Perceptions of current support systems leading to international sporting success for South Africans

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the availability of elite sport support systems of South African National Sports Federations (NSFs) and their accessibility to athletes from historically disadvantaged areas (HDA). Twenty-one NSFs from Olympic sports participated in the study whereby they responded to a questionnaire on sports policy factors leading to sporting success (SPLISS). Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 27.0, IBM). Informed consent was obtained from all participants before the study commenced. The majority of the NSF’s respondents reported that there was an insufficiency of financial resources, scientific and research support services, and post-sport career support. They also reported overall moderate-to-high availability of governance, organisation and sport policy structure, sport facilities, and opportunities for international competitions/exposure. Financial resources, post-career and scientific support were the most frequently reported insufficiencies, with poorer support in HDAs for all of the nine pillars of support. Additional provision is required to ensure that support systems are inclusive of athletes from HDAs. Future research needs to continue the focus on providing more detailed data on the support systems accessible to elite athletes and coaches.

Factors enabling and hindering sporting success among South African elite athletes from historically disadvantaged areas: Through a coaching lens

“…However, without scholarships or financial support to attend such elite schools, athletes from HDA have a limited competitive advantage compared to their wealthy peers in well-resourced schools. This finding is consistent with that of Mthombeni et al 17 who found that most former Olympians from HDA reported a lack of financial support, especially at the development level, being among the major hindrances of sporting success in South Africa. The lack of financial support may stem from the poor budget allocation to sports by government annually.…”

“…This finding is consistent with that of Mthombeni et al 45 who found that 52% of South African NSFs in their study reported they were unable to invest in scientific support programmes for their elite athletes because of insufficient funding from the national government. Kubayi et al 9 found a dire need for scientific research and support by South African coaches in areas of technique efficiency, sports injury prevention, athlete peak performance and the mental preparation of athletes for competitions.…”

“…… there is not enough scientific programming and tracking of players within the sport, it is there at the elite school level and university level, but for those that fall outside that system, there is not any on that, and this makes it difficult for national teams in being able to track players throughout the season. ( Coach 6) This finding is consistent with that of Mthombeni et al 45 who found that 52% of South African NSFs in their study reported they were unable to invest in scientific support programmes for their elite athletes because of insufficient funding from the national government. Kubayi et al 9 found a dire need for scientific research and support by South African coaches in areas of technique efficiency, sports injury prevention, athlete peak performance and the mental preparation of athletes for competitions.…”

“…University Sport South Africa (USSA), professional sports clubs, and academies are some of the structures that create a pathway for elite athletes to attain high-performance level. 17 Figure 1 shows a typical distribution mechanism for high-performance sport in South Africa. However, the school sport system which plays an important role for grass-roots sports development and a feeder system for elite sport in South Africa remains weak and dysfunctional as a very limited number of schools in HDA offer formalised sport programmes.…”

Factors promoting and hindering sporting success among South African former Olympians from historically disadvantaged areas

“…In most cases there is no support in such instances unless you make the team go compete at Olympics, then in weeks before the games, you will have access to some sort of scientific testing or high-performance testing sessions.' (Athlete 4) Mthombeni, Coopoo, and Noorbhai [25] reported similar findings when evaluating the availability of support systems by South African national sport federations, whereby majority reported a lack of scientific support programmes within their administration. Sports science research and scientific support leads to evidence-based training regimes that allow athletes to perform optimally.…”