SCHOOLS SPORT PROGRAMME 28 OCTOBER 2014 SPORT PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE MEETING

INTRODUCTION  The Ministers of Basic Education and Sport and Recreation signed a Memorandum of understanding in November 2011  The MoU committed the Departments to provide a seamless programme for sport in schools  The Integrated School Sport Framework was then developed jointly to facilitate the implementation of sport in schools  Each department had to contribute towards joint responsibilities and implement their focus responsibilities 2

MoU BETWEEN SRSA & DBE  Subsequent to the signing of the MoU, the two Director Generals set up an operation plan and stakeholder forums that would be responsible for the implementation of the strategy.  The Extended Joint National Task Team (EJNTT) has been set up to manage and coordinate the school sport programme and meets quarterly. The EJNTT is constituted by school sport officials, national and provincial, from SRSA and DBE and members from the 16 priority sport codes and national federations.  This forum is tasked to ensure that there is synergy and coordination in the delivery of the school sport programme. The EJNTT is supposed to be duplicated at provincial and district levels.  The importance of the EJNTT and EPJTT is to ensure that there is clarity on roles, responsibilities and all school sport programs. If these forums do meet, it should nullify most operational uncertainties. 3

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES No.ActivityResponsible 1Finalization of the Schools Sport PolicyDBE 2Finalize guidelines for agencies supporting the delivery of school sport SRSA 3Establish school sport committees and support these committees at all levels to deliver school sport leagues. DBE 4Ensure the delivery of well organized intra/inter school sport activities. DBE 5Together with provincial governments and federations identify talent at inter-district school tournaments for further development through the academy system. SRSA 6Development of Training Material for TeachersDBE & SRSA 7Facilitate Capacity Building programs for Teachers DBE & SRSA 4

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES No.ActivityResponsible 8Assist National Federations in the hosting of National Junior Championship SRSA 9Host National Junior Olympic Games biannually in conjunction with SASCOC ( to serve as a feeder system for the IOC Youth Olympic Games) SRSA 10Develop the concept of Sport Focus SchoolsSRSA 11Develop a 5 year competitive schools sport plan with National Federations SRSA 5

Integrated School Sport Framework 6

ANNUAL PROGRAMME Level 1School level: Mass Participation Classes or houses play against each other to come up with the school team for each school Every weekDBE Level 2Local Competitions Schools in the same area take part in a competition through a fixture and compete for a top school position in the locality Every month DBE Level 3Circuit Competitions Top Schools within one locality compete through a round robin against each other with in a circuit to choose the best school that will represent a circuit in a district tournament Once a quarter DBE Level 4District Competitions Top Schools in the log from the same area compete for a top position in the District log Once per season SRSA Level 6Provincial Eliminations Top school in the log from the District in level 3 compete for top position in the Provincial log Once a yearSRSA Level 6National Championship The winning school in the province competes at the National Festival Once a yearSRSA 7

PRIORITY CODES In order to maximise impact and streamline resource allocation, SRSA adopted sixteen sporting codes as directed by the NSRP. The identified codes included 9 Indigenous Games as a means of inclusion and fostering the heritage of indigenous sport in schools. The 16 prioritised codes over the next 5 years Indigenous Games Athletics, Basketball, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Netball, Volleyball, Football, Rugby, Softball, Tennis, Goal ball, Gymnastics, Hockey, Table Tennis & Swimming. Kgati, Ncuva, Dibeke, Khokho, Intonga, Diketo, Driestokkies, Morababa and Jukskei

SA SCHOOLS LEAGUE PROGRAMME  In order to better allocate resources such as sport equipment, apparel, capacity development programs and infrastructure, schools are required to register (annually) for participation on the league programme.  Though registration can be tedious exercise, it serves the following purposes;  The information is used to build a case for sport as it reflects number of schools and participants.  The information allows for effective allocation of the limited resources, i.e. capacity development for interested educators, supply of sport equipment and apparel to willing schools, the provision of sport infrastructure that will better utilized, etc.  The records are a good basis for impact studies.  Drafting of playing fixtures and elimination schedules.

NATIONAL COMPETITIONS  The objective is to have one national competition in the country per code and per age category. A competition that is predictable and leads to selections towards continental and international competitions and participation is free.  Such a competition would contribute towards unifying the country and building the intended social cohesion sport is mandated with.  SRSA and DBE coordinate the annual SA Schools National Championships which started in December  The competition is staged in December for the identified priority school sport codes. There are 16 sport codes and 9 indigenous games (IG).  The competition started with 9 codes in 2012, 11 codes and 2 IG in 2013 and in 2014, there will be 14 codes and 4 IG.  Approximately participants are expected at the 2014 games to be held in Pretoria from December 2014, with University of Pretoria hosting most of the sporting codes and accommodating most learners.

NATIONAL COMPETITIONS  The competition is a top school format, meaning that the winning school progresses from the lowest levels and eventually gets to the national competition.  The competition is inclusive of people with disabilities, with a focus on hearing impaired, physically disabled and intellectually impaired. Due to the limited number of schools for people with disabilities, this part of the competition is NOT school based but individually selected provincial teams.  The competition has an edutainment programme where partners such as loveLife and the Institute for Drug Free Sports host life skill programs and other educational topics. This year, it is expected that each sport code will bring 2 current players (well known) and 2 legends to interact with the learners and serve as role models.

SCHOOLS CODE STRUCTRES  SRSA and DBE have developed guidelines for the establishment of school code committee or structures. These structures are to be in place from school level up to national level. Based on the MOU, the establishment and support for these structures is to be led by DBE as these structures are to be teacher based.  The status of establishing these structures varies from province to province, what is consistent though is that the structures exist at provincial level with very little to show further down, i.e. district and local levels, unfortunately that is where these structures are most needed in order to coordinate schools and get children playing.  The guidelines document details a few critical parameters for these structures, including; 1.All structures must affiliate and become associate members of their provincial and national federations. 2.The structures must be inclusive of people with disabilities. 3.Structures must have constitutions that are aligned with that of the mother body. 4.Structures must have regular, planned elections.

SCHOOL CODE STRUCTURES District Committee School Sport Committee (School level) Provincial Committee Area School Sport Committee ( Multi-Coded) National Committee International School Sport Structures Individual Code Structures (e.g. Rugby, Soccer, etc, are coordinated by the Multi-Coded Structure at their respective level

SPORT FOCUS SCHOOLS  This programme seeks to establish or identify schools that specialize in certain sport codes, e.g. a football school or a rugby school, etc.  This programme draws similarities from existing practices seen in particular with rugby and cricket. Where these codes have dedicated schools that they support who continuously and traditional produce the best rugby and cricket players.  These schools will be supported with facilities, equipment, apparel and coach / educator capacity development linked to the sport code.  These schools are identified by the sport codes in conjunction with the provincial departments of Sport and Basic Education. These schools are then verified by SRSA and DBE.

SPORT FOCUS SCHOOLS  The SGB of these schools must resolve and agree that they will be a designated sport focus schools for a medium term, e.g. 5-8 years. This is due to the resources / investment that will be made towards these schools.  Currently there are 14 verified sport focus schools, with Northern Cape being the only province without a designated sport focus school, this is being attended to by the province.

ACHIEVEMENTS Sport Focus Schools SPORT FOCUS SCHOOLS REGIONAL SUPPORT SCHOOLS Pinnacle of the Sport Playing Schools; First semblance of the Country’s Sport Academy System; Has Residential Schools; Strong traditions of playing sport; and Some degree of sport facilities. Endowed with Sports facilities across different codes; Has Residential Facilities; Hosts regional/district sport tournaments; Conducts out-reach programs to nearby schools; and Shares its facilities with nearby schools. Ordinary schools that play sport and are supported to do so.

TALENT IDENTIFICATION  Talent scouting ideally begins at a district championship level  School sport priority codes/NFs should each have district talent scouts based in all the 52 districts, provincial talent scouts in the 9 provinces and one national talent scout each.  These scouts serve to identify talent as it progresses through the district and provincial competitions, culminating in the national competitions.  At district & provincial levels the talent scouts should submit their recommended athletes to provincial federation coordinators for approval.  The approved athletes should then be submitted to the provincial department of sport coordinators in order for them to coordinate that the talent is confirmed and supported.  Note: focus will be placed on athletes from low quintile schools as those in high quintile schools already receive the athlete support that is planned to be provided to scouted athletes.  Targeted athletes: Grade 7 going into Grade 8 (under 13)

DATABASE School Sport Community Sport Federations SCHOOLS SPORT : BEDBROCK FOR SPORT & RECREATION DEVELOPMENT An active & Winning Nation OUR VISION Intra-School Level District Level Provincial Level National Level Inter-School Level Talent Confirmation & Development Talent Identification, Confirmation & Development Talent Scouting Talent Scouting & Identification District Academy, Federation Clubs, Federation Provincial Academy, Federation Clubs, Federation National Scientific Support, Federations ATHLETES PATHWAY STRATEGY

SPORT EQUIPMENT, APPAREL & CAPACITY BUILDING  Sport equipment and apparel is support provided to the most needing schools, quintile 1 schools. This support is designed to break barriers to participating in sport.  The school sport programme provides support for the training of educators and volunteers as coaches, administrators and technical officials amongst other.  SASCOC launched the SA coaching framework as a guideline for all training for coaches in the country. It is a requirement that all training provided is accredited by CATHSETTA.  Funds are made available for training nationally and at provincial level for capacity development through the Conditional Grant framework  Without qualified coaches, there are no athletes

SCHOOLS SPORT MERCHANDISING  There is a need to promote school sport as a brand. This will not only inform the public of services available to them but assist in getting much needed financial support for the programme from corporate SA.  To achieve this, shingo, the school sport mascot must be marketed and known by all learners as a champion for sport and an active lifestyle.  Memorabilia will also be produced targeting learners, e.g. bags, stationery, etc. While these products will be giveaways, the objective is to have them eventually compete with other brands / products that are sold, e.g. SARU’s bokkie, shrek, etc.  As a start, some of the memorabilia will be distributed at the 2014 National championships

KEY CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDATIONS Schools League Programme  The manual registration process is ineffective, with results received in June or at times later. This defeats the intended earlier explained purpose.  It is unclear what resources are available for sport participation at league level (school A against school B). Where barriers such as travel, fixtures, facilities, etc, exist.  Learners who rely on publicly arranged transport to and from school often have to leave school when school ends, this means they miss out on sport and other extra- curricula programs  More and more educators view sport delivery as an added task to curriculum responsibilities and demand rewards or incentives for their involvement.  The lack of structures at the lowest levels means that there is no coordination for sport participation

KEY CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendations  Registration should be done once and updated annually at district level by provincial DBE.  Registration results and statistics must be ready for distribution annually by 31 January, this means that actual registration must be done the year prior. This process needs to be electronic and online (live) so that information is instant across the country.  All resources available for league participation must be identified and ring-fenced as such. This will allow better planning and ensure that where short falls exist, support is provided (where possible). We need to know what we can do and what we cannot do.  DBE should require schools to dedicate a day or two in the week where school officially ends at 15:00 or 16:00 to allow extra mural participation that once or twice a week.  In partnership with SGB’s and teacher Unions, educator responsibilities towards extra mural activities must be clarified and enforced.  The establishment and functionality of structures at all levels, especially the lowest is imperative. This must be made a priority.

CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDATION National Competitions Challenges  At participants, the annual SA Schools Championship is bulky with too many participants, noting that only 14 of the 16 codes are currently participating and 4 of the 9 IG. Hosting the games in this format will be impractical in 2015 and beyond.  The top school format is not ideal for talent identification and development. Recommendations  The championship should be split into winter and summer school holidays.  During the 2016 review process there must be consideration for all teams to be selected athletes, this will also fast track the training of educators as talent scouts.  Like other aspects of the programme, this change may be premature, but necessary.