Change is needed - but in a meaningful way

Richard Shaw CEO SAPCA

On a certain evening every week, I drive a diesel car 20 miles to deposit my daughter at her football training, which takes place on a synthetic turf pitch with rubber infill. Around 50 parents do the same thing at the same site – as I’m sure thousands will be across the country each night. Now, I use the terms “synthetic turf” and “rubber infill” because I know that’s what they are. But the other night, during my daughter’s training, one of those other 50 parents made a comment – innocently, I might add – describing the playing surface as a “plastic pitch” with “black tire crumbs” on it.

My first reaction was to correct them. But then I stopped to think – they were, literally speaking, right. Hearing those terms made me think. Did hearing the word “plastic” make me feel at odds with the direction that I often talk about in professional life? Did I want to correct the other parent because their talking about plastic was difficult to square with my belief in the importance of playing an active part of making sport and play as carbon neutral as possible.

Importantly, did other parents feel that playing on a synthetic surface was somehow a “lesser of two evils”, the other being having a physically inactive child? Because let’s face it – without 3G pitches, there wouldn’t be a lot of grassroots football training going on anywhere in the country during the evenings between October and April.

The conversation with the other parent resulted in a bit of introspection and reflection. This led to the conclusion that, for me, the work being done to look at how we mitigate the impact and lower carbon emissions – including the newlylaunched SAPCA statement of recycling of artificial turf – shows to me that this isn’t a zero-sum game. We don’t have to choose a winner between health outcomes and the environment. There is a balance to be struck between the two.

We don’t have to choose a winner between health outcomes and the environment

We should look at how we can reduce all aspects of carbon footprints, but this must be done in a rounded and holistic manner. Many people believe that buying an electric car is good for the environment, but some experts say that keeping an old car running is better overall.

Our instincts may be to rip up and change the system but let’s make sure we aren’t guilty of change because we want to see change. Let’s make sure we are changing for something meaningful. Let’s keep asking the question of ourselves and others – ‘can we do more?’