ANNUAL REPORT 2006 PUTTING OUR ATHLETES FIRST PUTTING OUR ATHLETES FIRST Gartone Press (011) 440 6126 PUTTING OUR ATHLETES FIRST PUTTING OUR ATHLETES FIRST Sascoc annual report imported 6/1/06 12:35 PM Page 1 SASCOC'S ANNUAL REPORT 2005-2006 President’s report . 2 Activity Report 2005/6 . 5 Team South Africa Delivery: a. World Games . 5 b. World Student Games . .5 c. Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games . 6 d. Commonwealth Games . 7 Other Activities a. SA Games . 8 b. Olympic Day Run . 9 c. SA Sports Awards . 9 Programmes a. Olympic Solidarity . 10 b. Team Preparation Support . 11 c. National Academy System . 12 i. Audit/Recommendations . 12 ii. Way Forward . 12 d. National Colours . 12 e. Bidding and Hosting . .13 Generic Issues a. Recognition of SASCOC . 14 b. Membership . 14 c. International appointments . 16 d. Bereavement . 17 Acknowledgements . .18 1 Sascoc annual report imported 6/1/06 12:43 PM Page 2 PRESIDENT’S REPORT COC. Other functions that relate to mass participa- tion in sport are the responsibility of Sport and Recreation SA. The start of SASCOC The founding members of SASCOC have pledged SASCOC, the South African to unite and commit themselves to a system based Sports Confederation and on the principles of equal opportunity, non racialism Olympic Committee and the and non sexism for all persons. controlling body for all high performance sport in South These members have dedicated themselves to Africa, was formed by repre- ensuring equitable development at national and sentatives of all the sports representative level and implementing co-ordinated bodies as a Section 21 sports procedures and policies. These practises will Company at a general meet- help to encourage elite levels of athleticism and ing on 13 November 2004. allow delivery of Team South Africa by the pooling The first board was elected of activities, resources, experience and expertise. on 27 November 2004. They will also facilitate the preparation, presenta- The organisation’s main objective is to promote and tion and delivery of Team South Africa to all elite develop high performance sport in South Africa and high performance events worldwide. to act as the controlling body for the preparation and delivery of Team South Africa at all multi-sport SASCOC has the responsibility to take on the func- international games, including the Olympics, tions relating to high performance sport, which Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, World were carried out by: Games and All Africa Games. • Disability Sport South Africa (incorporated under Section 21). SASCOC was formed following the formation of a • National Olympic Committee of South Africa. Ministerial Task Team (MTT) established by former • South African Commonwealth Games Association Minister of Sport, the Hon Ncgonde Balfour. The (incorporated under Section 21). recommendations of this team were handed over to • South African Sports Commission. a Steering Committee led by Willie Basson with • South African Student Sports Union. representation from all macro sporting bodies in • Sport and Recreation South Africa. South Africa. This culminated in the formation of • United School Sports Association of South Africa. SASCOC. Reflecting on the year The process of establishing SASCOC was guided The past year, as our inaugural year has been a by the principles contained in the Ministerial Task combination of the inevitable challenges associat- Team (MTT) report, which include: ed with the integration of a number of organisa- tions; as well as the excitement of laying the foun- • That SASCOC will have the sole mandate to dation to one of the most formidable and important deliver High Performance Sport in South Africa. organisations to emerge in the new South Africa. • That SASCOC will prepare, assemble, and deliv- er all international multi-coded teams (Team SA). In particular, this year, we successfully integrated • That SASCOC will establish an Academy System the Sports Commission, NOCSA, and the SACGA. integrated with athletes support systems from tal- We also assumed responsibility for the SA Games ent ID at junior level to international representa- in Durban and delivered them successfully. We tion. assembled and managed Team SA to the World • That SASCOC will take a lead in national macro Games, the Commonwealth Games, and the sports policy formulation, such as transformation Winter Olympics, which we accomplished with dis- and vision 2014. tinction, particularly considering the financial and The various predecessor bodies of SASCOC were operational challenges we have faced over the past dissolved during 2005 and their functions relating to several months. high performance sport were taken over by SAS- 2 Sascoc annual report imported 6/1/06 12:43 PM Page 3 We also had our first President’s Council, allowing This necessitated an audit of the current position, us an invaluable quality debate and dialogue on the and to that end, SASCOC appointed a sports mar- burning issue of development and transformation in keting company to conduct a survey of the brands our sport, leading to the adoption at our November and brand values of the various organisations General Assembly of Vision 2014 and a Framework under the SASCOC umbrella. Plan for our Academy Programme – two key ele- ments of our programme of action to level the play- The findings revealed that, at this stage, the ing field and create opportunities for all to excel in Olympic rings is the only marketable brand, on any sport, in particular the marginalised rural youth, significant scale. The next stage is to repackage women and the disabled. SASCOC as a brand, and re-evaluate our value proposition to develop a viable offering for our We also elevated the status of athletes in our sponsors and funders, without whom we cannot organization in recognising their centrality in all that survive. we do by adopting the motto, ‘Putting Athletes First' and appointing an Athletes’ Commission. From 2009 to 2012, we intend to be in a position to build on the brand and identity foundations we will Possibly the greatest challenge for us, is the lack of have put in place, along with our reworked value adequate resources which has forced us to curtail proposition, to ensure that we can include all multi- some of our immediate goals and adopt a more coded events in our four-year cycle. conservative look at our human resource comple- ment and committed projects. Unfortunately, under-funding appears to be a com- mon problem among start up organisations, and it Operational requirements process remains difficult to secure sponsors while we are in Given SASCOC’s mandate, the Board appointed a the process of building the brand of SASCOC and CEO in March 2005 who had the operational Team SA. We duly engaged a Sport Marketing responsibility for management and delivery of the Company that has been given the task of packag- MTT objectives. ing our value proposition to sponsors. We are pos- itive that we will benefit from this appointment in The Board of SASCOC also understood from sev- due course. eral consultations with the Ministry that set up costs for SASCOC would be secured. Unfortunately, that Vision 2014 funding did not materialise. This ten year strategy focuses on transformation in sport and the measures that need to be carefully As the financial year unfolded, it became clear that considered for South African Sport to be truly trans- our resources were depleting without commensu- formed. It raises questions about how much factors rate revenue generation. The Board requested the such as socio economic conditions, resources and CEO to produce a zero based budget with a view to capacity have contributed to the lack of progress align costs with income generation. The exercise made in transforming sport in South Africa under by the CEO indicated that on a realistic scenario, the new democratic dispensation. the organisation had to scale down significantly, including the position of CEO, to maintain sustain- Vision 2014 also identifies other challenges with ability, yet ensuring that the organisation delivers regard to sport funding and the mechanism of fund- on its core mandates and remains operational. ing that is presently used, which does not allow for much long term planning and implementation. We have embarked on a consultative process with our staff to right size the organisation to meet oper- The short and long term solution in the Vision 2014 ational requirements based on economic reasons. strategy addresses: • National Federations transformation targets. Funding • Long term funding aligned to Vision 2014. Before any organisation can sell itself as a viable • The resource imbalances in historically disadvan- entity in which to invest, it must build for itself a taged areas. brand and identity that is understood and accepted • Strengthening the capacity of Sport by the markets it wishes to reach. At this stage, Administrators. SASCOC is an unknown entity in the marketplace • Encouraging corporate governance in sport. and, like all organisations at start-up, it must begin • Nurturing and supporting talented athletes. a comprehensive brand building exercise. 3 Sascoc annual report imported 6/1/06 12:37 PM Page 4 SASCOC’s National Academy System will be the vehicle of Vision 2014, where High Performance athletes from all quarters of South Africa will be nur- tured. The Executive Board dealt with the lack of transfor- mation in Sport by developing the Vision 2014 pro- gramme of action. The intention is to ensure that the second decade of democracy becomes the decade of fundamental transformation. The document advocates the view that the lack of transformation is a function of a number of macro issues, which include alignment of planning and funding; and mid to long term planning cycles. The Vision 2014 document was debated at the President’s Council, and recommendations were received and adopted at the General Assembly in November 2005.