Issue 93 - October 1996

The Wisdom of Oz

A British Institute of Sport at Holme Pierrepont? It's on the cards, inspired by the Sports Council's concentration on excellence and Sports Minister Iain Sproat's recent admiration of the Australian Institute of Sport - which was based on East German methods. Paul McGann, a former scholarship coach at the AIS, draws lessons for Britain from Australian rowing's super-sport status fuelled by a £20 million budget from now to the Olympics.

Sport has always been an important facet of Australian life. Success in cricket, tennis, rugby, track and field, and swimming had long been expected, and so following steadily declining performances in the Olympic Games throughout the late sixties and seventies, the Australian Government took steps to alleviate this worrying downturn and establish the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Designed on the East German model, the AIS is a centre of excellence, devoted towards developing the sporting talents of gifted athletes by providing world class coaching, state-of-the-art facilities, full physiological, biomechanical and medical support as well as the opportunity to compete internationally on a regular basis. Athletes are housed in modern accommodation and are provided with high quality meals on site. Provision is also made for married couples as well as those who prefer to live off-site in private residences. Rowing is one of a dozen sports which form the core activities at the AIS but there are also a number of decentralised sports such as cricket, diving, weightlifting and cycling which operate in various other cities around the country.

Following the introduction of rowing to the Institute in the early 1980s, a number of quick successes ensued, including a silver medal for the men's eight at the 1985 under 23 Nations Cup in Banyoles. This crew then formed the nucleus of the world champion eight in the following year at Nottingham. Buoyed by these achievements, it was generally thought that the right formula had been set into place for future successes with the AIS now providing the necessary infusion of much-needed funding and support that Australian rowing had been lacking. We had entered a new era of success for rowing - or so we thought.

By the late eighties however, it was obvious that we lacked an appropriate infrastructure to ensure the maintenance of these performance levels. With the centralisation of elite rowing in Canberra, opposition started to mount in individual states when home-grown elite or pre-elite athletes left for the AIS but did not return after the initially-agreed maximum scholarship period of two years. The states then set up their own institutes of sport to provide support systems for athletes who preferred to stay in their home states. These institutes also helped coordinate recruiting strategies through talent identification schemes (again based on the East German model) and slowly the foundation of the elite programme began to broaden.

In 1994, the Australian Rowing Council sought to draw all these institutes together and co-ordinate their efforts with the view of producing a higher quality and greater number of national crews. With the appointment of a head coach to oversee all elite rowing, a number of support levels were then put into place.

1. The AIS would have 35 fully-funded athletes.
2. Another 35 athletes around the country would be funded.
3. The state institutes of sport would then fund a number of pre-elite athletes not in the top 70.
4. Junior and talent identification development schemes in all states would help ensure continuous feeder systems for the elite programme.
5. The AIS would also become a training camp centre for state-based national crews so many of them could remain in their home cities but still have the support of the facilities and expertise of the AIS.
6. Coaches would regularly attend the AIS with or sometimes without their crews as a part of an on-going education scheme. Update courses and accreditation evaluations are to become mandatory for all coaches.

The Australian Government has earmarked rowing as one of the 'Super Seven' Olympic sports to receive preferential funding and support in the hope that these seven sports will provide the bulk of the medals won by Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Over the next six years, nearly £20 million will be channelled into rowing to maintain these activities and build a structure that will endure well into the next century. An exciting era of cooperation, support and relative harmony is beginning to develop in Australia. The AIS remains a very crucial element in the framework of Australian rowing and will no doubt continue to play a vital role in the long-term health of the sport.

Paul McGann is chief coach at the University of London and former coach at Geelong Grammar School.

© Copyright Paul McGann, 1996.