Sports Breakfast: A stimulating affair.
An excellent panel and stimulating discussion was the highlight of the club’s Sports Breakfast on Thursday August 20 2015 at the RACV Club. There were 77 people present with 2 members from other clubs.
The morning raised a net $1680 from tickets and $800 from the raffle (won by the legendary Anne King). The total $2480 will go towards our efforts for indigenous cause, particularly the planned Bunuba Rangers bushwalking tours and help for Fitzroy Crossing residents.
The panel discussion was ably compered by
Jason Richardson, a talented broadcaster, Stawell Gift winner (1993) and veteran of the horseracing scene. Jason is an Australian athlete turned radio presenter. In 1993, he won the
Stawell Gift off the mark of 7.5 meters. He also won the 1992 'novice' 100m at Stawell, and followed his Gift win in 1993 with a win in the back-markers 120m invitation in 1994 - one of only two athletes in the history of the Stawell Gift to win all three in successive years.
His professional running career wins also include the 1996 British Professional 200m championship, plus wins in the Prahran & Smithton Gifts. He has also been placed in Australia's two other major Classic Gifts - the Bay Sheffield (SA) and
Burnie Gift (Tas).
Other panellists were:
Carol Cooke AM. She was 2012 London Paralympics Gold Medal winner (against male competitors) in the mixed T1-T2 cycling road time trial. She was diagnosed with MS in 1998 but defied medicos and continued her top-level sport, even now training 20-30 hours a week. In 2013 she became dual World Champion, winning both the Time Trial and the Road Race. In 2014 she backed up her World Champion status and again was ranked number one in the world. She is now hoping to retain her world titles in 2015 and representing Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games;
# Terry Bailey, Racing Victoria chief steward and, as some people would argue the “policeman of the sport of kings.”;
# Footie veteran Kevin Sheedy, past player at the Richmond Football Club, very successful coach of the Essendon Football Club and given the responsibility by the AFL to set up a successful club- Greater Western Sydney Giants; and
# Marty Pask, Managing Director i50 Sports Management, athlete representative, brand liaison and former AFL Lions and Bulldogs player.
[Photo with Rob Hines, organiser of the Sports Breakfast]
Carol began with an account of why even an MS diagnosis can be a positive force, creating unexpected opportunities to represent Australia in rowing and cycling, write a book, lead charity work and raise the profile of para sports.
Marty stressed that coaching is “not about you”, and not one size fits all. Players’ personal lives and problems have ripple effects into their performance, and those impacts need to be addressed in settings such as informal talks across a kitchen table. There is no value in finger-pointing about past weaknesses and players need to move on positively to clear space when an issue arises.
Kevin Sheedy led discussion about culpability of players who took substances on advice of officials and coaches. Jason stressed that young players were pressured to conform in “bubble” situations where practices were standard and accepted and players’ lives were regimented from dawn to evening.
Terry Bailey said with 900 horse-racing trainers competing for limited prize money, incentives to cheat were high. Honest trainers were all for strict and innovative procedures to catch wrong-doers. Many areas had grey borders, such as the current controversy over use of cobalt. “We say it is performance enhancing, the legal eagles are fighting it out over the issue,” he said. “We have one rule book for all, no matter how big in status particular people might be.”
Kevin Sheedy instanced drug-discredited champions in various sports, such as, cycling’s Lance Armstrong, and said top athletes now had the fear that their competitors may be cheating. The panel discussed how certain Chinese female swimming champions, and East German women athletes, had paid a high price in reputation and physical health for drugs foisted on them officially by coaches.
The panel also contrasted the good manners in golf, with bad manners recently displayed in top tennis. Kevin said his personal approach would be to have a quiet chat to the individuals about whether and how they were coping with pressures. Bad manners can lead to a heavy price in lost sponsorships.
Attendees ended the morning with a raft of worthwhile issues and views from panellists very close to the hot topics of sport today. Rob Hines’ inspired arranging of the event, with help from many hard-working club members, drew much praise.
Carol Cooke was able to offer her signed books for sale and was able to donate $40 to the fundraising effort.
Bill is an engineer [almost retired] and has spent most of his working life in mining projects in regional and remote Australia, including north west Western Australia. About 7 years ago, Bill was introduced to a remarkable aboriginal woman, June Oscar AO, and her friends Pat Davies [country singer] and Emily Carter. They have become Bill's great friends and his trips to the Fitzroy Valley area have become longer and more frequent. This year Bill spent 2 months in Fitzroy Crossing mapping out this walking trail and undertaking a pro-bono building project.
Mark served as senior editor and National Editorial Executive at Fairfax Media. He has extensive experience working across Asia and in government relations ar a national and state level.
