Programme director
Gauteng Education MEC, Ms Barbara Creecy
Mr David Kramer, Sci-Bono CEO
Representatives of the Gauteng Education Department
Representatives of the French, German and Italian Embassies
Representatives of various sponsors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I'm glad to be here joining in a slightly different "Football Friday" event. With all of us firmly in the grip of football fever as the World Cup kick-off gets nearer, it's good to see the science fraternity embracing the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup tournament and using its positive vibe to awaken young people's interest in science.
I'm also enthusiastic about the way the Academy of Science of South Africa covered the science of soccer in the latest issue of quest. The magazine is distributed free of charge to high schools throughout the country, so I hope that the soccer connection will grab the attention of learners. Even if they merely grasp that there's a connection between sport and science this will be of value, as people in general need a better understanding of the fact that science is relevant to their lives.
Getting learners to see that science is not confined to the laboratory or classroom is a vital part of encouraging them to study science and mathematics at school and go on to do tertiary studies and enter careers in related fields. Showing them the complex physics behind the mystery of "trick" or "bending" free kicks in soccer will do just that. The joint scientific research work by the University of Sheffield's Sports Engineering Research Group, Yamagata University's Sports Science Laboratory and Fluent sheds some light on the kicks that fool defenders and goal keepers by changing their direction in mid-flight as used by Jomo Sono during his days as a player at Orlando Pirates and Jomo Cosmos.
Even once the excitement of the FIFA World Cup tournament has come and gone, this exhibition will continue to help our learners and their parents relate more enthusiastically to science.
It might not get quite as much media coverage as the Soccer World Cup, but in September 2011 South Africa will play host to another important international event the sixth Science Centre World Congress in Cape Town. The local science centre community must make sure they extract as many benefits as possible from the Congress so that it leaves its mark on South Africa too.
Finding user-friendly approaches for raising science awareness in a culturally diverse country like South Africa is a challenge. But South Africa is a sports-crazy nation, and perhaps the use of sport as a vehicle for communicating science, especially to young people, should be explored further. What about rugby and cricket?
In the Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University will be hosting the second World Conference on Science and Soccer on 8 and 9 June 2010 under the auspices of the World Commission of Science and Sports, which promotes sport-specific scientific research and encourages international cooperation in the field of sport science.
While soccer can be used to enhance our understanding of mathematics and science, these two disciplines can also be used to improve our understanding of the game. I am pleased that South Africa has contributed in this area. The Sports Technology Centre of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, commonly known as Soccerstat, has developed a computerised notational analysis system to evaluate the performance of a soccer team. The tool was used to evaluate the performance of teams competing in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and it helped us to establish scientifically that Bafana Bafana was poor in converting potential opportunities into goals.
This soccer exhibition has been designed especially for the South African situation and its travelling components will be taken to other science centres across the country. There are currently 20 centres involved in the promotion of science and science education in the country. The majority of these are emerging and still require a lot of developmental support, particularly in the area of interactive science exhibits. The Department of Science and Technology decided in 2009 that, in addition to other forms of support to the science centres, at least R500 000 a year should be contributed towards the development of mobile exhibits, which will be of particular benefit to emerging, under-resourced centres.
International support has greatly enhanced South Africa's efforts to develop science centres. For instance, in 2009, Australia helped us train five local science centre officials towards a graduate certificate in the theory and practice of science centres. Today, I would like to thank the German government for their generous support in the development of this soccer exhibition.
In South Africa sports seem to bring out the best in us. Just last Saturday, rugby brought large numbers of white people into Soweto for the first time and the welcome they got has done great things for nation building. I hope that this soccer exhibition will do as much for skills development and public understanding of science.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
28 May 2010
Source: Department of Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za/)
