 Poster: A snowHead
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Why has it come to the lowest of the low situation that our #1 ski racer has become dependent on people clambering around an internet forum in order to survive until the end of the race season.
How can our government be so closed minded when it comes to national sport that they can't give a few £000s of pounds in backing to a world cup and olympic athlete???? The government invest money in projects that are meaningless to the point of absurdity... yet they can't bring themselves to support our sport where it's needed!
What about the National Lottery... is this not one of the exact reasons that the lottery was given the go ahead in this country in the first place... to support national sport??? THIS IS ONE OF OUR TOP OLYMPIC ATHLETES FFS!!!!!!!
I realise that ski racing will never be as well funded as the likes of football etc, but surely there's got to be a realisation that without funding and backing at our current top level, then the sport could die in this country. These athletes need backing and i'm pretty sure that there's enough people out there that would be happy enough to see some of their taxes or national lottery contributions going towards this exact circumstance.
This started off as a bit of a rant, and to be honest, i don't really know where my rant was going, but i just find it crazy that in this day and age we have top athletes who represent our GREAT nation at the highest level not knowing if they're going to have the funds to complete a race season or not. I am gobsmacked that it has come to this is the first place.
I really hope Chemmy Alcott, and our other top sports people, get the funding they require and the backing of our government and sports bodies.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The Lottery are happy to hand out funding - but you need a properly run governing body first, who jump through the hoops put in place by UK Sport and Sport England. Then they award funding against strict criteria on results achieved in major competition and forecasted future results. For the Olympics, that means medals, I'm afraid.....The Skeleton team will no doubt get millions on the back of a Gold medal, other teams will probably lose out - particularly the Bobsleigh team. The skiers have neither a governing body, nor any silverware nor medals.
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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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of course the other thing which attracts funding from the lottery is bringing in participants from minorities - especially less able bodied and disabled athletes. It still has to fall under a governing body though, although I recall that we have a medal winner in the adaptive skiing?
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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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| The Voice of Reason wrote: |
| ... although I recall that we have a medal winner in the adaptive skiing? |
Sean Rose won a World Cup downhill this season and is a very solid chance for a podium place in the Winter Paralympic Gmes.
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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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The Voice of Reason, do you know if funding for grassroots support depends on elite athlete performance?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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what seems to me to be very ironic, is that the government will be first to criticise the poor overall performance, yet they can't see that to be more successful that they need to spend a wee bit of their expense fund to allow our top athletes to train year round, year on year. It's not rocket science... look at the australian model with they're sports academies and the success that comes from them.
It's not rocket science. It's just that the lard ar5e bureaucrats can't see past their double chins and realise all of this.
As far as i can see, little effort has been made to move us away from the laughing stock end of winter sports since Eddie the Eagle made such an impression way back when...
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rob@rar, I would think that most grassroots sports are affiliated in some form or another to larger organisations.....
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The Voice of Reason, yes, I'm sure that's the case. But it would seem odd if grassroots support depended largely/entirely on the performance of elite athletes. It would seem to be a vicious circle if you can't get an appropriate level of support for grassroots development (which is what you need to find the next generation of elite athletes) if the current generation of elite athletes aren't regularly making top 10 or podium places (possibly because they didn't have appropriate levels of support when they were grassroots competitors). I understand the desire to target funding where it will generate success, but I think there is a threshold of funding below which it is not worth spending any money because the elite athletes are going to be significantly disadvantaged compared to other nations.
In any case, the current dire situation isn't the result of strict criteria being followed. I'm pretty sure that nobody has stipulated that unless Team GB gains x WC points and x top 10 finishes in major games the national funding body is going to be made bankrupt.
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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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shoogly, And given the Australian funding model you quote, do you know how much funding is given to Winter sports, compared to swimming or athletics? And commercially, how much do sponsors put in the pot? How much does Benny Raich or Bode Miller bring in when compared to the likes of Usain Bolt or David Beckham?
rob@rar, It is a big case of chicken and egg - in order to get the funding, you would need a unified governing body, and a number of member bodies which represent the different disciplines - eg Alpine, Sliding, Skating, Curling etc. In order to get a unified governing body with enough commercial welly, you will need to increase participation. In order to increase participation, you will need to improve infrastructure and facilities. In order to improve facilities and infrastructure, you will need to get major commercial backing. In order to get major financial backing, you will need to have either 1. Decent mountains, with decent road and rail links, accesible to all, oh, and the small matter of snow quality and reliability and lifts which actually work when there is snow on the ground (not having a pop at all, this is due to the aforementioned lack of infrastructure investment) or 2. a whole cupboard full of Olympic and WC medals......and Team GB would have been given a target of WC points and Olympic results to secure future funding - this is how, on the back of a silver medal last time out, the Skeleton bob team had so much more funding than anyone else
(SWMBO is the head of finance for one such unified governing body, and also sits on 2 LOCOG committees - we may have had a not too dissimilar conversation over a cuppa one quiet and very boring morning, not so long ago)
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It is almost as though 'if your not got a chance of a medal don't bother trying. What a GREAT message to send out!
Given that the premise is to encourage children to get involved in sport and that skiing is more accessible than skeleton. I find that it is ridiculous that millions of pounds goes into sports that the majority will never have the opportunity to take part in!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| The Voice of Reason wrote: |
| rob@rar, It is a big case of chicken and egg |
I agree. So I think the 'powers that be' need to decide whether they're in the game or out of it. The current half-way house of insufficient funding (made worse by the complete horlicks the variety of governing bodies have made) is the worst of all worlds. We seem to be wanting to increase egg supply by slowing strangling the chicken.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| We seem to be wanting to increase egg supply by slowing strangling the chicken. |
That has GOT to be quote of the year 2010!!!!
Fantastic metaphor that sums up in 14 words what everyone has been trying to say for months!
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