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HIGH PERFORMANCE REPORT
AS I sit in front of the computer tapping out this edition’s HP column the fantastic news of Hanny Allston gaining a bronze medal in the Middle Distance and the 4th place by Julian Dent in the Long Distance has made for a superb World Junior Championships for our Junior Team and for the World Championship competitive season for our other teams. Living in the same town as Hanny you get a great understanding of the dedication and commitment required to medal at a World Championships – it’s a very fine reward for many hours of hard work.
The High Performance Strategic Plan
Readers will have often seen in this column mention made of the High Performance Strategic Plan. Having such a plan is a part of our agreement with the Australian Sports Commission, our principal external funding provider, where we are obliged to formulate the strategic plan to determine the policy direction of our high performance programs. The current strategic plan expires at the end of this year. It is timely to provide a brief overview of the current plan and measure our successes against the stated aims of the plan. The plan evolved from a desire to improve the international competitive standing of Australian orienteering and much of the credit for this initial vision is due to Nev Bleakley and Bob Mouatt.
Strategic Plan Key Result Areas
The strategic plan identified 8 key areas, which were: 1. National Teams: To form men’s and women’s teams that will finish in the top six in the World Championships relay competitions and for individuals to win medals in the World Mountain Bike
Orienteering Championships in Victoria in 2004 and the [foot]
World Orienteering Championships in Japan in 2005, if not before. 2. National Orienteering League: To have a National League that offers the best competitors from all States and New Zealand well organised and technically demanding races against quality fields. 3. National Training Network: To have a network of National and
Regional Training Centres through Australia that serves the needs of elite Orienteering nationally and in each State. These will provide the opportunity for elite orienteers to have ready access to high quality areas for training, as well as the opportunity to study and/or develop a career. The program will be co-ordinated by a National Training Centre at the ACT Academy of Sport,
Canberra. 4. Elite Coaching Network: To have a well-established and effective elite coaching network that serves the needs of elite Orienteering nationally and in each State. 5. Support Staff: To have a pool of support staff who excel in their field of expertise and provide value to elite programs. 6. Video and Technology: To use video and other high technology to identify areas for improving athletes’ performance. 7. Media: To raise the profile of Australian elite Orienteering through increased promotion and media coverage and have a pool of athletes with well-developed media skills. 8. Resources: To have sufficient resources to execute the program.
Key Achievements
In looking at these key result areas we can identify some key areas of success. In respect of National Teams the 2004 MTBO team achieved fantastic success with numerous medals highlighted by the gold medal winning performance by Adrian Jackson. As you read this column we will know the outcomes of the 2005 World Championships in Japan and hopefully we have enjoyed a measure of success. There is no doubt in my mind that the athletes involved will have put their very best foot forward in any case. In addition, performances by athletes such as David BrickhillJones in the first round of the World Cup this year and our emerging talented juniors Hanny Allston and Julian Dent this year again prove that Australians are more that capable of being internationally competitive.
We now have a well-established National League complemented by the implementation of a junior division to provide an enhanced pathway for our talented junior athletes. All States are represented in large measure although it is fair to say we do need to work with some States to build their depth of competitors. The adoption of new National League funding arrangements this year is a response by Orienteering Australia to support the continued development of the National League.
We have established the superb ACTAS Orienteering program as our National Training Centre and this will be the core underpinning aspect of future development and support for our top athletes. States are building their capacity to provide structured training and support opportunities for their National League teams and particular reference should be made to the great work outside of the ACT in this area by Queensland and Western Australia.
We have made some very good progress in developing an elite coaching network and there is no doubt that our athletes are becoming more cognisant of the need to be supported by good coaching in order to achieve competitive aims. Nev Bleakley as the Manager National Coaching Programs has done much to encourage this improving coaching culture.
We are making better use of technology to monitor training outcomes through the use of GPS based systems at our National Training Centre at ACTAS. In addition, individual athletes who have scholarships through other Institutes of Sport such as the TIS are also beginning to use such technologies as an aid to improving training outcomes.
Key Directions 2006-08?
What are our key directions for the next three-year period? The respective High Performance Management Groups are currently formulating these but from my own personal view the following areas should be under consideration: • The continued development of quality athlete training systems to further build our international competitiveness. • Working with States to continue to build the depth of participation of athletes from all States in our National League and the subsequent development of competitive depth. • A continued development of partnerships with New Zealand to further develop regional competition for our top line competitors. • The development of a MTBO National League complemented by a developing network of State-based high participation competitions. • The further development of an active high performance coaching network for our World Championship teams, State National League teams and individual athletes as an essential underpinning of achieving high level competitive outcomes.
We also should not ignore the particularly hard aspects of Orienteering in the areas of working to improve our profile in the wider community and seeking out opportunities to access new resources to underpin more ambitious aspects of our future planning.
The High Performance Management Groups naturally welcome input from all stakeholders and the broader Orienteering community. If you would like to have some input into the development of the new strategic plan, your thoughts are always welcome. Contact your HP Director, Mike Dowling, by phoning 03-6244 7073 or via email at mdowling@tassie. net.au
