NATIONAL CHAMPS 2014 STATEMENT Dear Social Faculty Studios, Professionals and Students Thank you for supporting the SADF National Social / ProAm Championships held at the Alberton Civic Centre on the 14th and 15th December 2014. Your support and participation made this event the highlight of the South African Dance Calendar for 2014. The SF National Committee; the organiser, Angelique Smith and the SF National Events Sub Committee, appreciates all the lovely compliments and thanks that we have received after this event. Despite the positive feedback, the SF National Committee has, in the interests of transparency and accountability, determined that it would be appropriate to issue a statement detailing the reasons for the delays and what actually transpired behind the scenes at the event. To ensure that members have a basic understanding of the intricate processes involved with the preparation and running of a National Social Dance Competition; I have outlined some of the basic processes pertaining to this matter. Entries were received from studios and captured onto the competition database. Entry summaries(invoices detailing dancers, dances and teachers) were circulated to studio heads for checking and corrections/changes. When changes were received, the competition program was updated and another Entry Summary was circulated to the studio head for checking and corrections/changes. In some instances this process was repeated between 3 – 7 times per studio as studio heads added/removed and made changes to the program. The competition program was then finalised and sent to the printers. On Sunday morning, a few last minute minor changes were made by a few studio heads. These were easily accommodated. However, a large studio submitted a page and a half of changes. During a subsequent emergency meeting held at the Champs on Monday, the studio head acknowledged that he had not checked his Entry Summary prior to the competition as requested. A decision was made to allow the changes, because the SF National Committee did not want to unfairly penalize the students because of an error on the part of the studio. It was determined that while the changes would negatively impact the timeline on the Sunday, the impact would be contained and Monday’s running order would be preserved After all changes were effected, the program was reprinted for all officials to ensure that the Chairman; Adjudicators; Scrutineers and Marshalls were working on the amended program. Adjudicator sheets were also reprinted as well as the trophy lists and certificates being adjusted accordingly. An announcement was made that all changes would have to be finalised on Sunday, so that Mondaywould proceed without incident. This was complied with by all studios, except one. This should have been the end of the inconvenience to all our studios and competitors and the rest of the competition should have proceeded smoothly and without incident. Unfortunately, this was not to be. On Monday, the same studio head came with additional changes and it was clear from the confusion in the Marshalling area that the problems were restricted to this particular studio’s entries and that the program was still not 100% correct. The organizer placed the competition on hold; a meeting was called for all officials and the offending studio head to determine how best to proceed. The studio head was advised that he had compromised the entire competition and negatively impacted the entire Social Dance Community’s experience and was instructed to sit with the Program Manager and correct all errors on the program before the competition would proceed. Once this was done, the program and all related documentation and processes were reprinted and circulated to all officials. The competition then proceeded smoothly and without any incident. The SF National Committee chose not to make any announcements regarding the reason for the delays toavoid exposing the offending studio and to prevent embarrassment for its competitors. In retrospect, an announcement should have been made to clarify matters. In addition, the SF National Committee has determined that accommodating one studio; albeit a very large studio; at the expense of the entire Social Dance Community is not equitable and changes to the competition program will not be allowed in future. In future, the studios will be solely liable for any inconvenience or disappointment caused to their clients by their own failure to follow due process. The Social Faculty National Committee; Organizer and National Events Sub Committee wish all SADF Studio Heads, Professionals, Competitors and their supporters a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Keep safe. Should you have any queries, or feedback, please revert to me. Kind Regards Estelle Holtzhausen SADFSF National Secretary 079 44 11 949
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 14:37:41 +0000
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