the death of quotas?

[Prestwick]

South African Sports minister is to perform a u turn and drop controversial legislation which would have imposed a 25% quota on the match day springbok 22.

"quotas are out" Makhenkesi Stofile said.

Any comments?

 

[Caledfwlch]

And a victory for meritocracy!

 

[BokMagic]

Any comments? [/b]

No comment. Not going to say "I told you so". No, sir. I wouldn`t dream of saying that. Ever.

But I will say this- in the long run, this is not only a victory for common sense, for getting the best playing XV onto the field, but also, in the long run, a massive victory for long-term increased black representation in rugby. No longer will brilliantly talented black rugby players be held back by that unfortunate "quota" tag. Now they`ll be recognised for exactly what they are- brilliantly talented rugby players first and foremost.

Great stuff all around.

 

[O'Rothlain]

Good on you S. African Leaders!

 

[scuubasteve]

Good to see they're using some intelligence. Now they need to hold up the other end of the bargain and increase funding to players in the poorer Black areas.

Its obvious that players should be chosen on their skills, but it is also obvious that all playes should be given equal opportunity to obtain those skills. Currently that is not the case and transforming SA rugby into a true meritocracy is a two step process.

Great to see that step one is complete!!

 

[Niue]

Yeah, we didn't want to see mini aparteids after the main one was removed.

 

[mister g]

What do you guys make of the the news that the quota system is abolished..? I cant believe what I'm reading...sounds too good to be true. I'm sure they will find some way to make us feel crap about ourselves again.

 

[Prestwick]

<div class='quotemain'>
Any comments? [/b]

No comment. Not going to say "I told you so". No, sir. I wouldn`t dream of saying that. Ever.

But I will say this- in the long run, this is not only a victory for common sense, for getting the best playing XV onto the field, but also, in the long run, a massive victory for long-term increased black representation in rugby. No longer will brilliantly talented black rugby players be held back by that unfortunate "quota" tag. Now they`ll be recognised for exactly what they are- brilliantly talented rugby players first and foremost.

Great stuff all around.

[/b][/quote]

Exactly. Affirmative action always seems like a popular, cheap and easy way of acheiving a fairer society. However the reality is that you can acheive far better results by biting the bullet and investing in grass roots sport in deprived areas and by being innovative in how you promote the game.

South Africa Cricket and their magnificent success in hosting the first Twenty20 World Cup. Cutting ticket prices to the bone was a simple stroke of genius, South African Rugby needs to learn from that and no doubt they may.

 

[Stoffel]

There will still be lots of political pressure to pick black players

 

[Incredible Schalk]

Great news, the South African team will now be able to improve their side further and try to retain the wc in the long term. This is an important step forward. :bravo:

 

[Steve-o]

I'm gonna be positive and say that the government made the right decision... Finally. But the jury is still out. Was quota ever a written policy? If anyone can prove it was, please let me know. As far as I know it wasn't. It was more pressure than paper. Jake was pressured to pick more black players, and wasn't ask to read section 'blah blah', in article 'blah blah' and to follow those criteria set. So thats how I look at this statement. Hopeful it bears fruit

 

[BokMagic]

Well immediately after the RWC final, pres. Mbeki admitted that the govt. have failed in recognising the full impact of sport as a nation builder. He also admitted that govt. have failed to address the transformation issue at grassroots level. So now govt. is going to be spending something in the region of $15 mil. per annum on grassroots sports development. Great stuff for govt. in stepping up to the mark and taking a responsible decision.

Now, let`s hope the <strike>idiots</strike> good folks at SARU can follow on that example and ask themselves the hard questions they`ve been ignoring for years now. Questions like why has SA ruled the rugby world at u/19 and u/21 level for the better part of 5 years now, with fully representative teams, and so few of those amazingly talented black players are coming through, even at Currie Cup level? If it is because of the mistrust by coaches in the quota tag, then this has to be addressed asap. If it is because of other obstacles, financial constraints, lack of facilities or whatever, that needs to be addressed asap.

Bottom line is that for Bok rugby`s long-term success, we need to acknowledge that there`s a huge untapped player pool out there. A player pool that has produced some of the best age-group level talent, not only in SA, but actually in the world. This talent pool needs to be tapped for Bok rugby`s long-term success.

But thankfully, the very damaging quota tag has now been removed. The way forward has never been to get black faces onto team photos just for the sake thereof. The way forward has always been to pick the best available talent, but to cast the net as wide as possible, as so eloquently put by Scuuba in an earlier post.

 

[Steve-o]

Well immediately after the RWC final, pres. Mbeki admitted that the govt. have failed in recognising the full impact of sport as a nation builder. He also admitted that govt. have failed to address the transformation issue at grassroots level. So now govt. is going to be spending something in the region of $15 mil. per annum on grassroots sports development. Great stuff for govt. in stepping up to the mark and taking a responsible decision.

Now, let`s hope the <strike>idiots</strike> good folks at SARU can follow on that example and ask themselves the hard questions they`ve been ignoring for years now. Questions like why has SA ruled the rugby world at u/19 and u/21 level for the better part of 5 years now, with fully representative teams, and so few of those amazingly talented black players are coming through, even at Currie Cup level? If it is because of the mistrust by coaches in the quota tag, then this has to be addressed asap. If it is because of other obstacles, financial constraints, lack of facilities or whatever, that needs to be addressed asap.

Bottom line is that for Bok rugby`s long-term success, we need to acknowledge that there`s a huge untapped player pool out there. A player pool that has produced some of the best age-group level talent, not only in SA, but actually in the world. This talent pool needs to be tapped for Bok rugby`s long-term success.

But thankfully, the very damaging quota tag has now been removed. The way forward has never been to get black faces onto team photos just for the sake thereof. The way forward has always been to pick the best available talent, but to cast the net as wide as possible, as so eloquently put by Scuuba in an earlier post.

[/b]

Yep, huge player pool that's not untapped. If we carry on like this we'll be back to no.1 in the rugby world for a long time, just like we were for most of the last century. But is it R15 mil or $15 mil? The head guys at Telkom get about R15 mil as a Christmas bonus each. I'm not trying to cause a scene or anything but R15 mil is not enough, especially if they are taking this to rural areas and cities. Perhaps I should be happy that they are atleast investing money here.

 

[BokMagic]

From what I`ve heard, $15 mil. per annum, but that`s across all sporting codes, rugby, cricket, football, swimming, athletics, netball, the whole lot. Merely a drop in the bucket, but better than nothing hey.

So here`s hpoing it actually gets spent wisely, and doesn`t just go to pay for the salaries of a new committee of development officers. And here`s hoping also that the leading provincial rugby sides all follow the example of the Sharks, with their huge investment in the Sharks rugby academy. Now that`s the way to develop your young talent, both black and white, in this sport. And look at how it`s aided players like Pietersen, Murray, Steyn and Barritt, to name but a few, to come through.

 

[Prestwick]

From what I`ve heard, $15 mil. per annum, but that`s across all sporting codes, rugby, cricket, football, swimming, athletics, netball, the whole lot. Merely a drop in the bucket, but better than nothing hey.

So here`s hpoing it actually gets spent wisely, and doesn`t just go to pay for the salaries of a new committee of development officers. And here`s hoping also that the leading provincial rugby sides all follow the example of the Sharks, with their huge investment in the Sharks rugby academy. Now that`s the way to develop your young talent, both black and white, in this sport. And look at how it`s aided players like Pietersen, Murray, Steyn and Barritt, to name but a few, to come through.
[/b]

The Rugby Provinces should work with sports charities and foundations to take the sport to deprived areas. Think of new ideas like doing youth sevens tournaments and getting them sponsored with high profile local media coverage, things like that inspire youngsters to get playing.

 

[Steve-o]

<div class='quotemain'> From what I`ve heard, $15 mil. per annum, but that`s across all sporting codes, rugby, cricket, football, swimming, athletics, netball, the whole lot. Merely a drop in the bucket, but better than nothing hey.

So here`s hpoing it actually gets spent wisely, and doesn`t just go to pay for the salaries of a new committee of development officers. And here`s hoping also that the leading provincial rugby sides all follow the example of the Sharks, with their huge investment in the Sharks rugby academy. Now that`s the way to develop your young talent, both black and white, in this sport. And look at how it`s aided players like Pietersen, Murray, Steyn and Barritt, to name but a few, to come through.
[/b]

The Rugby Provinces should work with sports charities and foundations to take the sport to deprived areas. Think of new ideas like doing youth sevens tournaments and getting them sponsored with high profile local media coverage, things like that inspire youngsters to get playing.
[/b][/quote]

There seems to be some decent people working behind the scenes in that area, an example is the Zululand Rugby Academy being established here in my area a couple of years back. But after driving back down from Pretoria today, through rural Natal, you see how far we still have to go. I say this with optimism though. We so strong already, and we still have so much to do. The Sharks academy is setting benchmarks for the other academies in SA, with what I'd say is world-class facilities.

So yeah, like Incredible Schalk said this is an important step. And we need to stop this one step forward, two steps back habit.