NOW that we are earnestly into 2011 and the magical and mystical 2010 is behind us, I thought I should kick off this year by making a few wishes about the sporting year I would like to see.

Just a week after we bade farewell to the marvellous and likeable Makhaya Ntini, I wish that Cricket South Africa could make sure that in another decade, we do not have only one African in the game to celebrate.

I pray and wish that chairman Mtutuzeli Nyoka and CEO Gerald Majola create a legacy for themselves for having changed cricket genuinely and making sure that we achieve even better representation in this decade.

At the end of this month there will be a huge gala dinner to raise funds to support boxing legend Jacob "Baby Jake" Matlala. This is a great gesture from those who care for him.

I wish, though, that in 2011 and beyond, Boxing South Africa could get its act together and bring back the shine to the game. I wish that they could realise the sport is still alive and well all over the world, and there is no reason it can't be alive here.

In fact, it is my wish that the old relics of Boxing SA just pack their bags and disappear into the sunset, thus allowing young blood with new ideas to take over and resuscitate boxing for us all.

For the love of athletics, I hope the horrors of Athletics South Africa are dead and buried. I wish that at last we could have sound administration and just get athletics back on the road again.

It is Olympics next year, and all I ask for is to keep our house in order and hopefully pick a competitive and representative team that can make us proud in London.

Golf's Sunshine Tour cannot continue hoping that no one cares about its untransformed nature. More work than public relations must overhaul this sport as the preserve of white golfers.

Golf has become really popular over the years and the PGA of South Africa has another opportunity to transform itself and bring more black golfers into its ranks. I hope they do the right thing.

After surprising all of us and taking the game to Soweto a record three times last year, I wish that local rugby continues to commit to transforming itself and becoming truly a sport for all South Africans.

I pray that the Premier Soccer League can up its game. It is a real anomaly that the so-called biggest sport in the country attracts crowds no better than those of hockey and showjumping.

It is time the football leadership invests in proper marketing strategies to bring the fans back to the stadiums and make the beautiful game as glorious as it was in the 1980s and 1990s, when there was even less money available.

I wish Pitso Mosimane luck. I pray that he gets to qualify Bafana Bafana for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. To do that, I wish that he takes fewer populist decisions and focuses on winning.

Last, I hope the new minister of sport, Fikile Mbalula, resists being remembered like his predecessors, who came and made noise and then disappeared, leaving nothing more than an echo behind.

It is my solemn wish that we can have a minister of sport who will not sacrifice real transformation for the sake of popularity and accolades from enemies of change.

These are just wishes. If only half of them come true, 2011 will be a better year than the last.