Imagine getting invited to a tea party – only to find there is no tea on the menu.
That is exactly what played out at the Kay Motsepe Schools Championship Provincial finals in Saldanha Bay on Saturday.
The tea in this instance is a metaphor for the soccer poles that were absent on the field and the shambles and embarrassment that happened before kick-off.
The matches were scheduled to start at 10.00 but due to the fact that there were no goalposts set up, there was a delay of more than two hours.
On top of this the organisers used hockey-shaped and sized poles for the under 14’s matches which begs the question… how does this help with proper development at this age group?
Surely a tale for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not – and if it hadn’t been something as serious as this, it could have been aired on South Africa’s Most Funniest Moments in Sport!
Furthermore, two seasoned journalists covering the event for decades were denied access to the fields due to the sponsor’s rules and regulations.
The journalists were informed that the sponsors, Kay Motsepe and Sanlam, apparently had their own photographers and media at the event and the two journo’s were ushered off the field like cattle in the highveld.
The journalists were then instructed to stand behind the high fence decorated with the sponsor’s branding which completely obscured the vision of the action on the field.
At 11:00 there was still no sign of the poles which caused a lot of confusion and irritation to the school representatives and promted the two journalists to pack up their bags.
On their way back to Cape Town at 11:30 they spotted a truck transporting the goalposts which was really diabolical to say the least.
The spectacle is dubbed by schools as the marquee event on their sporting calendar, but truth be told it was quite embarrassing from the outset.
The lack of leadership at this event – an official Safa event -was astounding. Even the rebel or Sunday Leagues, with no committee or structural body, is run better than this competition – and that is a smack in the face of especially the schools who put in so much effort and sacrifices to get this far as to them it means the world – but clearly not those in charge and running the show!
The chairperson of Safa Western Cape Tankiso Modipa subsequently admitted that he was not impressed by the poor planning and functioning. Modipa vowed to get to the bottom of this.
“The municipality has been paid already and the poles should have been set up by yesterday (Friday) already. As I’m standing here, I am furious about what is happening,” said Modipa.
Overall, this was an EMBARRASSMENT to everyone involved in football in the Western Cape – and maybe now one can understand why journalists are kept away not to witness and report on the mediocrity manifested within our sporting fraternity – it’s sickening!
