SA hockey crisis highlights how Australian Olympics sports were left without a true legacy from the Sydney Olympics in 2000
SA Hockey is unable to fund senior State teams to play in the new Australian championships, leaving questions on where is the real legacy from the Sydney Olympics
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JAY Weatherill, when he was SA Premier more than 12 months ago, announced to a room of eager sports enthusiasts a $250,000 State government grant to the Adelaide Football Club’s AFLW team.
The hall - much to Weatherill’s surprise - remained silent rather than filled with echoes of eager applause.
It was the SA Olympic family in the room ... and many of them are still wondering why State and federal governments show so much love to domestic professional sports, particularly AFL clubs that - like the Crows - can generate multimillion-dollar profits.
The Crows could finish up with $30 million of government grants - $20 million from Canberra and $10 million from North Terrace - when they finally put together their plan for a new $60 million headquarters away from the demolished Football Park at West Lakes.
The Port Adelaide Football Club is holding promises of $10 million of government funding for its planned Aboriginal Centre of Excellence at Alberton Oval. Carlton recently banked $19 million from Canberra to build facilities for AFLW interests at its Prince Park base in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, SA Hockey needs to find $100,000 by next Tuesday to fund its State men’s and women’s team for the new-look Australian national championships in October-November. If the money cannot be found, SA will not feature in the nationals for the first time - and aspiring South Australian hockey players will be denied a local pathway to the Olympics or Commonweath Games (that Adelaide wants to host in 2026).
When SA Hockey chairman James Blackburn recently went to Weatherill’s successors in the State government, he was sent away empty handed.
“The state government said it does not support state teams,” Blackburn told The Advertiser.
It is a theme SA basketball - the guardians of the local grassroots of another Olympic sport - knows while the State government has handed $150,000 to keep the Adelaide Lightning women’s national league basketball team.
This crisis in funding Olympic sports - as domestic football codes in the AFL and NRL loaded up on commercial deals and government grants - has been building since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Where was the legacy for the Australian Olympic movement after the grand party in Sydney? Prime Minister John Howard cut funding to the Olympic sports. Big companies such as Telstra left the golden Hockeyroos to put their money towards the NRL.
The AFL cleaned up as well as domestic sports made major gains from Corporate Australia while Olympic sports were left with an empty legacy from Sydney 2000.
The AFLW is a great advancement in sporting opportunities for women.
But hockey was there long ago offering women the same dream for international success - and Olympic glory. It is a truly diversified sport with equality for men and women.
For SA hockey to be at a point of crisis on funding its State teams - and the Olympic dreams of local hockey players - is a remind how Sydney did not deliver all that was promised for Australian sport.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
Originally published as SA hockey crisis highlights how Australian Olympics sports were left without a true legacy from the Sydney Olympics in 2000
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