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Johannesburg - Athletics South Africa (ASA) have set up task teams to find ways of improving the level of communication between the national federation, coaches and officials.
Having received criticism for the changes made to selection criteria earlier this year, with numerous coaches and athletes insisting they had no idea the amendments had been made, ASA formed three-person task teams at a symposium for coaches and officials in Bloemfontein at the weekend. They will report back to the federation by the end of September.
"Following discussions between the 320 coaches and technical officials who attended the coaches symposium, the need for better communication between ASA and the coaches and officials was required," ASA said in a statement on Tuesday.
ASA assistant administrator Richard Stander, made drastic changes this season, insisting athletes would have to qualify for international championships during a six-week window period, with the hope of raising the level of performance at major events.
The amendments backfired, however, after South Africa dropped to third on the medals table at the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi earlier this month - the nation's worst performance in 10 years - with numerous medal contenders having been excluded from the final team.
Stander defended himself by saying South Africa would have to forfeit medals at smaller championships to improve their standing at major global events.
However, with the continental championships forming a springboard for young talent to gain experience, criticism continued to pour in concerning the team selection.
And while the ASA constitution clearly states the qualifying criteria for all international championships, the federation's interim administrators have pointed fingers at their predecessors and provincial members.
"Vague terminology used in the ASA selection criteria over the past 10 years was identified as the reason for the confusion among coaches and the failure of athletes to perform," the federation said.
"It was agreed the ASA selection criteria should be more specific and should focus on identifying athletes that can win medals at the highest level of international competition, such as the IAAF World Championships and the Olympic Games."
The coaches who attended the symposium, according to ASA, agreed that major domestic track and field events would have to be shifted from the summer season and that members would need to improve the opportunities made available to athletes at provincial level earlier in the year.
That would in turn, according to the federation, provide opportunities for athletes to produce world-class performances in the Yellow Pages Series.
Without better quality provincial competitions, the members were placing "an unrealistic demand on ASA to develop the standard of athletics at national and international level", the federation said.
