Some people have called it an honour. Others assume it is a massive responsibility. The truth is, it's not always easy to stand in the shadow of world-class athletes.
We interviewed Mr Clifton Swartz, who has dedicated his life to uplifting young talent within South Africa.
He has been involved with Sport from the grassroots level to coaching of elite athletes. Through this, he has motivated youngsters all the way to the top, standing by their side as they achieve remarkable things. But with the good comes the bad. On more than one occasion he witnessed the tireless struggle of a young hopeful athlete trying to turn their life around or working very hard to move their family out of poverty, only to see them fail. It is these young people and many others like them, that wakes him up in the morning, eager to start all over again.
It does take a great man to walk with giants and commoners in the same way. This is a man who passionately loves people and life. We wanted to find out how he got involved in coaching sport, and what wisdom he picked up along the way.
How did you get involved with tennis in South Africa?
My involvement goes back to the deep Apartheid days in the 60’s. My father became best friends and personal trainer of one of the only two non-white players playing at Wimbledon during that era.
I was introduced to the game by my dad. I quickly latched on and became primary school and high school champ and being selected for the school's provincial teams.
I played in a final (u/15) during a national junior tournament. I was also the youngest to be selected for the provincial senior team at 15.
I later established the first non-racial tennis academy, Juventus Tennis Academy, in the 80’s. I was very involved in developing non-racial tennis occupying senior coaching and admin positions within the fraternity.
I worked myself up the ranks and on merit and became vice-president of Tennis Coaches South Africa, I held the position of Manager: Coaches and Player Development of the then SATA. This allowed me to develop the game in the most remote areas of our country; Adams Mission in KZN, Laboaghomo in Limpopo, Laudium in Pretoria, Bothaville in the Free State, Beaufort West in the WC and many more rural areas across the land. It also allowed me to identify talented players that linked them to high-performance training. I can, of course, write a book on my involvement …
Are you currently involved with any sports coaching at the moment?
Sadly no. I've been sidelined. If I am not the highest qualified tennis coach in SA I am one of the highest qualified because I have the LEVEL 2 ITF qualification; SA PRO qualification; Swedish Train-the-Trainer; all SAQA education and training qualifications (facilitator, assessor, moderator, mentor/coach, SDF) which I doubt any other coach has.
I also have high sport and tennis admin qualifications and experiences and lectured sports admin for 2nd-year students at UWC.
I occupied a national and continental position in tennis, and the list goes on.
I offered numerous times my services to add value, but to no avail, I have been approached by TSA to serve on its transformation task team, and I have cautiously agreed. That’s the only involvement in tennis. So my involvement in the sport is coaching football, netball, baseball, chess etc.
Why are we struggling to generate players who can consistently play in the top 100?
For a country like SA plagued with deep scars of racism in sport on the one hand and a culture of win-at-all-cost combined with no long-term planning, the result is what we have now.
Kevin is ranked 27 in the world with the next nine placed; 248 Lloyd Harris, 401 Nik Scholtz,1169 Ruan Roelofse, 1219 Tucker Vorster, 1381 Joshua Howard-Tripp, 1404 DamonGooch, 1503 Bertus Kruger, 1503 Sipho Montsi, 1678 Philip Henning!
It is a very unhealthy situation and more so with at least half of these guys, including Kevin that will be out the circuit in the very near future.
The Davis and Fedcup teams are battling at the lowest levels of the competitions. So, an ALL inclusive long-term plan (10yrs) needs to be developed that will include ALL schools (tennis needs to be played in all schools and not just a chosen few); communities; club; provincial structures; admin; coaches and coaches education etc.
If you have thousands of people especially juniors, the pool for talent identification and development will be easier and the flow too high performance and world rankings natural.
Have you been involved with any of the current top players on the circuit
I was fortunate to work for SA Tennis at a time that we developed integration at all levels of the game. I could play a decision-making and active role, especially at our junior player level. Top players, I was fortunate to work and tour with include Kevin, Chani Scheepers and Raven Klaasen.Raven, like Kevin, was very hungry to achieve. I remember living with him and the other top juniors in the ITF house in Pretoria, when I got up at five am in the morning to go for a run he was the only player asking to join me; likewise joining me at six am to go to the gym.
What have you learnt from working with these people as well as from working with the kids on grass routes level?
The juniors quickly learn and experience that tennis ability, talent and aptitude do not depend on what race you come from. This builds lasting respect and comradeship and support amongst them. I was captain/coach of a merit all non-white u/18 world cup team with the reserve being white. This SA team did the best in the competition. At grassroots, it’s so encouraging to experience the fun, enjoyment and lasting friendship tennis brings across races and almost naturally.
I must just add the frustration experienced when witnessing the blatant prejudice, discrimination and bias from officials.
Clifton Swartz should serve as an example to anyone that still believes in beautiful South Africa. He has fought tremendous odds, maintained a high work ethic and inspired many youngsters onto great achievements.
Mr Swartz is currently serving as Managing Director at Catiza Training and Development cc.
For further information please email: catizatraining@gmail.com or go to www.catizatraining.co.za