WE know where South African basketball is. But where do we want it to be? A question that everyone in the South African basketball community should be asking themselves. The game in the country is in a derelict state, and it’s been that way for a long time. But what will the next couple of years look like for South African basketball?
We, the basketball fraternity, must pose these paramount questions to ourselves as the national federation, Basketball South Africa (BSA), enters their election season. While such a time should bring great anticipation, past experiences dictate that it would be foolish to expect a seismic shift come the end of the elections on the 31st of this month. Why, you might ask? We have accepted mediocrity in leadership in South African basketball.
But it does not mean we cannot demand better leadership. Leadership that can turn basketball into a code with potential into one that performs at an optimum level. While that is the ideal situation, to have a functional top leadership, there must be a firm foundation holding things up.
That ground is the district and provincial associations. For BSA to be in good health, the two entities have to be organisationally sound. So, is that the case? Are districts and provinces organisationally sound?
If district and provincial associations were to go through an audit for delivering basketball to their members, what would the result be?
While it’s all about the hype and action on court, we must take an interest in the politics that govern the game and the individuals elected to lead in districts and provinces.
To those who harbour aspirations of leading basketball structures. Are you part of clubs? Do you know that being part of a constituted basketball club gives you a political voice? Are you familiar with the constitution that governs your club, district, province and basketball nationally?
This is a snippet of how governance should work in South African basketball. While this is a simplistic outline, the onus is on us – this writer included – to have a firm grasp of the deeper workings of South African basketball’s structures.
Having seen how this BSA board has conducted themselves to the point of well-documented embarrassment. The Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has repeatedly given the BSA executive a thumbs down and called for their removal. Others in the upper echelons of sports governance in South Africa share the minister’s sentiments.
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Given the deficiencies in leadership at the national level, the districts should work to be a breeding ground for excellence in leadership. It should be a space where future leaders learn the fundamentals of administration and a space where they design and implement programmes. That way, when they stand for election for higher office, they come equipped with knowledge and expertise.
For now, an air of pessimism hovers as we are likely going to see the same faces running the game for the next four years. Should that be the case, we can only cross fingers that they somehow improve to 1.0 on the leadership scale. Surely that is not too much to ask.
While we wait with “baited breath” for the outcome of the BSA elections, we must recognise that being bystanders has come at a high cost and for basketball to be in a good place, the fraternity has to be active about improving the situation on the ground.
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