by Professor John Bloomfield
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today with regard to my forthcoming book, which is due for publication in mid 2003. Sporting Success - Australia's Story is basically about the development of the highly acclaimed Australian sports system, which is one of this country's most tangible national achievements.
In this address I intend to speak first about the book, then to answer several questions submitted to me by the organisers of your conference, which are more oriented to your special interests. Finally I hope you will ask me questions from the floor, so that we can have some general discussion on both topics.
The book commences in the early 1800s and traces the history of early sport in the colony of NSW, then in Australia. It then concentrates heavily on the period from 1972 to the present time, concluding with a discussion about the future of sport in this country. The major theme throughout relates to the development of the Australian sports system and how this country has developed something which is quite unique in the world.
The first point that I wish to make is that we have been fortunate to have directly inherited the British sports and games, almost all of which were brought to Australia by the army and the free settlers at some time in the nineteenth or the early twentieth century. However, the earliest competitive sport played in the colony of NSW was very informal and it was not until about the 1830s that any well organised sport was conducted.
By that time, as well as horse racing, such sports as boxing, wrestling, running, rowing and sailing, several types of football and cricket were being played. The most popular game was cricket and apart from members of the British garrison and a handful of civil servants and a few free settlers, the native-born youth were the keenest players.
These young people were known as the 'currency' or 'currency lads'. They were the children of the convicts or emancipists and were identified by their cabbage tree hats and their rolled up trousers. They acquired their name from a British military paymaster, who disdainfully compared them with the lower status local currency used in the colony. These young men took great delight in challenging and usually defeating, 'the new chums' from England.
As early as the 1830s, local Australia versus England contests were being held in a range of sports and were strongly promoted by the 'currency', who saw themselves as true Australians. On the contrary, the soldiers, the civil administrators and the majority of the free settlers considered themselves English citizens, who simply happened to be residing in NSW at that time.
Before discussing sport in more detail however, I'd like to refer to the early social dynamics in the new colony and to emphasise that the dynamics in play related very much to the behaviour of these young native-born Australians. They had a fierce determination to prove themselves and a major reason for their dogged tenacity was that they had grown up in a penal colony, where brutality was commonplace and where aggression by the jailers bred contempt for authority, encouraging the oppressed to band together.
The convicts, the emancipists and their offspring were of course looked down upon by all those in authority. Nevertheless, the 'currencies' continually struggled to rise above their low social status, through their exploits in both sport and work, many of them becoming skilled artisans, such as boat-builders, stone-masons, carpenters etc. They were also a surprisingly upright and moral group, who gradually won the grudging respect of the colonial administrators.
However, this certainly didn't stop them from being flamboyant and at times rather bumptious and 'skylarking' was an important part of their persona. There are many recorded situations where they 'took the mickey' out of their so-called betters, whom they gleefully called the 'Hinglish'.
Many sociologists and social historians have chronicled the positive influence which British settlement brought to Australia, with democracy, justice, freedom of the press and separation of church and state being just a few of the most important ones. Many of those in power saw sport as a way to promote fair play, cooperation, teamwork and other positive social traits and it is fortunate in many respects that sport appealed to the 'currencies'.
Although our sport was mainly domestic for the first 75 years, regular local contests took place especially in Sydney and Melbourne during this period. Then English sportsmen began to visit Australia to play the colonies and Australian teams. At first, our cricketers were beaten, but from 1874 onwards, Australia performed well in cricket, becoming dominant over England in the late 1870s, eighties and nineties, with the Australian players quicky gaining a reputation for their dogged tenacity. When one looks back at the well-known Australian cricketers of that period, several names can be traced back to the early years of the 19th century.
In addition to cricket, Australian scullers won 22 world rowing championships between 1876 and 1908; and fighters of the calibre of Larry Foley, Sandy Ross and later 'Young Griffo', Australia's first world champion, had the edge on England. Similarly in swimming, by the end of the nineteenth century and again in the early twentieth century, Australia's results were excellent against the English.
Australia's social history, and the effect sport has had on it, is now well documented. Dr Helen Irving, our foremost Federation historian, is convinced that sport, more than any other single factor, was responsible for the Australian colonies wishing to federate. Dr David Headon, a cultural historian, agrees, stating that 'sport was the most important single factor in the development of this country's nationalism until the First World War.' He also claims that 'war, then sport, were the most significant factors in the development of Australian nationalism in the twentieth century.' These statements are but a few examples indicating strong nationalistic attitudes, which are still apparent today.
Our historical past has strongly influenced more recent developments in the sports system and to discuss this I want to move forward to the mid 1950s and carefully examine the true state of Australian sport.
Australia's international sport performances were reasonably good during much of the twentieth century, with a peak being reached in 1956 at the Melbourne Olympics, where we won 35 medals. But there was a steady decline after Melbourne and by 1976, at the Montreal Olympics, we were down to 5 medals, none of which were gold.
Unbeknown to almost everyone in Australia, sport in Eastern Europe had been developing rapidly, starting in Russia by 1947 and with the rest of the Eastern European satellites following closely behind. As well, the US had built a strong sports system in its high schools and universities by the mid 1960s and very few people in Australia were aware of this.
The Whitlam Government in 1972 realized that our international performances were declining and established an embryo sports system under the first Australian Minister for Sport, Frank Stewart. However Labor lost government in 1975 and when the Liberal-Country Party Government was returned to power, they drastically reduced the sport budget.
However, when the Fraser Government was blamed for the fiasco in Montreal in 1976, they very slowly began to rebuild the sports system. This eventually led to the opening in 1981 of the AIS, and then, under the new Labor Government, the establishment of the Australian Sports Commission in 1984. From the time Labor was elected in 1983, John Brown, the Minister for Sport, began to develop an excellent sports system.
By the 1990s, it became truly national, with the Commonwealth and the states interacting well. For example, in 1991-92 Australian teams won 10 world team championships and 21 individual championships, in mainly non-Olympic sports. At the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, Australia won 27 medals and in 1996 in Atlanta it was 41. By the conclusion of the Atlanta Olympics, it was obvious that our sports system was in place and operating well. The Howard Coalition Government had come into office and fortunately they continued Labor's sports policy in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics.
In 1999, the year before the Sydney Olympics, Australia had another outstanding year in international sport, winning 25 individual world championships and 15 world team championships, with most of these victories not even in the Olympic sports.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics and Paralympics were great triumphs and I'm sure everyone is conversant with Australia's results in 2000, which saw a total of 58 medals won, 16 of which were gold. As well, Australia won the medal tally in the Paralympics after being second in Atlanta.
There are several other important facts about our sports system that are not well known in this country. Not only do we have top elite athletes, but we also have one of the highest participation rates per head of population in the world. And ours is a very cost-effective system, with the cost per head of population being lower than all of our international rivals
Earlier in this lecture I spoke about the privations and the harsh social and physical conditions which many Australians experienced in the early days of the colony and it seems that these factors have had an important bearing on the way many of us are today.
Recently it has been claimed by several social commentators that Australians are proud, nationalistic, socially cohesive, egalitarian and aggressive and that we also have a long history of volunteering. All of these social characteristics, are important ingredients for success in sport. Further, Australians have developed a large number of outstanding programs, which have been well integrated with each other. I believe that the secret of our success lies not only in our heritage, but also in the efficient and effective system we have developed in this country.
If I were a social scientist, I would have ended the book at the time of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics. This would have been easier, as forecasting what may occur in the future and what should be done to fine-tune a system which has proved to be effective, is a difficult task. But having given my fair share of advice to governments over the last 35 years, I felt compelled to do it again. Some of the points I have raised are as follows:
Post Olympic Performances - Since Sydney 2000, Australia's results in World Championships, the Goodwill Games and the Manchester Commonwealth Games have been excellent.
Threats from Other Countries - The United Kingdom is spending very large amounts of money to improve their international performances. Also Germany, France and Italy, who were behind Australia on the 2000 Olympic medal tally, are moving up on us. And we're currently losing a large number of coaches, sports scientists and administrators to at least 5 countries.
Issues Within Australia - At the present time we have several social changes for which we need some affirmative action. There are also commercial versus community interests, physical fitness and obesity problems and a possible shortfall in future funding, all of which pose threats to our current system.
Government Strategies for the Future - The Australian Sports Commission is slowly devolving its centralised control to the national sports organisations, as well as taking steps to increase participation in sport through various programs. It is also attempting to increase the number of volunteers in sport, as they have been dropping over the last 4 years.
Suggested Strategies for the Future - Australia needs to increase both the fitness level of its children and adults. To do this, primary school Health and PE needs specialist teachers; and a Life Be In It program should be re-activated for adults, with an equal emphasis on recreation and fitness. In addition, a 5% increase is needed in the overall sport participation and elite budgets.
If Australia adopts the above approach, young Australians will continue to achieve elite sport performances and, at the same time, the citizens of this nation will be able to use sport as a pathway to better personal health and well-being.
In the above paper, I have given two reasons. The first is because of our early history, when we embraced the British sports and games. Then fierce competition took place between the currency lads and the military and free settlers as the colony matured. By the time this occurred, Australia was already competing with England in a very tenacious way. From this rivalry, the social dynamics of nationalism, social cohesion and tenacity developed, all of which make Australians very formidable competitors.
The second reason is that we have a very efficient and cost effective system, which enables the various entities within it to offer a flexible but comprehensive program.
From the elite point of view, the coordination between the states/territories and the Australian Government is a vital factor. Let me explain. The early AIS model involved bringing athletes to a central residential training base in Canberra. Many athletes had difficulty with this, as it required them to re-locate away from their families, coaches, education and sometimes career opportunities. Consequently some non-residential institutes or academies of sport were established in capital cities around Australia, which were funded by the state governments and the corporate sector.
Today we have a comprehensive network of institutes or academies at both the state and national levels and in some states, at the regional level. The coordination of these elite training centres is carried out by the National Elite Sports Council, which meets regularly with the national sports organisations to discuss the coordination of elite sport in Australia.
After the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, the Australian Sports Commission decided to target seven sports. These were athletics, basketball, canoeing, cycling, hockey, rowing and swimming. The additional funding for the above sports enabled national sports organisations to employ head coaches, increase their international competition and introduce state-based Intensive Training Centres (ITC). Cooperation between the state institutes or academies, the AIS and the national sports organisations significantly increased and the ITCs became major catalysts for a very strong elite national program.
The success of the targeted sport program can be well illustrated, as the medals for these seven sports rose significantly, to 12 at Seoul in 1988, 22 at Barcelona in 1992, 31 at Atlanta in 1996 and 37 at Sydney in 2000.
As well as the above and during the six year period leading up to Sydney 2000, additional Commonwealth funding was allocated to sport through the Olympic Athlete Program (OAP) and it was this program which 'put the icing' on the elite sport 'cake' in Australia.
I was fortunate to observe several sports information centres in Europe in 1965. I was therefore determined that as soon as I had the opportunity to initiate a similar program in Australia, I would do so. As Deputy Chairman of the new Community Recreation Council of Western Australia in late 1972, I moved to develop the first sports information centre in this country and by mid 1973 we had begun to stock a small library in the Perry Lakes Stadium in Perth. Following this experience, I chaired a sub-committee at the AIS in late 1980. We appointed Nerida Clarke as our Head Librarian in late 1981, and then Greg Blood in 1983, who has since made a fine contribution to the national sports information network.
From the original small sports information centres throughout Australia, you are now more aware of the recent developments in the various states than I am. However as an academic and former coach, I can tell you that sports information centres are absolutely fundamental to the success of any sports system, especially in Australia. This is so because of a paucity of technical information relating to sport in this country before the 1980s; and also because of the sheer size of the Australian continent.
In order to catch up with the European countries, it was necessary to move quickly after 1980 and this was done by several of you here today. There is no doubt that the national system you have set up between the AIS and the states is one of the best in the world and has been, and still is, a great contribution to the Australian sports system
Finally, no modern sports system is complete without an integrated sports information system, because sports coaching, sports science and sports medicine are evolving rapidly, building a huge body of knowledge as this occurs. By enabling the professionals who work in the above fields to have the most recent information available to them soon after it is published, you are dispensing an invaluable service to Australian sport.
The links between the ASC and the states have never been set up formally to my knowledge. Each unit appears to have been developed within its own state, independently of the others, over the last 40 years. There is no doubt however that the sports information network within Australia is very efficient and this is a tribute to several of you here today, because you have been largely responsible for the high degree of cooperation and coordination between the Commonwealth and the States.
Reference:
Bloomfield, J. Sporting Success - Australia's Story, to be published by The University of New South Wales Press in mid 2003.
This is an archive copy of a paper presented at 'Sharing information and building relationships - the Sport Information Workshop, 13–15 November, 2002, Perth WA' all copyright remains with the author.
 |
|
|