In the wake of South Africa’s poor performance in the Beijing Olympics, opposition Democratic Alliance launched a new sports policy entitled ‘The Pursuit of Excellence’.
According to the party’s weekly newsletter DA @ Work, the suggested new sports policy advocates the creation of a South African Sports Academy, which is designed to bring talent to where it would be nurtured and honed.
This is needed after the dismal performance of South Africa’s athletes at the Olympics and Bafana Bafana’s failure to qualify for the next African Cup of Nations.
“Our policy advocates for the establishment of the academy, a centre of sporting excellence, designed to identify, recruit and train a new generation of athletes and coaches, with the express purpose of improving South Africa’s performance in international sports; and to redress the imbalance between the amount we spend on hosting international competitions and that dedicated to the development of our sporting talent,” said party sport and recreation spokesperson, Donald Lee.
He said the DA understood the potential role that sport could play in our democracy and the defining role it played in shaping and influencing our identity, both as individuals and as a country.
“We also understand the role that sport has to play in more practical terms – as a means to enrich and fulfil the day-to-day lives of our people, to uplift and empower and, in the case of those with the ability and talent to achieve success at the highest level, as a diverse profession with the potential to open up a myriad possibilities.”
“At the heart of the policy is the principle of excellence, which should define every element of the Academy’s structure and purpose, and the practical creation of opportunities for those people who do not have the means to fulfil their sporting potential on their own,” Lee said.
He said the policy was designed to overcome the factors which were undermining South Africa’s ability to compete credibly at international levels.
