Genuine Question....

[Gerbil]

This is not rascist and i don't want any sarcastic awnsers but this has really baffeled me.

Why are majority of South Africa's football team black, when the vast majoriy of the cricket team are white? I don't understand.

 

[Common as Mook]

Football is seen a sport played in the townships and cricket as more of n upper class sport.

 

[magoo]

To do with the class system probably. Football seen as more a of a poor people's sport maybe.

 

[Gerbil]

Football is seen a sport played in the townships and cricket as more of n upper class sport.

To do with the class system probably. Football seen as more a of a poor people's sport maybe.

Ah thats what i though it might be. Thanks.

 

[Gully]

Football is seen a sport played in the townships and cricket as more of n upper class sport.

...as is rugby, largely played by white people, it is definitely a class thing as much as racial. Is this any different to rugby in Sussex, the game is largely played exclusively in public schools, whereas football is the main winter game for those educated by the state.

 

[seven stands]

Was speaking to a south African about it yesterday and he said football is classed as a black mans sport where very few white people play it and the rugby and cricket is classed as the white mans sport. Apparently south Africa still has a large race segregation view on lots of things

 

[Common as Mook]

...as is rugby, largely played by white people, it is definitely a class thing as much as racial. Is this any different to rugby in Sussex, the game is largely played exclusively in public schools, whereas football is the main winter game for those educated by the state.

You're right. In rugby terms though Sussex is different in that, at least when I was at school, Cardinal Newman produced a large proportion of the Sussex age group squads.

 

[Harty]

During aparthied the rugby/football split was the white/black sport but interestingly enough a client who lives in Durban told me that SA TV show a lot of school rugby and she said the other week they had their version of eton vs harrow at rugby and one of the most traditional private schools in the country now has more blacks than whites in their starting 15.
There is an emerging black upper middle class of 40 somethings who realise how vital the whites are to the countries development and when and if they aspire to power then the country will really find itself.

 

[bathseagull]

Was interesting when BBC interviewed a white girl in a rugby club in SA last night and she commented that football was always 'their' sport and rugby was 'ours' but that maybe that will change now.

Not with comments like that it won't love.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

It's got to be an old fashioned cultural thing hasn't it?

If you look at the Australian rugby teams they have loads of players with Pacific Island backgrounds. Their cricket team on the other hand is almost exclusively white, apart from Andrew Symonds, who was born in the UK. While the England cricket team has had plenty of players of Asian origin, but the football team has never had a single one.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Football is aspirational whereas cricket and rugby players will be from a wealthy background to start off with.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

All the white South Africans play cricket for England rather than playing for their own fugging country. Is rumoured that Kevin Pietersen is going to black up and take Heskey's place up front for Friday's England game.

 

[Gwylan]

It's got to be an old fashioned cultural thing hasn't it?

If you look at the Australian rugby teams they have loads of players with Pacific Island backgrounds. Their cricket team on the other hand is almost exclusively white, apart from Andrew Symonds, who was born in the UK. While the England cricket team has had plenty of players of Asian origin, but the football team has never had a single one.

Rather shockingly, Australia have never had anyone from an Aborigine (or Pacific Islander) background playing for the test team - the nearest was Jason Gillespie, one quarter Aborigine.

The cricket/rugby split in South Africa is even more divisive. Rugby was seen primarily as the Afrikaans game, while cricket was seen as more of an English game. The barriers came down earlier there.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Was speaking to a south African about it yesterday and he said football is classed as a black mans sport where very few white people play it and the rugby and cricket is classed as the white mans sport. Apparently south Africa still has a large race segregation view on lots of things

I dont think SA has a large race segregation view on lots of things anymore, it is more a case of that is how the country was and it takes time to remove this. Sure, certain individuals will have the us and them mentality but that view is entrenched and very difficult to remove quickly.

What is true is that far more white kids will play cricket, rugby and football at school than black kids, due to the majority of black children attending schools without sporting facilities. Those black kids that do go to public schools, do play all 3 sports and it is from those schools and univiersities that the provincial teams will pick their future stars. So there are more black faces in the Rugby and Cricket teams now than there were, obviously, but still a disproportionately small number. This will change over time as more and more black kids go to the private schools.

I can only speak from my experiences living in a rural part of the country, but the only public sports facilities around here are football pitches, which are used extensively at the weekends. There are loads of locally organised football teams in leagues, some of which are actively scouted by the professional teams. I know of no locally organised rugby and cricket teams. There must be some as that is how Makhaya Ntini was discovered, I believe. The only rugby and cricket pitches that I know of are at the private schools.

So essentially, it is down to access to facilities as it is is every country in the world I guess.

 

[8ace]

All the white South Africans play cricket for England rather than playing for their own fugging country. Is rumoured that Kevin Pietersen is going to black up and take Heskey's place up front for Friday's England game.

 

[itszamora]

I dont think SA has a large race segregation view on lots of things anymore, it is more a case of that is how the country was and it takes time to remove this. Sure, certain individuals will have the us and them mentality but that view is entrenched and very difficult to remove quickly.

What is true is that far more white kids will play cricket, rugby and football at school than black kids, due to the majority of black children attending schools without sporting facilities. Those black kids that do go to public schools, do play all 3 sports and it is from those schools and univiersities that the provincial teams will pick their future stars. So there are more black faces in the Rugby and Cricket teams now than there were, obviously, but still a disproportionately small number. This will change over time as more and more black kids go to the private schools.

I can only speak from my experiences living in a rural part of the country, but the only public sports facilities around here are football pitches, which are used extensively at the weekends. There are loads of locally organised football teams in leagues, some of which are actively scouted by the professional teams. I know of no locally organised rugby and cricket teams. There must be some as that is how Makhaya Ntini was discovered, I believe. The only rugby and cricket pitches that I know of are at the private schools.

So essentially, it is down to access to facilities as it is is every country in the world I guess.

But surely the access to facilities therefore is some kind of race issue? SA still seems to be a country to me (having never been there) where the white minority still controls a huge proportion of the wealth.

 

[KZNSeagull]

But surely the access to facilities therefore is some kind of race issue? SA still seems to be a country to me (having never been there) where the white minority still controls a huge proportion of the wealth.

Yes, that is true to a degree. But the government chooses where to allocate resources and sporting facilities in low income areas is not one of them. The white population does control a disproportionate amount of wealth, but they also pay taxes which the government uses as it wishes.

So you can call it a race issue if you wanted to, but there are also a lot of wealthy black people here. If they send their children to private schools and their child ends up playing rugby/cricket instead of football at a professional level, then that is a class issue not a race issue. In the same way, I would imagine a poorer white person in the UK is more likely to end up playing football than rugby/cricket.

 

[matt]

This is not rascist and i don't want any sarcastic awnsers but this has really baffeled me.

Why are majority of South Africa's football team black, when the vast majoriy of the cricket team are white? I don't understand.

Same reason the England football team has a much higher proportion of black players than the cricket team.

 

[Dave the OAP]

when I lived there, football was alsways seen as a black sport. It is easy to play without costing any money, so blacks who had no money could play it.

Rugby was really the Boer sport, big bull like men smashing hell out of eachother and cricket a game played by the middle/upper white classes.

Although again, my local football team was Highlands Park who played in the suburbs and they were all white. In one corner, a bit like an away section, the blacks would sit and they always got excited when a winger would do some tricks ..... The first football violence I ever saw was in Suid Afrika....Hellenic vs Durban Spurs. Hellenic were the local Greek team and Spurs the Manchester United of teh league ( they had Durban Spurs, United and City). I think there was some banter going on and it all kicked off...I felt physically sick ( I was only 7 or 8) it was horrible to see people fighting!

 

[beorhthelm]

some may like to portray it as class, but lets be honest, thats really a proxy for race in SA.