The silent partner
It’s always refreshing to be reminded of your place in the World.
This weekend I was confirmed as the silent partner in the Yachting
Australia Athlete’s Committee.
Now silent partner is probably not quite accurate, maybe the
insignificant/non olympic one might be more appropriate. Why do I
say that you might ask? Well, it might have something to do with
being put up a different hotel to the rest, being left of the
attendance list for the YA Awards nights, and being left out of the
“thanks to the Athletes Committee” intro speech from YA
el-Presidente Andrew Plymton. But hey, I don’t really mind…
para-Olympian Peter Thompson was also left out… so I’m in company
at least.
But all-in-all it was a good weekend.
The Athlete’s committee first met for a Shipping Workshop, which
hijacked Natalie Francis’ agenda to chat about container transport
for largely disorganised Olympic class sailors. International &
Recognised classes were commended by Shenker’s Erich Seifert for
their organisation and preparation, but then they’re not relevant
to the discussion since they no longer receive either shipping
funding or support from Yachting Australia. Maybe official support
is inversely proportional to organisation.
The committee then progressed to the Athlete’s committee meeting
proper, which over 5 hours chatted through various ideas, which
roughly translates as:
New non-Olympic High Performance organiser Tracey Johnson was
introduced. Tracey managed High Peformance prior to the Sydney
games, and now takes on the Youth and non-Olympic classes. At least
the 2nd half of that job should be easy.
Atecco presented a proposal to become a partner for the YA.
Their recruitment programs seem like a great idea for preparing
Athlete’s for careers post-sport, as well as allowing developing
sailors to plan career paths through Olympic preparation. If
adopted it would be great to have these guys present at the
Australian Youth Championship to try and convince more
impressionable minds of the possibilities for professional
sport.
Mark Tonner-Joyce presented an extensive debrief of the dismal
Youth Worlds team performance. In an incredibly analytical and
well-thought out presentation, Mark made some very worthwhile
observations about the team and his sailors in general. It was
suprising to note that the official YA Youth Policy does not in the
slightest mention hard objectives like Youth Worlds performance,
yet we judge the success of the Youth program by results at this
regatta. Also worthy of note, but unlikely to go anywhere, was the
suggestion that Youth Worlds selection be restricted to athletes
who meet the adult weight ranges known for high-performance in each
class. Seeing that most of the Australian athletes are way
over-weight (or the wrong configuration) for their respective
classes, and especially the conditions for the Youth Worlds, it
needed to be said.
Also mentioned was the concept of “putting back in”.
Considering the large amounts of money invested in Olympic
athletes, there should be a requirement or at least moral
responsilibity for these athletes to volunteer their knowledge for
the next generation. One of the workable suggestions was tying
funding/team selection to each Athlete having achieved a Level 1
coaching qualification, and perhaps demonstrated a willingness to
help up-and-coming sailors.
Anyway, despite Australians winning a stack of International class
World Championships this year (Moth, Etchell’s, Farr40, Mumm 30,
29er, Flying 15, International 14, Formula 18, Tasar, 12ft’ Skiff,
18ft Skiff etc etc), International classes didn’t get a mention in
any of the initiatives of the Athlete’s committee.
Makes me think I should go out and buy a 49er.
But then Richard Perini did win Male sailor of the year for his
dual wins in Farr40/Mumm 30s. Adrienne Cahalan won Female sailor of
the year for her wide variety of achievements over many
years.
Nathan Outteridge claimed youth sailor for the 3rd successive year,
despite not having sailed since January. Teaming up with Ben Austin
and getting back into 49er racing should see Nathan up for
nomination for the Male award in no time at all.
Maybe I shouldn’t be blogging all these goings on at these
meetings. There does seem to be a culture of secrecy around these
things… but since we’re supposed to be a conduit for Athletes, it
does seem counter-intuitive to try to muzzle opinion.
