Come to think of it, sport is bigger than the stars

WITH the Springboks on their end-of-year tour in the UK, South African rugby fans – you can be sure – have already worked their meat and wood expenses into their budgets, for the obligatory match-day braais.

It’s become more than mere fashion or tradition to celebrate Bok Fridays in this country, as supporters send positive vibes to their world champions wherever they may be playing.

And, if there are youngsters who were die-hard sports fans like I once was, you can be sure they will be sitting in front of their plasma panels, rugby ball in hand, wearing their green jerseys and draped in the Rainbow Flag.

These days, it seems that every young boy wants to be a Springbok one day, and that’s a noble ambition. It certainly motivates and drives young players to push themselves during those draining training sessions and tense, exhausting matches. Ambitions and goals make for more motivated players.

Not good enough, rather better

Recently, this publication reported on how the great Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe almost gave up on the game when he was at school – just imagine that tragedy – because he was considered ‘too small’ for senior rugby.

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These days, the Bok pocket rocket stands head and shoulder above other international players. In fact, school boys of diminutive stature now believe and therefore can dream about making it to the big leagues.

The recent initiative by SA Rugby to complete a major restructuring initiative aimed at promoting greater participation in the sport, particularly at the amateur level, is also encouraging.

If and when this drive is in full swing, the national selectors will have a good headache – a vast pool of talented youngsters from all corners of the country trained up and skilled enough to build their own rugby legacy.

But should rugby, or let’s make that sport in general, be all about recognition, stardom or the elite levels?

Can’t sport just be enjoyed for what it is: physical exertion in a team environment where one learns to push one’s own boundaries?

Oh, and if you think that it need not only be physical exertion because of more sedentary games like chess, think again. Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen prepares his body for the rigorous demands of chess tournaments with running intervals on the treadmill to increase his endurance, yoga and soccer games.

Small clubs, big impact

Meanwhile, this paper also reported on a local Sevens team that has already started producing potentially world-class rugby players – that’s absolutely amazing.

However, I especially enjoyed the story of the soccer coach in Roodepan who started his own club, teaching youth – Under-11 to Under-19 – how to enjoy the beautiful game.

ALSO READ: Shooting Stars FC – a beacon of hope for Roodepan youth

But back to my point, you do not have to be an elite athlete to enjoy the benefits of participating in sport.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was reported as saying that there have only been 900 Springboks in the history of the game, and this means that not every wide-eyed, skilful, motivated schoolboy will make it all the way up the ranks.

ALSO READ: Springbok coach opens up about controversies, transformation

In fact, most schoolboys will not make it to the provincial level, and many others will not even play club rugby after school.

But are they enjoying the game now? That’s the important question.

Always a sports supporter

I was always a clumsy fumbler, not a big ball game and team sport player. I preferred solo sports that challenged me as an individual and pitted me one-on-one against opponents.

But I was an avid supporter of club rugby.

Every single weekend – back when rugby was a solely winter sport – the stands at the Union Grounds (the AR Abass Stadium) in Squarehill Park were filled with cheering supporters, as the younger children played their own rugby games behind the stands. Even if they didn’t have a rugby ball, they would play with an empty fruit juice bottle.

They had no thought of playing for the Springboks one day, because during Apartheid, the Springboks were not that popular in our communities.

All that many of them wanted to achieve was to play first team rugby for Young Collegians, Thistles, Arabian College or Universals … or maybe even one day make it to the Griqua team under the Sacos umbrella.

As for those who participated in those hard-fought battles over all those years, very few of them achieved anything significant in the sport. These were tradesmen, teachers, craftsmen, shop owners, and amateur players who simply enjoyed being part of a team, and helping their team achieve bragging rights week after week.

Remembering the good times

And though they are not former Springboks, these days the old grey heads meet on the street and immediately connect on a level of being comrades and teammates that many of today’s youngsters – who only have ambitions of being the best – will not understand.

These old rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis, and netball players may not have made a fortune off the sport they played. But for a while, during this country’s darkest period, they managed to keep reachable dreams alive in the youth.

In conclusion, though I am impressed with and have untold admiration for schools that have functioning, elite sporting programmes, schools that serve as feeders to universities, clubs, provinces and the ultimate – the national team, it saddens me that in far too many of this country’s ‘previously disadvantaged’ communities, school and community sport – and therefore a future connection with comrades and teammates – is dead.