This question is quite often asked by parents after receiving a notification from a sport structure that their child is has been awarded provincial sport colours.
The simple answer is that the colours are only official if presented by the officially recognised provincial sport federation.
A provincial federation is only official and recognised if it is an official member of the relevant Provincial Sport Confederation. These provincial structures are in turn easily recognised as per the nine demarcated provinces in South Africa. This is often still confused with the former provinces or districts prior to demarcation but can easily be found on any recent map of South Africa.
The process of awarding official provincial colours follows the same model as when athletes officially are representing South Africa and proudly wearing the Protea. The Protea colours can only be issued by SASCOC, the official mother body for all sport in South Africa. Only Federations who are direct members of SASCOC may apply for these colours based on very strict criteria and only when they are competing in an international event.
It is useful to understand the process of symbol and colour identification. Wearing “green and gold” apparel does not necessarily mean an athlete is officially representing South Africa nor that their Federation has gone through a legitimate selection process.
The same can be said for Provincial colours. Wearing a blue and white outfit does not necessarily mean and athletes are wearing official Western Cape colours. Apparel with these colours are readily obtainable from apparel providers and promotional companies and can easily misrepresent an official designation.
The risk of misrepresentation is great, and quite often sees parents fall prey to unscrupulous sport structures who charge exorbitant sums of money for competition entries or sports tours claiming to be part of an official provincial or national team. No parent wants to deny their child the opportunity to be recognised and be part of a sports team, but the claims by unscrupulous operators could lead to parents or athletes taking extreme measures such as selling their assets or taking additional loans to fund their participation.
Parents should be vigilant against bogus administrators and should validate the credentials of the structure and be aware that athletes both junior and senior are required to be part of an official SASCOC recognised sport structure to have any form of official recognition. It would be wise to ask these questions at the schools or clubs they attend.
Schools and clubs themselves should validate sport structures and check that the codes they offer are legitimate SASCOC recognised sport codes.
If you would like to find out if your provincial colours are legitimate Western Cape Provincial Colours please contact the Western Cape Provincial Sport Confederation or your local District Sport Council.
To see samples of various federations official colours click here
