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Something must be done to halt the great decline of Australian sport

Australian rugby is in serious trouble. (AAP Image/ David Rowland)
Roar Guru
16th November, 2016
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Over the past decade Australia has meandered into a state of sporting mediocrity without even realising it. Lacklustre results have been championed rather than called out and we appear to have not just accepted but embraced this malaise.

Since Athens the Olympic team has been in steady decline. Following a record setting 17 gold in 2004 Australia fell back to 10th in the medal tally with just eight golds in Rio. Our total ‘haul’ of 29 medals was our worst showing since Barcelona some 24 years earlier.

Led by the most disappointing part of our Olympic troupe, our swim team, Australia awoke every morning to the realisation that, once again, the predictions by our own Olympic committee would not be met.

But while each time the Olympics rolls around our results get worse, it seems no one can put a finger on the reason why.

Funding for the Olympic team and in particular the hugely underwhelming swim team has skyrocketed in the past decade, which in theory should translate into more medals.

In just the past 48 hours we have seen the utter embarrassment of the Australian cricket side losing to a South African side without its two best players.

Couple this with the Socceroos’ laughable display against an opponent most Victorian State 3 sides could knock off in Thailand and a good start has become crisis time for Ange and the boys.

And don’t get me started on the Wallabies.

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Surely something must be wrong at the core of Australian sport in general with so many national teams struggling at once?

We know participation isn’t the issue with just about every sport having kids programs set up to get them involved.

Cricket Australia was rapt in August that it had toppled AFL as the No.1 participation sport in the country. In hindsight this actually makes their current plight even worse.

Surely one must ask the question of where this disconnect comes from? How can a sport with so many junior participants produce so few elite players?

Go back ten years and only Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc would come close to getting a game in the 2005-06 Ashes first eleven.

Australia’s ‘winning edge’ Olympic program for example has been a disaster and its bizarre funding requirements leave some areas clearly short changed while others take the lion’s share.

In Rio those who received the most funding, namely swimming, cycling and rowing were arguably where our most disappointing performances occurred.

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Anna Meares Australia Rio 2016 Olympic Games

John Coates, the Australian Olympic Committee chief, was clearly concerned with the current system stating “I don’t think there’s sufficient attention being paid to the next group of athletes coming through.”

This is clearly a major problem.

While sports participation continues to be high among juniors in a raft of different disciplines there appears to be a clear disconnect in identifying key junior talent and then nurturing it through to the elite level.

Coates also flagged as a major concern that the heads of all these under-performing sports were being run by people with wonderful business credentials but actually no real background in the selected sports.

But what about the athletes themselves and their drive to win? Has it become too easy to simply take the money and run without the pressure to perform?

I was surprised by some of the reactions of our losing athletes at the Olympic Games earlier this year.

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There was so much chat about great efforts and terrific trying that it almost felt like commentators were being patronising at times.

It was refreshing to hear Andrew Bogut call this out when speaking to a journalist following the loss to the powerhouse US team. Rather than accepting the congratulations on a job well done Bogut pointed out that they had lost and there was nothing to be happy about.

Amen brother!

People can argue athletes don’t owe the public anything. But until every last tax pay funded dollar is pulled from sport that argument doesn’t fly. If you’re going to cash a pay cheque from the public be prepared to be judged by them.

The Sports Minister Sussan Ley would be well advised to revisit her portfolio and have a closer look at not just where the money is going, but how it is being spent.

Finally I think we need to address the way we are raising kids in sport. Numerous kids programs including AFL, cricket and soccer promote playing games without keeping score.

How on earth are kids supposed to learn about sport if we don’t allow them to play a proper game?

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While of course I’m not demanding parents go all ‘Damir Dokic’ on their kids surely we need to have winners and losers even at the most junior level. Not only is it a vital social skill to learn how to accept both victory and defeat but it also shows kids that if they want to have the wonderful experience of winning they have to work for it.

Let’s hope those at the highest level are not just looking at the subpar performances of our national teams but start addressing the real issues.

It’s time to get juniors hungry for success again, have them strive to win, not just compete, and ensure that every athlete who has potential is given every opportunity to succeed.

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