Daniels' Socio-Political Blog: Rugby and Player Quota System

QUOTE

1. Every team to have a minimum of 8 players of colour in their 30 man squad

2. All of these 8 players must be given reasonable game time - monitored weekly by the national selectors

3. The status quo of two black wingers is no longer acceptable

4. A minimum of 4 players of colour must be in every match 22

5. At all times, 2 players of colour must be on the field[/b]

According to the Collins dictionary a quota system can be defined as a system which limits or promotes certain shares over others. Investorwords defines a quota system as being system based on hiring or admissions policies requiring a set percentage of a minority group to be hired or admitted. I will be using the that quota system set for the Vodacom Cup in South Africa next year, to argue that excluding players in favour of others is not the answer .

Image I

Image taken from: The South African Rugby union, (SARU), will reintroduce the controversial racial quota system in one of its domestic rugby competitions next year. Vodacom Cup teams will have to pick at least seven in their squads with at least five playing at a time. According to Gerald Imray, SARU feels that South Africa hasn’t made progress in changing rugby in South Africa. SARU President Oregan Hoskins argues that this system will be a critical step in transforming rugby, which was originally historically restricted for whites; and had been related to the racist apartheid regime. What SARU has not realised is that the system was already tried in 1994, and then canned as it was seen as ‘window dressing. This is correct as a quota system is not a sufficient solution given it will still exclude players.

Image II

South Africa was first introduced to rugby through the  University of Stellenbosch. It was here that rugby was played first, and only played by young Afrikaner men. As rugby became a strong part of Afrikaner student culture, rugby had transformed into a salient feature at Stellenbosch. Unfortunately with the rise of Afrikaner nationalism during the 1930s and the 1940s, rugby had become a pro Afrikaner Cultural expression (Booth, 2010). As a result, Rugby was only part of one ethnic group. Nauright,(1996) agrees by saying some Afrikaners/whites tried asserting their historical cultural values and beliefs as opposed to embarking on a path towards cultural assimilation for the new South Africa. After South Africa had won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, it was clear that the white administrations that still controlled key roles in the new unified SARU actually had little interest in the development of rugby in the black communities. Many of the   development programmes were little more than showpieces for the International community (Black & Nauright, 1998).

Image III

According to Alison Donnelly, SARU has been involved in creating a new initiative for South African women’s rugby. Mahlubi Puzi, SARU Manager for women’s rugby, claims that programmes will be made to help develop women’s rugby. This will see several workshops and training sessions to help develop coaches and players in more remote rural areas of South Africa. According to Puzi, the sharing of rugby knowledge is pivotal for female players, coaches and administrators. This is an attempt to fill in a gap by concentrating on applying proper training methods to assist methods; skills; drills; fitness; conditioning and nutrition. The question has to be asked as to why SARU isn’t doing the same for black communities in general, for males who may also not have accessibility as well as facilities to be able to play rugby as opposed to resorting to making it through quota system.

Image IV

According to Sekar, (2009) the controversial quota system was essential for cricket developing in South Africa. Sekar described it as being positive discrimination against negative discrimination which denied any non-white players the chance to compete on merit, as well as seeing a quota system restoring balance on an even playing field. ‘They also forget that the previous quota system not only excluded non-white talent, but also forced an exodus of white and mixed race talent too’.

Rugby unions should focus on development programmes, instead of racially discriminating against certain players by means of a quota system,”Kriel said. A quota system based on race will not develop new players, because institutions and provinces merely import black players, who are already playing the game, in order to comply with quota requirements. A rugby forum who was made aware of the decision also brought forth a good argument: ‘They create doubt in players minds on weather they should be there or not, and disadvantages white players who may be better than one of the black players but isn't selected because of the colour of his skin.’

What can be learnt through this argument, is that while many may feel that the quota system will restore some sense of balance, the fact remains that excluding any players because of their race to promote others is not the way to moving forward. There are deeper issues such as the development of rugby as a whole in black communities. Given the history, it is understandable that many feel disenchanted with the lure of rugby; given that it was historically a white’s game. Just like women’s rugby, SARU needs to develop rugby at school level and in rural areas where access is a barrier. Even for those who have no interest in rugby, they should not dismiss this argument, because rugby is integral to the social formation and import to many cultures. A sport such as rugby can break existing barriers within a society, but not through another quota system.

Reference list:

Booth, D. (2003). Hitting Apartheid for Six? The Politics of the South African Sports Boycott. Journal of Contemporary History July 1, 38:3, 477-493. DOI: 10.1177/101269029603100104

Boost for South African women's rugby. (2011, March 24). ScrumQueens, (n.p). Retrieved from http://www.scrumqueens.com/features/boost-south-african-womens-rugby

Nauright, J. (1996). A Besieged Tribe?: Nostalgia, White Cultural Identity and the Role of Rugby in a changing South Africa. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 31: 69. DOI: 10.1177/101269029603100104

South African rugby to return to racial quotas. (2013, April 15). The New Zealand Herald, (n.p). Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10912707

The International Journal of the History of Sport.(1994).Playing for power? rugby,Afrikaner nationalism and masculinity in South Africa, c.1900–70. Retrieved from  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523369408713871

Hyperlinks:
I:Hitting Aparthied for Six
II: ScrumQueens
III: Besieged Tribe
IV: NZ Herald
V:  Playing for Power?
VI: AfriForum
VII: First Quota System
VIII: Disadvantage
IX: Rugby Forum
X: Vodacom Cup