 Poster: A snowHead
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The Canadian alpine team is determined to rediscover past glories, according to this article in Canada.com. In another thread the wind tunnel testing in cooperation with GM Motors has been discussed, now we read about the new 8 year, 4 million Canadian $ investment they have just been awarded by sponsors Telus.
Targets are being set throughout the age categories, as President Ken Read explains in describing a new type of accountability to their sponsors. No longer a case of taking the money and "trying one's best", the new world order means that sponsorship has to be a two-way road. Genuinely progressive recipients of funding have to realise this, and react accordingly!
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"The key for us is we want to be more accountable," Read said in a telephone interview from Calgary.
"We want those people who are working with us to know where we are going. We want to be held accountable for the use of all funds." |
What does Snowsport GB think of this approach?? Can British hopes expect to see a similar proactive stance on the part of the British administrators of the sport?? Watch this space...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There's an interesting debate to be had here on Britain's attitude to winning in sport. You could argue that we're too sympathetic towards underdogs and that we don't sufficiently celebrate success.
Take the recent Olympics. The general attitude of the British press towards Paula Radcliffe was sympathy, but - apparently - the Australian press's attitude towards their dropout rower (forgottent the name, sorry) was anger. One Oz commentator was reported as saying, "Until I see a medical certificate saying that she was physically incapable of continuing, I see her as a quitter who stole someone else's place in the team."
Perhap's we're too nice to win - at skiing or any other sport for that matter.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Er, Rugby World Cup, Ryder Cup, Kelly Holmes, rowers, even Cricket at the moment.
I think what you say may have been true up to the 1960/70's but any sports that wished to compete internationally, and had the talents to do so, got their acts together some time ago. I'd also try asking most of our top athletes how sympathetic the press is!
The reason we'll never compete on snow is - it isn't a popular sport in this country so the natural talents will go elsewhere. We may do OK at snowboarding freestyle (cos you can do that on mats) but anything else will be sparodic at best.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Er, pardon my impertinence, but who plays rugby apart from the English and a handful of other, mostly tiny, nations. England probably has 30% of the world's rugby fans, so it should dominate the sport. And, in the Olympics, we underperform horribly compared with our population.
Sorry, marc glehill, but if we were a great sporting nation, we'd be desperately seeking ways of helping our winter sports athletes to overcome their geographical disadvantages, not making excuses for them.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Jonny Jones wrote: |
| Er, pardon my impertinence, but who plays rugby apart from the English and a handful of other, mostly tiny, nations. |
France?
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 29-09-04 16:20; edited 2 times in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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marc gledhill, I reckon your list sums it up in a way - certain sports practised by a privileged minority in the main, often able to fund themselves, with the occasional shining talent coming through against the odds in other sports. Plus 'success' in those sports where weight of numbers in terms of population plays a role, together with the fact that the vast majority of the world's sporting nations don't take part.
I'm not knocking the British per se, of course there's no genetic reason why the Aussies should perform so much better than us, despite their numbers... Just attitude, and superior financial investment in sporting success, from school age upwards. And in a far greater range of sports too.
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PG, I'd just picked those that sprang to mind as I typed, without putting much thought into it. Are you saying that if we're good at a sport it doesn't count? What "popular" sports are there that we don't compete in?
Oh, China and the USA play rugby too Jonny Jones, although they aren't major sports for them. Much in the same way that winter sports aren't major sports for us.
Oh, it just struck mePG, "certain sports practised by a privileged minority in the main" - such as skiing you mean 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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against the odds, often self-funded, a few talents shine through... and GB has got its fair share in winter sports - Chemmy Alcott, Finlay Mickel, the Baxters, Lesley McKenna, Zoe Gillings...
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And my point is that we shouldn't complacently be saying sadly that we'll never be any good at winter sports. If we care about sport - a big 'if', based on the UK's performance across a range of sports - we should be demanding that the government and the sport's administrators do what it takes to improve these athletes' performances by each painful 100th of a second. Self funding will never get us anything other than a few brave underdogs - except by some astonishing freak of good fortune.
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FAQ
Mind you the tabloids define a popular sport as one we're relatively good at, if not they don't bother reporting it, which is why many people know so little about the so-called "minority" sports.
