{"id":2856,"date":"2025-08-15T09:27:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/equal-life-institute-slams-pay-to-play-scheme-in-national-hockey-selection\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T09:27:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T07:27:46","slug":"equal-life-institute-slams-pay-to-play-scheme-in-national-hockey-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/equal-life-institute-slams-pay-to-play-scheme-in-national-hockey-selection\/","title":{"rendered":"Equal Life Institute Slams \u201cPay-To-Play\u201d Scheme in National Hockey Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>R40 000 TO REPRESENT YOUR COUNTRY<\/li>\n<li>Equal Life Institute Slams \u201cPay-to-Play\u201d Scheme in National Hockey Selection<\/li>\n<li>Calls for Urgent Reform to Protect Talent, Equity, and Dignity in South African Sport<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cape Town, South Africa \u2013 Equal Life Institute (ELI), a leading nonprofit advancing civil and economic rights, has condemned the growing trend of making young hockey players from underprivileged communities to pay steep fees to represent South Africa at national level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is exploitation masquerading as opportunity,\u201d said Maphanga, Executive Director of ELI. \u201cWhen national representation is sold to the highest bidder, we betray the very spirit of sport\u2014fairness, merit, and unity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recent reports from athletes and families across the country reveal a disturbing reality:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Selection fees ranging of around R40 000 for national team inclusion<\/li>\n<li>No financial aid or transparent criteria for players from low-income backgrounds<\/li>\n<li>Talented youth end up being excluded despite proven skill and dedication<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>ELI\u2019s Response: Fighting for Fair Play<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Equal Life Institute is taking decisive action to challenge this unjust system:<\/li>\n<li>Legal Review: Investigating whether these practices violate constitutional rights to equal opportunity<\/li>\n<li>Public Advocacy: Launching a national campaign to expose the injustice and demand reform<\/li>\n<li>Athlete Support: Partnering with grassroots organizations to provide direct aid and alternative pathways for talented players<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about hockey\u2014it\u2019s about justice,\u201d Maphanga continued. \u201cWe will not stand by while young athletes are priced out of their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sport Should Unite, Not Divide<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ELI calls on national sporting bodies, government departments, and sponsors to reject this pay-to-play model and commit to inclusive, merit-based representation. Every child deserves the chance to wear their country\u2019s colors \u2013 not just those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/contact\/featured\/\">CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Author<\/strong>: Maphanga Maseko from <strong>EQUAL LIFE INSTITUTE<\/strong><strong> on behalf of <\/strong><strong>ELI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>MyPR<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>R40 000 TO REPRESENT YOUR COUNTRY Equal Life Institute Slams \u201cPay-to-Play\u201d Scheme in National Hockey Selection Calls for Urgent Reform to Protect Talent, Equity, and Dignity in South African Sport Cape Town, South Africa \u2013 Equal Life Institute (ELI), a leading nonprofit advancing civil and economic rights, has condemned the growing trend of making young &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:revymtt5qssww7e7avbruzic","date":"2025-08-15T08:51:34+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:revymtt5qssww7e7avbruzic\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lwghznftka2k","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:revymtt5qssww7e7avbruzic\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lwghznftka2k\",\"cid\":\"bafyreihzgg3xd74yq3xb6wb5fp37qzqa2dul3cmpvwmrwg5k5nf34xnnvq\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreigvsoakyj3w3xymdlbafahdas76cl473kjfyqfodgn2fp5pbk3u6u\",\"rev\":\"3lwghzngaai2k\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"republication-tracker-tool-hide-widget":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["type-post","category-news","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/mail\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}