Athletes left in a vacuum
MARK WOODS
IT SEEMED the perfect way to mend a fractured relationship. The increasing mutual antipathy between scottishathletics and the Scottish Institute of Sport needed an arbitrator, someone who could address the issues of under-performance on track and field. Enter the institute’s new director, Mike Whittingham, who is steeped in athletics and political machinery, and a thoughtful figure who could bridge the divide.
Except that when Whittingham formally took up the reins at the institute’s headquarters in Stirling, the wounded beast had bolted from the stable. Shortly before Whittingham started his new post, scottishathletics had decided to withdraw from the core group of sports overseen by the SIS. His predecessor, Anne-Marie Harrison, had warned that a tally of two medals at March’s Commonwealth Games merited at least a strong evaluation of scottishathletics’ objectives and policies. Instead, the schism has become a divorce.
“It’s a decision I’ve inherited,” Whittingham admitted. “I’m hoping we will have an opportunity to get round the table and make a decision which is right for athletics and Scottish athletes. The most important thing is that we keep the dialogue going.”
Many athletes are dismayed at the move, which threatens to leave established performers without funding to continue to compete on a full-time basis or the back-up which the institute provide. UK Athletics, who oversee funding from UK Sport to manage a nationwide World Class Performance Programme, are to cut their elite group from 160 to fewer than 90. While their budget moving towards the London Olympics of 2012 remains stable, the policy is to focus on high achievers or those with medal-winning potential.
Previously, the Scottish Institute of Sport offered a safety net to those Scots who fell short of British recognition. A senior figure at UK Athletics said that in the past Scottish athletes were sometimes left off the UK list because they would get funding north of the Border: money could be freed up for others. Reviews between UKA and supported competitors have been completed, and it is understood that only one Scot, hurdler Lee McConnell, will get World Class Funding in 2007.
Whittingham said: “By withdrawing as a programmed sport, athletes would still be individually looked after. But we will have to appraise how we go about that.” Critically, only those such as McConnell, who are ring-fenced by UKA, will survive what will be a cull. “It is likely that the number of athletes will be reduced. By how many, I’m not sure. That’s down to UK Athletics.”
The prospect of funding being reduced, or withdrawn, has left many athletes worried. Scottishathletics are refusing to comment on what plans they have to support their current or aspiring stars, stating only that the decision to withdraw was about “taking more control over our own sport”. Lottery funding will still be available, though this has been in gentle decline and, with stricter criteria on the way, those on the fringe could be squeezed out.
It is believed that one solution being considered by the governing body is establishment of a Commonwealth Squad fund. Unlike the institute’s pot, it would not help with the costs of living, merely with support services such as physiotherapy.
“It is a worry,” confirmed hammer thrower Shirley Webb (pictured below), whose disappointments on the international stage this year, and a public dressing-down from UKA performance supremo Dave Collins, are likely to see her cast adrift from the core coterie.
“I’ve had regular physio through the institute and maintenance. They’ve given me a lot. Nutritional help, psychologists.They also helped with my coach’s expenses and I got video-monitoring software. I’ll reserve judgment until I know what the set-up will be under scottishathletics, but it’s sad that it’s no longer coming under the Institute of Sport’s auspices.”
Other athletes share that view, but there is satisfaction that former sprinter Aileen McGillivary, who looked after the sport at the institute, has been employed by UKA to maintain some continuity.
“She is possibly the best person that we have worked with in the Scottish Institute of Sport,” observed Roger Harkins, McConnell’s coach. "Perhaps as a former athlete she has a greater understanding of what needs to be put in place, but Lee and I have worked well with her for a couple of years."
Athletics is at a critical juncture - in the UK and beyond. UK Athletics are seeking a new chief executive and chairperson; medals have proved elusive, and drugs continue to tarnish perceptions.
While the Institute of Sport have positively influenced swimming, badminton, cycling and even rugby, athletics has not delivered. Bringing matters in-house is unlikely to provide a quick fix. Yet some respected figures are prepared to venture that the shake-up, albeit unintentionally, might produce better results.
“We never got funding. We had to get off our backsides and get a job,” said Margot Wells, wife and mentor to Allan, who now operates a successful coaching group on the south coast. “Maybe if there’s less funding, it will act as an incentive to some athletes to try and get back into that elite group. Maybe it might work for them rather than against them.”
It is a theory which Whittingham did not wish to test, but one which athletes now have no choice but to confront.
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