without paying them, whether friendly or international. The money they use to pay them is primarily out of sponsorship kitty. This kitty is big, huge. It includes financial and non-financial sponsorship. Get someone like Unknown a VVIP ticket at a senior national rugby or soccer match. They will take a lot of quarts home with them.

    These top sports have at least six sponsors under their belt. The other day Irvin Khoza complained that the R2 million they get from SABC per match does not cover the R7 Million bill it takes for a single Senior team match.

    Anyway, how do we pay basketball athletes? The answer is very simple, establish an organisation every player will dream to participate in, Professional league. But how do we do that.? Again it is simple, but some people have been making it difficult over the years. I have also, lately, realised how easy that exercise can be. I have got working ideas which I will now be paid for, from the 12th. There are a lot of gaps out there. We can get the first live television game on terrestrial television this year. I am not dreaming. Basketball does not have potential, it has a workable programme to attact lots of moolah!

    Soccer is very competitive overseas. When in the first eleven and got a call up on a non-FIFA date, you just refuse that call up. Otherwise someone will take your place, permanently. With FIFA dates, players are compelled to honour national duty since his mates may also be in action for their countries.

  12. Setlogelo says:

    By the way, Molupe, your strategy is good, but we will have to pay a higher taxes. When we go the government way, we would have given up. We will be living on self pity. We need government for other essential things (for later discussions).

    So far in this year I have sat with two executives who would be willing to sponsor basketball. The only problem they have is that the language of the sport is too cluttered.

    That being said, opportunities in basketball are nigh. I can see them, collectively do we?

  13. Joe says:

    HAS THE CAMP MATERIALISED?

  14. Joe says:

    HAS THE NATIONAL CAMP MATERIALISED? ANYONE?

  15. me says:

    Can we get that Thabo guy from the bulls to play for SA since people are saying he is a South African

  16. kim says:

    Joe
    The camp is on!!

  17. Joe says:

    Kim

    What time is the practise?

  18. kim says:

    Joe
    Which teams because they are using different venues?

  19. Victor says:

    Hi there Joe and Kim,

    Today they are using the Tuks indoor venue but I don’t know what the times are. I will try and get a report on the camp asap.

    ciao,V

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