If you’re talking about broadening it to all sports and even societal and economic issues, I’m all for it. It’s a good plan and you’ve got my vote senator.

Still I’m not interested in seeing any movies about pigs……

@Rich: Mad Respect. Keep up the good work.

I once asked one of my two black players “why don’t other Blacks play?”. The answer: “They thinks it’s a white man’s game, plus it can’t lead to the big bucks of professional sports in the US like (American) Football or Basketball can”.

We have big perceptional and real (financial) hurdles here in the US. And here Rugby misses out on great athletes due to these problems. I have no cure, except to keep trying.

Expanding this notion to South Africa, I would agree that instituting a quota system is like putting a bandaid over a much larger wound. It will not be until education and sport opportunities are expanded to everyone at all levels that real diversity will be achieved. Yes, racism will persist and, yes, inclusion will vary across and within sports (e.g., the slower introducton of black quarterbacks in the NFL), but it can improve with time using this bottom up approach. Clearly this is an imperfect approach, but there are some arguments that the institutionalization of quotas and affirmative action systems serve to increase bias and prejudice due to the perception of promotion based upon racial lines rather than ability. And this is particularly damning for those who would achieved the promotion based upon merit alone.

Switching to the US, I believe that individual economics are much less an issue than exposure. Most people don’t even hear about rugby until they reach college. And despite affirmative action, proportinal enrollment for minorities lags behind other groups. While it can be argued that there are more HS programs that can reach larger groups, these tend to be clustered in a predictable fashion. The people who teach rugby are the ones who have played and, although there are exceptions, you are generally going to find more programs being developed by current or previous collegiate players in the areas that they live. So suburban HS programs will be more common than urban programs, and Milwaukee is a good example - lots of suburban HS rugby programs, none in the inner city.

So to the point of this long diatribe - Whether the SA sports minister believes his own words or is just riding the tidal wave, I agree that exposure and opportunity rather than quotas are the keys to diversifying the SA national team. This dictates that the charter should address plans for the introduction of rugby to all children in SA regardless of race. While it is a very daunting task, the overwhelming presence of soccer throughout the US and the resulting changes in national team play are examples of what can be achieved with this approach. If only US rugby could follow suit.

@Vic: I like your plan. I would like to see it implemented here in job hiring and other racially affected venues. But are we being realistic? We’re talking about rugby here not social issues or work related issues. Your plan seems a bit excessive for s sport. I realize South African’s take their rugby seriously, but this might be a bit much. The things you outline in your plan require money, time and effort. I’m not sure these things could be warranted in terms of rugby. Besides, keeping records and tracking statistics will most likely be monitored the wrong people anyway. A politician changing his stance on the quota system is hardly anything to be up in arms about. He’s a politician, they change their minds all of the time depending on the current political climate.

The reason they had a quota system and the reason we have affirmative action is because we and they were unable to choose based on merit. We basically opened the doors and welcomed in these things when we decided choosing people based on race was more relevant than choosing on merit.

@wouter: I agree, quotas are not the answer, but neither is changing your political flavor on the public tide like Minister Stofile who long endorsed the quota system. Frankly, I don’t believe he ever felt that the quota system was ‘window dressing’. Rather, he is riding the wave of popularity that has accompanied the Webb Ellis Cup.

My point in this article is that there has not been accountability or preparation for a long term solution to the under-representation of non-whites in sport (rugby in particular).

The Transformation Charter was a good albeit much belated step in the right direction, though a little short sighted as it was set to expire in 2014. In my opinion, this would have been a more appropriate time for a mid-term audit than 2008 as I mentioned above.

I would like to see a 25-year plan with benchmarks, audit schedules, guaranteed funding, and a very specific budget to detail how all the young citizens of South Africa would have the opportunity to play the sport. A series of junior academies (U23, U19, U17, U15 etc…) to identify, develop and funnel the exception young athletes to the national team would be a good start.

In short, remove the politics. Choose the team on merit, and provide an infrastructure with checks and balances to ensure change.

Just kidding, very good piece. I love the idea of course of a nation building rugby from within the citizenry, but like you said when has it happened and will it.

While in theory I’m against affirmative action in our country and quotas in any other when it comes to rugby, I’m for it in practice because I realize most of us are too ignorant and biased for certain decisions to be left up to the public.

In the case of South Africa, I think the quotas are necessary.