Paris 2024 Olympics: Hockeyroos funding gutted by almost 50 per cent after Tokyo result

The Hockeyroos’ cultural rebirth has been threatened by a severe funding cut which has denied potential Olympians access to the sport’s high performance program.

The Hockeyroos before an Olympic game in Tokyo.

The rising Hockeyroos will enter the Paris Olympics severely hamstrung after it emerged the women’s program’s government funding was gutted by nearly 50 per cent in the wake of their Tokyo disappointment.

Torn apart by rampant cultural issues in the lead up to the 2021 Olympics, the Hockeyroos were bundled out in the quarterfinals, resulting in an Australian Institute of Sport decision to slash the program’s funding by 45 per cent, equating to millions.

But a regime change and cultural reset has since borne Commonwealth Games silver, World Cup bronze and an injection of youth that has sprung new hope the Hockeyroos could be on the verge of their first Olympic medal in more than two decades.

Hockeyroos players line up ahead of their clash with India at Mate Stadium in Adelaide. Picture: David Mariuz/ Hockey Australia

If they were to break a drought that dates back to Sydney 2000 it would be in spite of a depleted high performance program that has suffered broad cuts due to the funding crisis.

In recent years, the women’s program has carried a squad of 27 athletes, the majority based out of the national program’s high performance centre in Perth. That has been slashed by five, down to 22.

Mariah Williams in tears after Australia’s Olympic elimination. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Emily Chalker in action at the Tokyo Olympics.

Head coach Katrina Powell’s staff has been trimmed down to one assistant, and she no longer has a full-time performance analyst to call upon. Instead, the Hockeyroos borrow an assistant coach and a performance analyst from the state institute network — and only when they are involved in tournaments.

“We’ve got a nucleus in this squad that can win in Paris and will get even better in LA and Brisbane,” Hockey Australia chief executive David Pryles said.

“But high-performance sport means that you need to develop them, because it doesn’t happen overnight.

“So, every day now that goes by is another day lost in the lead up to Paris, LA and Brisbane.”

Savannah Fitzpatrick scores for Australia at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Adam Head.

The cuts have also created an equality divide between the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras with the fully-funded men’s program still able to employ two full-time assistant coaches and a performance analyst all year round.

“I’m sure the players notice (the divide), it’s human nature,” Pryles said.

“When the cut happened, we brought the players together and talked them through what had happened and how we would deal with it.”

HA hasn’t sat on its hands — it’s grown sponsorship by 54 per cent and managed to divert more than $1 million back into the women’s program. That still hasn’t made up for the shortfall, so it’s looking at other avenues, including the potential to dip into cash reserves.

The AIS broke from tradition after Tokyo, allocating funding on a long-term model in line with four-year Olympic cycles. This system of apportioning its funds to more successful Olympic sports at the expense of those that underperform has created an unsaid Hunger Games between national bodies, where administrators secretly hope for other sports to fail.

“Sports are fighting each other for a share of a cake that keeps getting smaller,” Australian Olympic Commission chief executive Matt Carroll said, earlier this year.

The funding cuts are threatening the Hockeyroos’ preparations for Paris.

A spokesperson for the Australian Sports Commission, which oversees the AIS, said the government body had worked with Hockey Australia to determine the women’s program “would focus on developing future players and squads”.

The AIS allocated $1.5 million per year to the women’s program for high performance in the lead up to Paris and $1.46 million across two years to June 2024 in pathways.

The spokesman disputed claims the funding cut was in the millions, instead saying it equated to approximately $500,000, compared to the four years leading up to Tokyo.

Pryles acknowledged the AIS was in a difficult position due to a bipartisan disinterest in sport.

He echoed Carroll — who also revealed a $2 billion black hole brought about by funding cuts — in calling for the Federal Government to treat sport with the importance it deserved.

“Ultimately, every sport at a national level needs further investment from the Federal Government,” he said.

“And that’s both sides of politics. Under the previous government, the sport portfolio was with aged care and it’s the same under this government, so it doesn’t matter if it’s Labor or Liberal.

“Sport, not just hockey, is the lifeblood of our communities, not just for physical wellbeing, but mental wellbeing because of the social connections, which you can’t measure.

“It can’t be buried in the health portfolio. It needs its own ministerial oversight.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got a home Commonwealth Games and a home Olympic Games coming up. The legacy out of both those events needs to be successful Australian teams and the flow on effect of that is we get more people playing our sports.

“We want people turning up in Geelong and we want people turning up in Brisbane watching the game for the first time saying ‘I want to play that sport’.”