COACHING – National Training Centre

National Training Centre for Orienteering

Neville Bleakley ACTAS Head Coach

THE December conference of Orienteering Australia approved the ACT Academy of Sport as the (first) National Training Centre for Orienteering in Australia. “First”, because OA’s 2000-2004 High Performance strategic plan envisaged more NTCs in other States by 2005. However, that has not been achieved.

The National Training Centre Concept

Most national sporting organizations utilise the NTC concept. Those NSOs that have programs at the Australian Institute of Sport use NTCs to conduct “feeder” programs to the AIS. Thus, some large NSOs have an NTC in every State. Those that do not have an AIS program use one NTC as their “peak”, and try to establish a network of other centres as opportunities and resources permit. That’s the model that OA is following.

The Need for a NTC

First and foremost, an NTC provides the “window” to the non sport-specific support that any HP orienteer needs: “the things that we orienteers cannot do ourselves” as national senior coach Jim Russell has said. It’s also a concept that other Australian sporting bodies recognize, such as the peak body in Australia, the Australian Sports Commission. Some believe that until a NSO creates a NTC, peak bodies will not see it as “fair dinkum” about HP sport.

The Role of the NTC

The precise role of the NTC will always depend on the structure of, and resources available to, the NSO. However, all NTCs would offer athletes support in sport science (testing, exercise physiology, biomechanics and movement analysis, nutrition, research), massage and recovery advice, sports medicine, sport psychology, strength and conditioning, and athlete career advice and education. NTCs also provide logistic support for coaches and athletes, such as some transport to competitions, equipment, and a base from which to operate (phones, office support, computers and the like). NTCs provide media opportunities for a sport, as NTCs are always seeking to put their athletes’ (and coaches’) achievements to the media. They also provide a means for the coaches and administrators of a sport to share experiences (good and bad) and knowledge (or the lack thereof) with other sports, a factor that should never be underestimated. Many sports in Australia have suffered from an inability to look outside of themselves for ideas, initiative and the right people to implement those. HP orienteering has been one of them, but the scene is changing.

What ACTAS Will Offer?

Buying professional expertise can be expensive, so funds (or the lack of) are a limiting factor. Orienteering is one of those nonOlympic and non-Commonwealth Games sports that is not blessed with federal funding that is designed to gain the federal government maximum media exposure through those large-scale events. The ACTAS orienteering program has been funded by the ACT Government during its seven years of existence – a much smaller pool in which to swim. OA and OACT make contributions to the ACTAS program, some of which are “in kind”. The budget for the orienteering program at ACTAS in 2005 will be $78,000, most of which will be provided in services. That figure does not include the honorarium/salary for the Head Coach, which is paid by OACT and OA. It does include limited cash funding provided by ACTAS to buy discretionary services, pay for training camps, and to defray some athlete training/competition expenses.

The Head Coach

The role of a NTC will also depend on the philosophy of the Head Coach. Neville Bleakley has been Head Coach since the program’s inception in 1998. When he and Bob Mouatt convinced ACTAS to form the program in that year, they were influenced by ideas that Neville obtained orienteering overseas in 1993 and 1995, and during his ASC HP scholarship period 1994-1998. The holistic method of preparing an athlete - that had been adopted by all major Australian sports – has heavily influenced Neville’s stewardship. However, without athlete commitment and successes - combined with the willing support of volunteer coaches - the program would not be in place today. The sporting world is competitive by nature - and that includes sports administration. There is always another SSO or NSO that is willing to take your place (and resources) in the pecking order.

The Future for NTC HP Orienteers

Negotiations are currently proceeding as to exactly how HP orienteers from other States will access the resources of this NTC. Because the program has been funded primarily out of the coffers of the ACT taxpayer, all scholarship holders so far have been obliged to compete for the Canberra Cockatoos in the National League. Making ACTAS into a NTC changes that, so that an eligible HP orienteer (who is based in Canberra) will be able to join the ACTAS program and be able to compete for his/her home State. If orienteering were a well-funded sport the solution would be simple – buy those athlete places (at a heavily-discounted rate of approximately $2,500 per year). However, orienteering is not well-funded, so the planning and negotiating continues…..

The Future for NTC Coaching

Neville has announced his intention to resign as Head Coach later this year. He feels that seven years in one coaching position is rather a long time, and that the program needs an impetus of new blood. He feels that creating an NTC that will take Australian HP orienteering to another level should be the task for a younger coach with relevant HP international experience. The building blocks to do that are now in place at ACTAS. He rather hopes that the Canberra Cockatoos’ coach (a position funded by Sport and Recreation ACT, and also based at ACTAS) and the Head Coach of the NTC might be amalgamated into one position later this year. This idea will need OA, OACT and ACTAS approval of course. The best mechanism for that would be the ACTAS Orienteering Joint Management Committee, on which there are representatives of OACT, OA and ACTAS – currently John Sutton, Andy Hogg and Ken Norris respectively. By the time this article goes to print, a new Cockies’ coach will have been appointed, so that appointee’s wishes and aspirations may need to be taken into account too. It is no secret that the current Head Coach’s “salary” is quite modest. Creating one position would make a more attractive coaching package, opening up prospects for a younger person.

Opportunity for MTB Orienteering

ACTAS is the first NTC for orienteering, not foot orienteering. One of the best moves for MTB orienteering to make - as it strives to improve its support for HP MTB orienteers, and to build its own profile - would be to gain a place on this NTC program. Of course it would need its own program and its own coach, but the umbrella is there to use. ACTAS has an excellent cycling program, whose Head Coach has shown a willingness already to help ACT MTBO. Perhaps a talented HP MTB orienteer (or two) should apply for an ACTAS individual scholarship at the next opportunity, that being the way that foot orienteering also started many years ago. Then the planning and negotiating would start as to who would do what, with what. ‘Twas ever so..……