When a lot of blokes work together individual performance increases big time, which is not surprising at all.
However, what is noteworthy is that our input does not always grind to a complete halt but what stops us from putting our feet up completely and letting others do all the hard work?
The consequences of zero performance will be noticed and brings along weighty punishments, such as the exclusion from the group or vilification.
As it stands, evolution has taught us to develop many fine-tuned senses, including how much idleness we can get away with and how quick to recognize it in others.
It should be noted that social loafing does not only occur solely in physical performance, as we tend to slack off mentally too.
The question that remains to be answered remains; who came up with the much-vaunted proposal that the national division one football streams under the auspices of the country’s flagship football league, the Namibia Premier League (NPL), should be demarcated in six groups for a mini football league? I’m just wondering.
Social loafing has interesting implications because those working in groups tend to hold back not only in terms of participation but in terms of accountability as well. Nobody wants to take the rap for the misdeeds of poor decisions by the entire group, simple as that!
Sadly, those entrusted to usher our football have mastered a great art of hiding behind team decisions – the technical term for this is diffusion of responsibility.
The decision to hastily introduce a mini league was done without taking the financial and more importantly constitutional implications into consideration, so to speak.
Yours truly has sympathy with the country’s football governing body, the Namibia Football Association (NFA) for its divine intervention after NPL abandoned their adopted baby – shifting their responsibility without the slightest shadow of shame, let alone sensitivity.
Yours truly has always suspected that those in positions of trust, notably in the hierarchy of the NPL, did not have interest in the development of football at grass-roots level.
How does one explain the NPL’s weird decision to start their league activities knowing very well that teams will be relegated from the elite league by the end of the season whilst the relegated must be succeeded by promoted teams from the lower tier division?
Truth be told, let me sum it up this way: those in blue suits in the hierarchy of our flagship football league conveniently undertook to adopt the three-stream division one league for votes, nothing more, nothing less.
Yours truly knows that truth hurts but this is the naked reality of what’s happening right under our noses.
Football is all about development and my honest advice to those pulling the purse strings is stop being greedy and selfish because premiership football cannot survive without the existence of lower tier leagues.
As a result of all these unnecessary squabbles the poor clubs are forced to engage in marathon league matches under extremely difficult conditions and we still claim to love the game of football? I’m just wondering. I rest my case.