ASA: When the current board took over in 2014, following the removal of the previous executive, ASA was faced with various internal issues. In which areas do you think the federation has made the biggest strides in the period since?
Skhosana: We have managed to stabilise and keep the federation together, allowing us to focus on the job that people elected us to do. That job was to run athletics and forget about the squabbles that were not taking us anywhere, and with that attitude were able to strengthen the unity of members of ASA all over the country and in the provinces. We had a lot of work to overcome in trying to cement and grind the national federation so it operates the way it is supposed to operate, which is focussing on the athletes and their coaches. It has definitely worked for us because it has produced the desired results.
ASA: Do you think the performance of athletes is the best measurement of how the sport is doing across the board? Is that how you monitor whether the federation is doing well?
Skhosana: The answer is yes. The performance of athletes makes everybody happy in any sport in any country. There will always be small side issues, but the biggest issue is that a sport must produce results, win against other nations and come back with honour and glory. Records must be broken, our athletes must be in the finals and the semifinals so that people continue to show interest in the sport. Those are the main issues.
ASA: If performances are a key measurement, what were the highlights for you over the last couple of seasons?
Skhosana: We have produced some good results. In August 2014 we assembled a formidable team that went to the CAA African Senior Championships in Morocco where we reclaimed the top spot in the continent, which we had lost in 2010 and 2012. In comparison, we had a very small team against the likes of Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, but we won 10 gold medals.
In 2015 we worked harder and at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing we finished 13th out of 213 member countries winning one gold medal and two bronze. We also sent a team to the World Youth Championships in Colombia and they also did very well, finishing fifth in the world.
In June this year we hosted the CAA 20th African Senior Championships in Durban against all odds. We began with no stadium, nothing. But with the support of the city the event was successful. South Africa earned more medals than any other country that was here, and many of our athletes qualified (for major events) and broke South African records. We then proceeded with the final team we submitted to Sascoc for the Rio Olympics, which was a testing time for us, but we came back with two gold and two silver medals, which took us to No 5 in the world.
ASA: Now that you've been able to stabilise things and solve some of those bigger problems, what are the key focal areas for ASA over the next four years?
Skhosana: It’s to make the federation more visible and stronger. The only way we'll be able to do that once more is to ensure that athletes are prioritised and they are prepared by experienced coaches. They must also know where and when they are going to compete, and what they need to do in order to compete and get selected for international competitions. We have done that already by releasing preparation squads and a four-year qualifying plan.
People must not be told a year before that ‘here is the criteria, work on this’. We're telling them four years in advance, and we'll keep making adjustments based on international qualification, but we know by the time the international qualifying standards come for championships in 2019 and 2020, we will have so many athletes qualifying. We've seen how well our junior athletes are doing in a variety of disciplines, and I predict that by 2018, most of the Commonwealth Games team for South Africa will consist of 19-year-old and 20-year-old athletes, if we look at the performances right now.
So we are forecasting and saying to our coaches: 'let us start working on a long-term plan. Let us not prepare for tomorrow. Let's plan for 2020'. The criteria are not perfect, but the main thing is to keep the South African athletics family talking and engaging us. The A and B qualifying standards are being questioned, which is very good, and we have said it is not cast in stone.
