South African’s face great concern regarding the implementation of the
quota system, and how it has recently affected the National Cricket team. The
players, who this system is supposed to benefit, find it irrelevant and risky
for the success of their games.
Florida’s White Hawks is a U13 cricket team with only white players.
Although the other age groups have a diverse group of players, this specific team
and their name stand out, especially when it comes to the quota system and
their requirements for the South Africa’s national cricket team, the Proteas. In a
recent article from BusinessTech, the board of directors of Cricket South
Africa (CSA) had “discussed the
possibility of having a quota of six players of colour in the national team,”
full article at http://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/132103/new-quota-system-for-south-africas-cricket-team/
With regards to a team like the Florida White Hawks, this
would be challenging should the local teams continue to only train white
players in the sport, at an early. Thabani Mtolo, a cricket fan says “enough isn’t
being done for black players to play at the highest level, resulting in a
dilemma regarding the quota system”.
In the 24 years since the country
has been readmitted to international cricket, only seven of the 91 players to
win test caps have been black African.
Themba Bavuma who was the country’s first black African cricketer to
score a 100 in a test match, seemed to have open doors for many other black
Africans interested in the sport.
In a recent survey that News24 reported on, it was stated that most
Black South Africans oppose the whole sports quota system. “More
than 70% of black South Africans do not believe that sport teams should be
picked based on transformation goals, but rather purely on merit.” Full article
at http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/most-black-south-africans-oppose-sport-quotas-survey-20160531
It is challenging for one to look at a local
cricket team and find a diverse team with unskilled players. A team shouldn’t
be built up based on colour but on merit, as the sport is about having the best
players represent the team, and not just a “rainbow nation”. Lance Harris, a
local cricket coach says “the systems in place themselves are a problem, it’s
not the transformation. If you look at talented people in the country, you
can’t ignore race. What you find is that White parents see their child has a skill
from an early age, and push them further by placing them in an elite school
with good coaching, having that child start early because the parents can
afford that, whereas the Black children’s parents can’t usually afford to take
them to the best schools”.
The way the quota system is implemented has a
negative effect on the sports itself, as our country is actually good. A team
like the Proteas results in adding players that aren’t necessarily good but
because they have to cater to the quota system, they end up performing
badly.
The best solution to this is the system itself.
From a young age, having the child Black or White, the government needs to
ensure that the schools sports programs are at a higher level, and cater to the
different races, especially in public schools. If the children in public
schools are exposed to more sport and trained well, the quota system can fall
away, as everyone will have an equal opportunity to compete for placement. There
needs to be a constant, consistent flow from the bottom (Primary School) to the
top (Nationals). Various platforms and structures need to be implemented at a
junior level, where Black children are taught the sport from an early age, and
develop their skills. It is pointless to start applying strict quota systems at
a National level, when half the team hasn’t practised and mastered the sport
from an early age.
