TA L E N T S E A R C H
The Tasmanian Experience Christine Brown
In 2003, Orienteering Tasmania embarked on a Talent Search Program in partnership with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport. The Talent Search program was a national program between the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), the various state Institutes (Academies) of Sport, and a selected few State Sporting Organisations. The ACTOA, with the support of Orienteering Australia, were keen to participate in the program but were unsuccessful in their attempt to become included. Paul Pacqué, after hearing about the idea from ACT, approached the Tasmanian Institute of Sport and successful negotiations resulted in the inclusion of Orienteering in the Tasmanian Talent Search Program. Christine Brown recently interviewed Paul about the Talent Search Program. Paul, explain how you got involved in the Talent Search Program. In the mid-nineties I worked as a Junior Development Officer for Orienteering Tasmania for a number of years and was disappointed by the almost non-existent flow-on effect from working with schools to increasing the number of club members and active orienteers. Later, as the National Junior Squad coach and JWOC coach I was often annoyed with the fact that my involvement with the squad members was limited to the few occasions when the group got together at training camps. Over the years, I also became increasingly frustrated by the general lack of enthusiasm and interest most orienteers show for being coached other than on a casual basis. After hearing about the unsuccessful attempt in ACT, I thought that it would be great to have a Talent Search Program in Tasmania. Keen to broaden my coaching involvement to the absolute grass roots level of the sport, the prospect of working for a year with a small group of hand-picked kids who had no previous Orienteering experience seemed like the perfect new challenge I was looking for. After preparing a detailed proposal, I entered into negotiations with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport (TIS) and after several meetings Orienteering was accepted as the first “non mainstream” sport in the Talent Search program (the other sports in the program at the time were cycling, rowing and athletics). At the same time I needed to obtain the support of the Tasmanian orienteering community. Sadly, there was quite a bit of initial reluctance from some of the clubs. The main argument against the proposal was that recruiting juniors without their parents being involved was doomed to fail. Fortunately Orienteering Tasmania was happy to let me run with it for one year and see what evolved. So once we were in, what happened next? The selection of a Talent Search athlete happens in three phases. In the 1st phase, the PE teachers of High Schools agreeing to be part of the program conduct several basic fitness and ability tests (e.g. shuttle run; vertical jump; 20m sprint; etc). Next, after collating thousands of results, the TIS invites the students in the top 10% to regional Phase 2 testing. This consists of more tests (e.g. ergometer testing) and anthropometric measurements. From the top 10% performers of Phase 2 the participating sports can then invite students to try out for the final sport-specific phase of testing. 44 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2007
In that first year, the TIS allowed me to invite a total of 66 students to Orienteering specific sessions in Launceston (38) and Hobart (28) based on the results of their shuttle run. As this had not been done before I had to come up with a series of tests to be administered. I settled on four tests: a 200m hill sprint (testing anaerobic power); a 3km cross country run (testing aerobic capacity); a 1.5km easy Orienteering course; and a paper test to gauge knowledge of contours and land shapes. Athletes were also given a short questionnaire, inquiring about their existing sporting commitments, their availability, parent support, etc. As far as I was concerned the two most important questions were whether they had enjoyed their short Orienteering experience and whether they were interested in trying Orienteering as a sport. Even more so than their actual test results, the replies to these two questions were used in deciding who was ultimately invited to join the first squad for twelve months. Of course not all invited athletes accepted the offer. How many athletes started in the first year and what were the commitments they had to make? The first squad consisted of 8 athletes in Launceston and 5 in Hobart. In Launceston they were offered the opportunity to attend two fitness and one skill training session per week. Attendance was never made compulsory. Gradually they were encouraged to start attending local events, then the bigger state events. They were also invited to all training camps that were conducted for the existing Tasmanian junior orienteers. Anecdotally, it took more than a year for this first group to be fully accepted as equals by OT’s existing junior members. At the first training camp they were completely shunned to the extent that they ended up calling themselves “the rejects”. Eventually, when it became clear that they were making significant progress and began to challenge the others, the group started to take notice and finally accepted the newcomers into their midst. Since that first year there have been a varying number of athletes taking up the offer to join the Talent Search program. While some dropped out either before or after their 12 months were completed, others have kept going and continue to orienteer regularly. It’s now 2007 and the program has been running for 5 years, what are the positives to come from Orienteering being involved in the TS program? There have been numerous positives but I think these are the main ones: • The continued support of the TIS and from Orienteering Tasmania. The TIS is very result focussed, so we must be doing something right. Being chosen to be part of the TS program has certainly given extra kudos to our sport. • Club memberships have been rejuvenated. The sceptics were proven wrong - recruiting and retaining juniors without parent participation is possible providing we look after them well. Furthermore many of the parents and siblings of TS athletes have also become involved, both as participants and in administration. • The extra number of juniors has created a critical mass of juniors at events and training camps that now regularly attract 40 juniors or more. This has made the social side of Orienteering more appealing. Other non-TS orienteers have reaped the benefit of the larger social scene. • Of the 26 Tasmanian juniors who travelled to Dubbo for JWOC and its associated carnival, 14 came directly or indirectly out of the TS program. • From a performance perspective, most TS athletes that have persevered have achieved success at state and national level. With few exceptions all of them have been named in a Tasmanian Schools Team. Several have placed at State and National
