Hockey Australia have warned against a savage cut to their funding amid failures at Rio
HOCKEY Australia bosses have warned a savage cut to their $5 million funding under the Winning Edge program would severely impact their ability to rebound from a disastrous Olympic campaign.
HOCKEY Australia bosses have warned a savage cut to their $5 million funding under the Winning Edge program would severely impact their ability to rebound from a disastrous Olympic campaign.
Australian hockey has arguably had its worst Olympics ever, with the men failing to reach the medal rounds for the first time in 44 years and no Olympic medal since 1984.
In the space of 16 hours in Rio the men capitulated in a 4-0 defeat against Holland and the women’s 4-2 quarter-final loss to New Zealand was just as deflating.
That $5.84 million is dependent upon successes at benchmark events such as the Olympics, with the Champions Trophy, World Cup and world league competition also included.
Hockey Australia’s conundrum will be repeated by many Australian sporting federations across what has been a thus far disappointing Olympics.
Namely how do they bounce back from the failures of the 2012 and 2016 Olympics if reduced funding is the impact of those underperformances.
Hockey Australia chief executive Cameron Vale said yesterday it would be a mistake to financially penalise the Kookaburras for one poor tournament.
“Winning Edge is the system we are under and we have one or two benchmark events each year. Before this we have achieved our targets every single year,’’ he said.
“We have to be very careful about panic setting in and sports who so-called underperformed having their funding under threat.
“It can be self-perpetuating. This means the girls haven’t medalled since 2000. We have to take responsibility for that.
“The men are incredibly well funded and supported but we have only missed this one medal in a six or seven-year period.
“If that means changes to our funding that would be disappointing.”
The Australian government allocates $260 million a year through the Australian Sports Commission under a program inspired by England’s 2012 Olympic successes.
It unashamedly hands money to more successful sports and has been criticised by Olympic gold medallist Russell Mark for forcing sports to focus only on their elite stars.
Australian men’s coach Graham Reid said after the Kookaburras quarter-final loss he would fight for his job and had “unfinished business”.
Vale hinted Reid would be retained after successes in the World Cup, Champions Trophy, Oceania Cup and World League finals.
“Graham and I discussed before the Olympics the process and he wanted to wait until after the Olympics and I was more than comfortable with that,’’ he said.
“I have got a lot of belief in Graham and we will review where the program is at. Under Winning Edge we need to achieve consistent successful results.
“I will sit down with Graham and work on what he wants to do. He has a phenomenal record of success. I have full faith Graham is an outstanding coach.”
Originally published as Hockey Australia have warned against a savage cut to their funding amid failures at Rio