South Africa's basketball community

Basketball in South Africa: Make your own conclusion… 8 years on…

By on April 1, 2018 in News

After catching up to the latest news around Basketball South Africa AGM of 2018 through some conversations and social media this past week, I decided to look at an article that was published on this site 8 years ago (here is the link: Basketball in South Africa_published in 2010). Reading through the various documents and the scenarios that occurred in 2010, I can see that the years might have changed but the administration of the game hasn’t evolved and the mess is still the same as it was 8 years ago.

There has been some progress on the court and a few victories here and there but our masses are still suffering from the corruption and mismanagement eating up our game.

The game is still controlled by a few that come in to enrich/empower themselves at the expense of the masses and as soon as they leave or are forced out; they are replaced by another handful looking at doing the same in the name of basketball. There are no controls and the government clearly doesn’t consider basketball big enough to pay attention to it despite investing millions through the Department of Sports and Recreation and LOTTO.

Yes there are programs being run across the country, leagues, tournaments and so called investments by companies but this is nothing but a drop in the ocean compared to the potential of the sport has to change the lives of our youths.

People talk about the NBA (National Basketball Association) and it’s presence on the african continent and their base in South Africa; but their mandate is not to fix the issues of the game in this country but to grow the NBA brand and if we get some benefit out of it then that’s a bonus. We will not fully benefit from this experience because of the mess our administrators have managed to get us into.

BNL, Basketball National League, the less said about it the better. There has been numerous occasions over the last few years and examples of how this so called professional league is benefitting the few and has no real interest in the game. Players being banned for speaking out, not getting paid on time, protests etc… This is not a representation of the best show that basketball can put on in this country. If you want to understand the history of the professional game, educate yourself with this article about the PBL (Professional Basketball League) – PBL: the whole story

Kids come out of schools hoping to join a university institution or clubs with the hope of playing in a professional league but even that is a mirage of the true picture of the game in our country so instead encourage them to stay in school or take up another sport where the path to success and the top is clearer or even better or direct them to go play basketball overseas. We have the talent and the capacity to compete internationally but the administrators are not keeping up with our love and passion for the game.

The game in South Africa has been at sea for so long that we get these continuous waves that come crashing down as quickly as they have started. It will take basketball people to get us out of this situation and as long as our administrators have their own interests at heart we will be singing the same songs for many more years to come.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Subscribe

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe now to receive more just like it.

Comments are closed.

Top