Date: 29/07/2006
Source: Department of Sport and Cultural Affairs
Title: Jacobs: Provincial Football Summit
Keynote Address by MEC Whitey Jacobs at the occasion of the Provincial Football Summit held in Cape Town
Members of the national and provincial legislatures,
SAFA NEC members,
Members of the regional Executive Committees,
Members of the local football associations,
CEOs and leaders of professional clubs,
Former football legends,
Esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen:
The Provincial Football Summit takes place at a time when we have just witnessed the conclusion of what is widely considered to be the best FIFA World Cup hosted by Germany. On 7 July 2006 we also unveiled the 2010 logo in Germany and this focused the attention of the World on South Africa.
I am particularly thrilled that this summit happens against a backdrop of unity in purpose. The commitment by both local and provincial government with regards to the location of the stadium shows that we are indeed united and ready to host the Cape Town leg of 2010 with a great deal of success. It is important that we at all times leading up to 2010 present a united front with regards to the hosting of this event notwithstanding our differences. This is important because we must showcase our ability to host this World Cup to the football community of the world, Africa, South Africa and indeed our province.
The conference also takes place at a time when South African Football Association (SAFA) is in the process of realigning its structures in line with the municipal boundaries of our province. This process is also about uniting football. It is important that the outstanding regions complete this process as soon as possible so that we together with local government can address the question of resources for these structures to function optimally to develop football.
Challenges facing football
Although the preparations for the hosting of 2010 is critical and occupies the centre of all discussions, it is important for us as footballers to look much wider than just the organisation of this event. Critical for us must be the comprehensive development of football. The challenge for this summit is therefore to develop an integrated Football Development Plan that will address the areas of organisation, funding, facilities and coaching.
Football development
The realignment process and the proper building of clubs with properly functioning leagues and teams from junior to senior level must be prioritised. Gone are the days when someone will just buy a set of jerseys and register as a club. A club in my understanding must consist of junior and senior teams with coaches, regular meetings, training sessions and fundraising activities.
We are aware of major shortcomings in this regard. It is for this reason that we have undertaken a trip to the Netherlands to seek co-operation between the Royal National Dutch Football Association (RNDFA) and an organisation called the Stars in their Eyes Foundation. This co-operation is aimed at the twinning of 40 clubs from the Netherlands over the period of four years with 40 local clubs in our province. The programme is aimed at exchanging ideas with the Netherlands clubs on club management and organisation. It is also aimed at imparting technical and coaching skills and in particular the training of South African coaches at a local level. It is envisaged that 40 coaches will eventually be coming to our province on an annual basis over a period of a couple of weeks to train coaches here. We will also be looking at sending some coaches to the Netherlands.
In this regard the RNDFA is currently involved with a training programme in co-operation with SAFA at the University of Stellenbosch. We will make more details of this programme available after the conclusion of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) at the end of August, but I want to inform you that the initial stage of the programme will focus on rural and the urban poor areas. SAFA will be consulted with the identification of these clubs.
This programme is not a panacea to all our shortcomings but will go a long way in addressing some of our needs. However this conference will have to examine and identify the areas of urgent intervention and the role of government in this regard.
Professional football
It is an open secret that huge gaps exist between professional and amateur football. Currently there are no formal or informal relations between our professional and amateur clubs.
This often led to conflicts and other disputes. However this is not the main problem. We are all well aware that any sport person engages in their chosen sporting field with the main objective of wanting to achieve the highest honour.
Elite sport is therefore the aim. In football playing and being chosen for a professional club both locally and abroad and ultimately our national team is therefore the objective of all young footballers.
The lack of a structured and formal relationship between amateur and professional football hampers the process of talent identification and football development. It has a fundamental effect on the chain of football development.
In the Netherlands and Portugal we have learned that a structured relationship exist between amateur and professional clubs in the form of people who are appointed in each club or community to spot talent at a very early age for professional clubs. The prescribed age for doing so is eight. Amateur clubs buy into this and it is working perfectly which makes other contractual issues very clear.
I want to urge this summit to look at this issue very carefully so that we provide solutions that will give our youth hope that at least if they perform well their efforts will be rewarded. This will go a long way in bringing about more commitment to football and less to other deviant activities such as crime and gangsterism.
A closer working relationship with professional clubs will develop loyalty and therefore more support and attendance at games. The question we must ask is, “How is it possible for an English team come to Cape Town and have more support than a local team?” The same is true about teams from other provinces coming to our city.
During our visit abroad we also visited Portugal to seek partnerships with top professional clubs there. These partnerships are aimed at providing an opportunity for our local clubs to compete in an annual inter club competition with international clubs, build their revenue and build a culture of attendance at games. Moreover it must build excitement and support amongst our people for the 2010 World Cup. Details of the competition that will include clubs from Angola and Mozambique will be released shortly.
I hope that these strategies will make a contribution to bridging the gap between amateur and professional clubs.
World Cup 2010
Much has been said and will still be said about 2010. The fundamental challenge we however have is to ensure that this event the greatest showpiece on earth does not go by without it benefiting the football community. It must leave a lasting legacy.
* It must lead to increased spending by both government and the private sector on football.
* It must create an interest in the private sector to invest in 2010 and this must reach all our people from Cape Town to Murraysburg and Rietpoort to Plettenberg Bay.
* It must galvanise all our people to make a voluntary contribution towards the successful hosting of this event.
* It must bring about better and improved sport administrators, coaches and footballers.
* It must leave well-built facilities for our future generations.
* It must serve as a catalyst to stimulate local economic empowerment.
This summit is seized with the responsibility to respond to this challenge. The World Cup cannot just be an event; it must be a catalyst to a process of socio economic development.
Our visit to Germany has taught us that this event is much more than just football games and a tournament. It can do much more in terms of the above challenges.
Funding and sponsorship
I have deliberately left funding and sponsorship for last. This is a very critical element of the implementation of any dream or plan. Without it we cannot move. The Department is in the process of reviewing our funding policy and I want to invite you to make an input into this process.
The idea is to raise this matter in this summit to get us to think about it in a much more strategic way. We are only used to raising funds and sponsorship when we need it for a very particular event or tournament.
We depend on approaches made to us on the initiative of the private sector. We need to become much more strategic in this regard. Given the conditions and the interest that I referred to earlier we need to maximise the impact of the availability of funding to ensure that it contributes to us achieving our goals.
The division and disparity between rural and urban, those previously advantaged and disadvantaged must be bridged through funding and sponsorship. Sponsorship cannot be used to continually divide us. This summit must give guidance and find ways to maximise football’s share of the interest shown by the private sector.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we are ready to get our house in order. The negative and sometimes destructive newspaper reports only contribute towards pushing the private sector away from us. It takes our focus off the main objectives.
We are ready to send a clear message to the rest of the world that South Africa will welcome the world in 2010.
We are ready to host the best World Cup ever in 2010.
We are ready to prepare the best footballers, administrators and coaches for 2010 and beyond. We are ready to prepare 2010 World Cup winning champions.
We are ready to leave a lasting legacy beyond World Cup 2010.
Let’s get ready, I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Sport and Cultural Affairs
29 July 2006
Source: Department of Sport and Cultural Affairs
Title: Jacobs: Provincial Football Summit
Keynote Address by MEC Whitey Jacobs at the occasion of the Provincial Football Summit held in Cape Town
Members of the national and provincial legislatures,
SAFA NEC members,
Members of the regional Executive Committees,
Members of the local football associations,
CEOs and leaders of professional clubs,
Former football legends,
Esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen:
The Provincial Football Summit takes place at a time when we have just witnessed the conclusion of what is widely considered to be the best FIFA World Cup hosted by Germany. On 7 July 2006 we also unveiled the 2010 logo in Germany and this focused the attention of the World on South Africa.
I am particularly thrilled that this summit happens against a backdrop of unity in purpose. The commitment by both local and provincial government with regards to the location of the stadium shows that we are indeed united and ready to host the Cape Town leg of 2010 with a great deal of success. It is important that we at all times leading up to 2010 present a united front with regards to the hosting of this event notwithstanding our differences. This is important because we must showcase our ability to host this World Cup to the football community of the world, Africa, South Africa and indeed our province.
The conference also takes place at a time when South African Football Association (SAFA) is in the process of realigning its structures in line with the municipal boundaries of our province. This process is also about uniting football. It is important that the outstanding regions complete this process as soon as possible so that we together with local government can address the question of resources for these structures to function optimally to develop football.
Challenges facing football
Although the preparations for the hosting of 2010 is critical and occupies the centre of all discussions, it is important for us as footballers to look much wider than just the organisation of this event. Critical for us must be the comprehensive development of football. The challenge for this summit is therefore to develop an integrated Football Development Plan that will address the areas of organisation, funding, facilities and coaching.
Football development
The realignment process and the proper building of clubs with properly functioning leagues and teams from junior to senior level must be prioritised. Gone are the days when someone will just buy a set of jerseys and register as a club. A club in my understanding must consist of junior and senior teams with coaches, regular meetings, training sessions and fundraising activities.
We are aware of major shortcomings in this regard. It is for this reason that we have undertaken a trip to the Netherlands to seek co-operation between the Royal National Dutch Football Association (RNDFA) and an organisation called the Stars in their Eyes Foundation. This co-operation is aimed at the twinning of 40 clubs from the Netherlands over the period of four years with 40 local clubs in our province. The programme is aimed at exchanging ideas with the Netherlands clubs on club management and organisation. It is also aimed at imparting technical and coaching skills and in particular the training of South African coaches at a local level. It is envisaged that 40 coaches will eventually be coming to our province on an annual basis over a period of a couple of weeks to train coaches here. We will also be looking at sending some coaches to the Netherlands.
In this regard the RNDFA is currently involved with a training programme in co-operation with SAFA at the University of Stellenbosch. We will make more details of this programme available after the conclusion of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) at the end of August, but I want to inform you that the initial stage of the programme will focus on rural and the urban poor areas. SAFA will be consulted with the identification of these clubs.
This programme is not a panacea to all our shortcomings but will go a long way in addressing some of our needs. However this conference will have to examine and identify the areas of urgent intervention and the role of government in this regard.
Professional football
It is an open secret that huge gaps exist between professional and amateur football. Currently there are no formal or informal relations between our professional and amateur clubs.
This often led to conflicts and other disputes. However this is not the main problem. We are all well aware that any sport person engages in their chosen sporting field with the main objective of wanting to achieve the highest honour.
Elite sport is therefore the aim. In football playing and being chosen for a professional club both locally and abroad and ultimately our national team is therefore the objective of all young footballers.
The lack of a structured and formal relationship between amateur and professional football hampers the process of talent identification and football development. It has a fundamental effect on the chain of football development.
In the Netherlands and Portugal we have learned that a structured relationship exist between amateur and professional clubs in the form of people who are appointed in each club or community to spot talent at a very early age for professional clubs. The prescribed age for doing so is eight. Amateur clubs buy into this and it is working perfectly which makes other contractual issues very clear.
I want to urge this summit to look at this issue very carefully so that we provide solutions that will give our youth hope that at least if they perform well their efforts will be rewarded. This will go a long way in bringing about more commitment to football and less to other deviant activities such as crime and gangsterism.
A closer working relationship with professional clubs will develop loyalty and therefore more support and attendance at games. The question we must ask is, “How is it possible for an English team come to Cape Town and have more support than a local team?” The same is true about teams from other provinces coming to our city.
During our visit abroad we also visited Portugal to seek partnerships with top professional clubs there. These partnerships are aimed at providing an opportunity for our local clubs to compete in an annual inter club competition with international clubs, build their revenue and build a culture of attendance at games. Moreover it must build excitement and support amongst our people for the 2010 World Cup. Details of the competition that will include clubs from Angola and Mozambique will be released shortly.
I hope that these strategies will make a contribution to bridging the gap between amateur and professional clubs.
World Cup 2010
Much has been said and will still be said about 2010. The fundamental challenge we however have is to ensure that this event the greatest showpiece on earth does not go by without it benefiting the football community. It must leave a lasting legacy.
* It must lead to increased spending by both government and the private sector on football.
* It must create an interest in the private sector to invest in 2010 and this must reach all our people from Cape Town to Murraysburg and Rietpoort to Plettenberg Bay.
* It must galvanise all our people to make a voluntary contribution towards the successful hosting of this event.
* It must bring about better and improved sport administrators, coaches and footballers.
* It must leave well-built facilities for our future generations.
* It must serve as a catalyst to stimulate local economic empowerment.
This summit is seized with the responsibility to respond to this challenge. The World Cup cannot just be an event; it must be a catalyst to a process of socio economic development.
Our visit to Germany has taught us that this event is much more than just football games and a tournament. It can do much more in terms of the above challenges.
Funding and sponsorship
I have deliberately left funding and sponsorship for last. This is a very critical element of the implementation of any dream or plan. Without it we cannot move. The Department is in the process of reviewing our funding policy and I want to invite you to make an input into this process.
The idea is to raise this matter in this summit to get us to think about it in a much more strategic way. We are only used to raising funds and sponsorship when we need it for a very particular event or tournament.
We depend on approaches made to us on the initiative of the private sector. We need to become much more strategic in this regard. Given the conditions and the interest that I referred to earlier we need to maximise the impact of the availability of funding to ensure that it contributes to us achieving our goals.
The division and disparity between rural and urban, those previously advantaged and disadvantaged must be bridged through funding and sponsorship. Sponsorship cannot be used to continually divide us. This summit must give guidance and find ways to maximise football’s share of the interest shown by the private sector.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we are ready to get our house in order. The negative and sometimes destructive newspaper reports only contribute towards pushing the private sector away from us. It takes our focus off the main objectives.
We are ready to send a clear message to the rest of the world that South Africa will welcome the world in 2010.
We are ready to host the best World Cup ever in 2010.
We are ready to prepare the best footballers, administrators and coaches for 2010 and beyond. We are ready to prepare 2010 World Cup winning champions.
We are ready to leave a lasting legacy beyond World Cup 2010.
Let’s get ready, I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Sport and Cultural Affairs
29 July 2006
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
