Separation might be good for first division

Breaking up has never been easy. It affects the principal actors as much as the children. In some cases, the divorce of parents leads to the children suffering psychologically while other children develop an inferiority complex or suicidal tendencies.

I am not a trauma counsellor. But I know this to be true. Strange as it may sound, it has been proved in some instances that a separation, while painful, nonetheless has turned out to be the best thing that has ever happened to some people.

There are some people who spend the rest of their lives destined never to realise their true potential. They depend on their partners for nearly everything. They cannot make decisions, and fear being ridiculed or rejected and thus spend the rest of their lives depending on others to make decisions for them.

People wonder why the Chinese have become such a successful and influential nation globally. They discovered that this dependency syndrome was the downfall of many a man. Therefore, instead of accepting alms, they requested charity givers to stop supplying them with fish, but to teach them how to fish.

In case you have been wondering what I have been going about, relax, you are in good company. The “divorce” between the South African Premier League and the National First Division might well be the best thing that has ever happened to the country’s second tier football league and could even revolutionarise local football.

For far too long, the NFD has lived under the shadow of the PSL, destined never to step out and enjoy the sunshine, but opening their palms at every opportunity to receive alms from their big brothers. And because of this unhealthy reliability on the PSL, the NFD lost respect in the eyes of their followers as they never learned responsibility.

Consequently they have always been viewed with pity, more like the step-child that can be thrown the scraps when big brother has had his fill. The NFD has never been taken seriously, because they do not take themselves seriously.

This break-up with the PSL might just be the opportunity they need to earn the respect of the public and in the process learn to be responsible for their own destiny. It is time they smelled the coffee, stepped out of their sheltered cocoon and then hustled for a living.

It is time they took pride in their league and developed a marketing strategy to promote and develop their own league. They must form a committee to approach the corporate and business houses for sponsorship and, above all, negotiate with various television stations to broadcast their matches live – for a fee.

If they don’t, they shall be responsible for the demise of their own league and their own business and shall have no one but themselves to blame for their lack of innovation and inability to survive and sustain their own business.