Building on the last piece, I argued that the formation of National Player Associations would be one way to improve athletes’ welfare. Once again, I am not blinded to the petty corruption or corruptible nature most African systems have normalized. For example, if netball players joined hands to form an association, there is a strong possibility that two or more players would seek to please the higher power and collude to become ambassadors of fear to the other athletes. Interestingly, the players will probably be receiving a bribe not more than Ugx 200,000 for trying so hard to break efforts being brought about by the others. But it’s at this time that you remind that player that an association “eyamba gwe” (benefits them). As I started in part one, the average earnings of athletes barely make 100 dollars (Ugx 360000) per month. It’s also at this moment that the athlete learns that with a players’ association, that’s where a Collective Bargaining Agreement comes in.
As promised, a CBA (in simple terms) is an agreement between the leaders and the people. It is done through negotiations and bargaining (just like the name states). Instead of having all players from KCCA, VIPERS, NEC, KITARA, among others (in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League) throwing their grievances to the team owners, the players sit down and come up with one collective decision(s) that will be presented by the players’ association president (and other elected leaders in the association). Whatever these athletes collectively present is put together and prepared to be shared with the team leaders. For example using lower division teams in Uganda Basketball League, players could agree to set terms like; monthly earnings of Ugx 200,000 ($57) with an increment of Ugx 5,000 ($2) per year or season, the team should take care of ¾ of the medical bills an athlete has to pay for any injury sustained while playing for the team, the players will receive a season winning bonus of at least Ugx 300,000 ($84) on top of the Ugx 200,000, each team must commit to per diem of Ugx 10,000 ($3.2) per training day. This would be a good start.
Once the National Players Association leaders have presented their CBA terms, what’s next? Players wait for the outcomes of the discussions between the club members. Not everything requested will be granted, and in fact, in a CBA, the players may receive largely trade-offs. For example, club owners may argue that they can’t afford to pay Ugx 200,000 but are willing to provide training gear and team merch to every player. In an instance for lawn hockey, the club owners would be responsible for buying the hockey sticks, the shin guards, mouth guards and offset the burden of having the athlete purchase these items using their own money. So the CBA would reduce the monthly pay to Ugx 150,000 and grant owners the responsibility of team gear. A lot of trade-offs can happen on either side.
Once again, I understand the corruptible nature that most people have become accustomed to in our African setting, that doing the right thing seems like an anomaly. There is a possibility of these negotiations cutting out the true representation of the athletes and the leaders making deals and failing the athletes. Which is why leader selection is extremely important.
National Players Associations are definitely not the solution to the entire unprofitability of sports that most African athletes have to deal with. They are a stepping stone to bridging the gap between athletes and administrators. They present an opportunity for athletes to assume leadership roles and create groundbreaking change for the sport. For example, I bet someone out there wonders how a player who has been signing yearly contracts of over $100m all of a sudden files for bankruptcy once their career is over. This was one of the reasons these associations solidified their ground among athletes. These associations provide financial literacy to athletes alongside going as far as planning for their retirement, helping them “secure the bag” using their rights, among other things.
As I conclude this CBA conversation, I will tell a story. A couple of years back, I reached out to my Class Old Girls’ WhatsApp group and suggested that we form a savings group. There was a lot of reluctance, and in fact, it was a total failure. Part of the reason is, we are young adults, and everyone understands how the economy is hot for our age bracket. Most of us are/were unemployed, most had just completed university, and of course, we survive big on the hustle culture. I was inspired by a WhatsApp group someone close to me was part of, where they were saving Ugx 500,000 per month. Most of them were senior citizens or at least held big roles in government. There is no way I was going to give up on using the financial knowledge I had obtained. I sat down and wrote a spreadsheet (dictatorship style) and went ahead to share the proposal with my old girls once again. This was nearly three years from when I had first shared the idea and failed miserably. To my amusement, 20 girls saw my vision and immediately joined me in the savings. I wish I could breach confidentiality and brag how much we have saved just over a short period by saving Ugx 20,000 ($6.4) per month (and this grows every other 6 months to become Ugx 30,000, Ugx 40,000, Ugx 60,000, +). Every time I receive a monthly statement, I am amazed by the power of collectivity. Financial tip: The money is saved in a mutual fund and compounds monthly.
So what am I trying to communicate? Not much comes into African athletes’ pockets but with that little that makes its way into their hands, through a body like the Player’s Association, (say 50 basketball players understood the long term goal or 100 rugby players) and each saved with the association JUST Ugx 10,000 per month for say 6 months, and the next 6 months they grew to Ugx 20,000, and so on to grow a mutual fund on agreed on terms. The issue of retiring to poverty as athletes would be half solved.
Thank you for reading. Part 5 will be shared next week.
