According to the author, we can only hope the performance of the women's football team will inspire their male counterparts to improve their playing standards.
The guaranteed R1.17m ($89,182)to be paid to each Banyana Banyana player after their exploits at the Fifa Women’s World Cup, where they reached the last 16 stage, will generate more interest in women’s football in SA.
Currently women’s football exists on the margins under the auspices of the Sasol National League, Varsity Football and Hollywoodbets Super League. Out of the 16 PSL teams, only Mamelodi Sundowns has a professional women’s team, which points to a long way ahead to the professionalisation of women’s football.
The relative success of the women’s team has led to calls for former Model C schools in particular to give attention to girls’ football in the same way they do to water polo, hockey and netball. This episode also brings into sharp focus the role played by both education and talent to success.
The question then becomes, “between education and talent, which one is more desirable for financial success in particular?” A story that is often related to highlight this dichotomy is that of former NBA player, Shaquille O’Neal, who is said to have spent the first million he earned after being drafted into the squad after 30 minutes.
When his banker got word of his profligacy, he read him the riot act, warning him that he would end up joining the list of former athletes who ended up broke if he continued on the same path. O’Neal took the warning to heart and returned to college, finishing his bachelor’s degree, MBA and PhD in the process.
He is today the owner of several thriving businesses and when asked about the secret to his success, he responds by saying, “It is not about how much money you make. The question is, are you educated enough to keep it?
“What is clear is that education is mandatory in modern society as it can equip individuals with tools that they need to prepare for their life experiences and develop a better future for themselves. Talent refers to an individual’s natural aptitude or innate skill in a particular activity, which can make things naturally easy with minimal mental exhaustion.
“The intersection between education and talent derives from the reality that education builds the required foundation for the honing of skills and acquisition of adequate knowledge behind the subject matter. With education, individuals can be in a position to explain different techniques and phenomena.
“Education also serves as a platform to showcase talent and can provide opportunities for employment. With the rapid pace of technological advancements it becomes imperative to paddle our canoes harder just to stay abreast of the knowledge explosion. This is where education comes handy. Equally, talent is an imperative factor in succeeding and securing contentment.
“Countless people have reached great heights in their lives without formal education but using their talent to navigate life. On the other hand, stories abound of highly talented people who made fortunes and then went on to blow their wealth on fleeting adventures. Closer analysis shows that education would have definitely made them understand their own abilities so much better and empowered themselves with the requisite techniques to polish their talents and hold on to their wealth.
“Some of these celebrities have ended with nothing to the point of dying as paupers. To bring harmony between education and talent, there is a need to do away with the restrictive nature of education. Its theoretical nature limits the pupils to the idea of working hard, graduating and becoming work seekers. To improve, the curriculum needs to be restructured to include subjects that illuminate the pupils’ personal skills and talents.
“This means that the notion of schools of specialisation should be entrenched to ensure that pupils are afforded the opportunity to refine their talents to reach their full potential. The perception that only university education can lead to success should be discarded so that other streams of endeavour can be pursued. It would be sad to have pupils with innate potential in the arts for example, being kept in an academic school thus stifling their potential and frustrating them.
“Football and other sports’ academies should be established to this end. The appropriate conditions should be created for the pupils to succeed. As Albert Einstein notes, ‘Everybody is intelligent, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid’.”
It is the role of parents and teachers to help children identify their talents, and then offer them unwavering support and encouragement in the direction that best suits them. By creating the right condition for our children, a culture of excellence can be nurtured to replace the mediocrity that permeates our country.
We can only hope the performance of the ladies football team will inspire their male counterparts to improve their playing standards from club level to Bafana Bafana and bring back the glory days for SA.
