Sports in South Africa: Not Just Fun and Games by Kory Johnson

While in the United States many are getting excited for the football playoffs, people of South Africa are much more hyped about a different kind of football.  Soccer (known as football to people of South Africa and mostly all over the world), continues to be one of the country’s most popular sports.  While in the U.S. (in my opinion) the top three sports are American football, basketball, and baseball, South Africa is completely different with its top three seeming to be soccer, cricket, and rugby. While staying at the hotel in Cape Town, it was impossible to flip through the channels without running into these three sports that are not so common in the U.S.  But one thing that really struck me was when I came across a soccer game which was India vs. New Zealand.  I thought to myself “why are they showing this game on TV in South Africa, these teams aren’t in the country, let alone the same continent as South Africa!”  But then as I watched more, I realized that in South Africa (and in many countries besides the United States), countries playing other countries is completely common during the regular season.  It was interesting to compare since in the U.S. sports teams will play in certain divisions of our own country and only play within our own country for a “world” series or championship.   It seems that the only time U.S. citizens see their favorite sports teams compete against other countries is in the Olympics, while in South Africa (and all around the world) it is very common all throughout the year.

Sports have proven to have helped South Africa “to become one of the most engaged, open and connected countries in the world…with the ceaseless flow of world sporting events that [the] country has hosted since 1994” (Chasing the Rainbow, 2006, page. 6).  Since being in South Africa, it is definitely apparent that hosting the world cup has had some positive effects on the country, but have also had some negative ones.  Talking with locals in Cape Town, hosting the world cup made the city safer as more police were hired to control the massive crowds.  Public transportation was also improved as many buses were used and continue to transport people to and from the games.  More public stores, like Pick n Pay (a Wal-Mart Supercenter type store) were built throughout Cape Town to accommodate for all the guests visiting from all over the world. 

On the other hand, money was not always well spent in preparation for the World Cup.  In Athone, which is located in the Cape Flats (a poor area outside the city), a 75 million dollar soccer stadium was built for teams to practice in during the World Cup.  Located about thirty minutes from the center of Cape Town, one would think that this stadium would get plentiful use.  On the contrary, the stadium never got used during the World Cup as FIFA and the South African government claimed that there was a miscommunication in what and where practice stadiums needed to be built. Today the only use that the stadium gets is by a minor league soccer team that practices there.  Not even open to the public in Athlone, this gorgeous stadium sits empty as locals who drive by it are constantly reminded of how much 75 million dollars could have helped their town hugely in something such as improving their extremely underfunded education system. 

On a more positive note, on one of our last days in Cape Town our class was fortunate enough to attend a soccer game in the newly built world cup stadium.  The game was the Cape Town Ajax, vs. the Johannesburg Keizer Chiefs, with Cape Town winning 1-0.  The game was crazy and practically sold out, as screaming fans rooting for both teams would sing chants and blow continuously through the ever popular long blow horns.  As I was watching the crowd cheer and wave their teams’ flags in the air I noticed that some people were waving the South African flag.  At first I was confused because both of these teams were from the country of South Africa so I didn’t know which team they were cheering for.  But as I thought about it, I came to the thought that perhaps these people simply hold a pride for their country.  And with the soccer world cup having just ended about half a year ago, some people must still hold onto that pride and honor of having hosted a worldly event like the World Cup.

Throughout movies and books, it has been apparent that sports can create unity, pride, and hope for individuals and for the country of South Africa as a whole.  Set in 1995 during the Rugby World Cup, the movie Invictus took place recently after Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s president.  With the apartheid regime recently ending, the country remained with racial tension as South Africa continued to search for a new identity.  Trying to unite the country, Mandela became very interested in the World Cup, trying to get the country to root together and join as one.  In the end of the movie South Africa ends winning the rugby World Cup against New Zealand as people of all racial backgrounds cheered together for a country that they were proud of.

 In our class reading of Kaffir Boy, we also see sports play a huge role in changing the lives of individuals.  In this autobiographical story, Johannes grew up in a poor township outside of Johannesburg in the town of Alexandra.  But with courage and determination Johannes ends up attending and being successful in school and eventually receiving a scholarship to go to college in the United States to play tennis. With tennis being such a great outlet for Johannes, it goes to show the potential that sports can have for giving people that extra push of confidence for success.

 While visiting Ocean View, another township outside of Cape Town, our class also had the opportunity to meet and hear about the Ubuntu Sports Outreach Program.  In this program they promote soccer as a positive outlet for young boys, as they also get coached and mentored by great role models.  The program also promotes soccer as a possible professional career path which I find to be a good and bad thing.  For one thing I think that it’s great to help people follow their dreams, whether it be to become a doctor, teacher, or professional athlete.  But with the competition so fierce to play professional sports, it makes me worried that some of these boys may be set up for failure.  Today in class we had a great discussion about this as our class seemed conflicted.  Are we setting kids up for failure by 100% supporting them in becoming things such as being a professional athlete?  Is it necessary to always have a Plan-B and have an education to fall back on?