C’mon guys, planning isn’t rocket science
After a spectacular national athletics season, the domestic campaign should have ended with a bang last month. Instead, it has fizzled out with a whimper following the cancellation of two local track and field meetings which should probably have been left off the calendar in the first place.
Athletics SA announced this week it had called off the North v South inter-provincial meetings due to a lack of interest from sponsors and athletes.
That’s hardly a surprise, considering the federation still has no corporate sponsor for its topflight Speed Series or the various national championships, and any athletes worth showcasing at this stage of the year have already shifted their focus towards the international campaign which started with the Diamond League opener in Doha last night.
“After we were unable to find sponsorship we then took a decision to save the finances we have and redirect them towards preparing our age groups to the various international competitions,” ASA president Aleck Skhosana said in a statement.
That makes sense. It would have made more sense if that same decision had been made six months ago when the fixtures list was compiled.
This is the same controversial fixtures list which saw the most anticipated SA Senior Championships in years clashing with the World Relays contest in the Bahamas.
It’s as if officials compiled the national calendar without even looking at the international fixtures, randomly scheduling an important domestic event in direct conflict with an equally important
Wesley Bo on
international meeting.
The fact that the country, producing some of the best sprinters on the international circuit at the moment, has never competed at the World Relays, is a damning indictment on the national federation’s ability to plan ahead.
Making athletes choose between competing at South Africa’s premier track and field event and an international championship indicates either a lack of respect for local athletics or the sport at global level.
No longer facing various issues which had threatened to de- rail the organisation a few years ago, ASA is still making decisions which seem to have no justification or logical basis.
Any athletes who wanted to use the domestic season to qualify for international championships had multiple opportunities to do so throughout the season and there was no need to include another two meetings in May, when the international season has already begun.
The federation tried the same thing last year and though the late meetings went ahead, they were a complete flop.
Eager to be taken seriously by corporates and the public, ASA continues to flounder, but the visible problems are not complex and can be solved with a bit of preparation and thought.
Over the last two years they should have learned that the domestic season should come to a close in April, and enough time needs to be made available between local meetings for athletes to focus on international events.
Until they get the basics right, regardless of the progress they have made in recent years, ASA is going to struggle to find anyone who will take them seriously.
This was indeed the best local athletics season we’ve seen in some time, but it would have been ideal if the sprinters had competed at the World Relays as well, and if the last press release of the campaign was anything other than a notice to cancel two meetings.
If ASA can get their ducks in a row, and plan ahead sufficiently, next year’s domestic track and field season could end not with an unnecessary whimper compiled of poor excuses, but rather a spectacular bang of excitement to signal the start of the international campaign.