Several of South Africa’s women sports teams have qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics and among those are the national women’s football team, rugby sevens and hockey.
However, with this Olympic achievement, much sadness prevails because this qualification doesn’t mean the teams are going to the Rio Olympics. That’s not if the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), the country’s controlling sports structure, has its way.
Football, hockey and rugby teams qualified through the continent’s African qualifier, which is the Olympic qualification stipulated by their international federations.
Sascoc, as South Africa’s sports body overseeing elite and high-performance participation in sport, has the final acknowledgement about which team or athlete will represent South Africa in the Olympics.
Sascoc is interested in attaining medals and finalist positions. Therefore they are adamant about “not taking passengers” to the Olympics. So Sascoc has agreed with the national sports federations that qualifying through Africa does not guarantee the team or athlete final Olympic selection. This is because they base the final Olympic participation on the team or athlete having a top five world ranking.
None of South African women’s sports teams is ranked in the top five in the world. Women’s hockey is ranked highest, at number 11. Women’s football and rugby are lowly ranked.
Sascoc has signed an agreement with some of the sports federations, that African qualification does not guarantee Olympic representation and participation.
Already, the women’s hockey team has been informed that, despite their African qualification berth, the team will not be going to the Rio Olympics. Women’s football appears to be confirmed as an Olympic participant. Women’s sevens rugby is yet to be confirmed as a Rio Olympics participants.
Exclusion of sA’s women’s sports teams from participating in world sports events, just because they are not high up in the world rankings, is a serious injustice. How do you expect the country’s sportswomen to become world class when they are denied full support and resources on their sports journey?
How do you expect part-time sportswomen and sports teams to compete with professional and sponsored elite sportswomen when they are restricted from competing?
I believe that SA’s women in sport must be supported at every stage of their participation in sport. They must not be excluded because officials, most of them men, have decided they are not world class.
By all means apply those selection guidelines to sportsmen and men’s sports teams, but not to sportswomen.
South Africa’s sportswomen need all the support and encouragement they can get – because they deserve it. Ever since they were born, our sports girls and sportswomen have had to suffer because of colour and gender discrimination up until and even after they retire from international sport.
Most times, our sportswomen encounter an uphill struggle, littered with adversity, when they try to participate in sport from grassroots to international platforms.
The fact that they do achieve and attain impressive results on the African continent and in global sports events, is not only commendable but highly appreciated.
Each qualification and achievement of a South African sports-woman motivates young women athletes to believe they can also achieve.
South Africa’s sportswomen cannot and should not be compared to men. That’s because the sportsmen get the financial resources while sportswomen get some handouts here and there and the smallest budgets.
The South African women’s hockey team was shattered after they were told they would not be going to the Rio Olympics. This came after they had sacrificed their jobs, careers and studies and paid personal costs to participate internationally.
Both the women’s football and rugby sevens teams are internationally weak compared with international teams. They are not expected to win any medal at the Olympic Games. Women’s hockey is the highest ranked of the three women’s teams.
Sascoc maintains that a sports federation like SA Hockey agreed to sign off an understanding that did not guarantee Olympic participation via African qualifier. How could the hockey officials do this, knowing how the women’s hockey team has battled for sponsors to pay their own international participation costs?
We must never expect the same world class results from all our sportswomen in a country which does not look after its sportswomen the way it supports its sportsmen.
At the same time, we must not suffocate and strangle their sports aspirations and hopes.
All qualifying women athletes and women sports teams must be given every opportunity to improve their world rankings and status; most importantly, they must be given all the support to gain confidence as they compete against formidable opponents of countries who believe in and support their sportswomen.
* Roberts is a writer, sports and social justice activist.