Mokoka would be an excellent manager
STEPHEN Mokoka is not only a fantastic athlete and a legend of running in our country but he is also a smart man the sport could really do with in its administration when he decides to put his running shoes permanently under his bed.
Of course, it is not always guaranteed that just because someone has been a star in the sport, he or she will go on to become a good leader. Examples are aplenty of sporting stars who sucked as leaders.
But to sit in the company of the man fondly referred to as “Tshipi” and speak athletics is to drink from a fountain of wisdom – the kind that, if given the opportunity, would help turn Athletics South Africa (ASA) into a thriving organisation that it cannot currently be described as.
Ahead of today’s Absa Run Your City Cape Town10k, I’ve sat in the company of the highly decorated athlete who has been a South African running star for two decades, spanning all spheres of athletics – track, cross-country and road.
The powers that be in both athletics and Olympic circles see him as a nuisance, a loud-mouthed athlete who likes to cause trouble simply because Mokoka is not afraid to voice his concerns.
Sporting administrators in this country are always defiant whenever active athletes question them. Remember how the SA Football Association used to label Benni Mccarthy a rebel?
If, whenever Mokoka raised issues and they instead listened, they would probably have found themselves learning a lot that could be of benefit to the sport.
He is not only passionate about running and about the welfare of athletes, but the Hollywood Athletics Club star, who has been national champion in just about every discipline he has participated in, is business-minded in his outlook – not just for himself, but the sport as well.
A marketing graduate, he has some great ideas that would definitely help see the sport thrive were they to be implemented.
He does not yet have the proper platform to share them with those in charge of the sport, although, given that he is still an active athlete, he has raised some of them only to be seen as a loud mouth.
But a sober-minded leadership, be it at national or provincial level, could definitely benefit from giving the 39-year-old their ear.
In my nearly three decades of being a sports journalist, Mokoka is the first sportsman I have encountered who thinks way beyond just the glory of winning, but also sees ways in which the sport can be improved as a business.
As ASA strives to grow into a federation, they will have to wait a while as Mokoka has no intention of giving up running just yet. He has ambitions of going to two more Olympics at least, the Paris 2024 Games in August a certainty for him as South Africa’s representative in the marathon.
But I am convinced that, unlike other former athletes who went into sports administration after their careers, Mokoka will be as fantastic an administrator as he is an athlete should he decide to go that route.