Off to Hong Kong
Eventing and Dressage horses and riders are now on their way to Hong Kong and Jumping teams will follow next week. Flights are non-stop and quite short compared to the demands of a trip from AUS to Europe, so it is amazing how much media hype is being created about horses arriving in good condition from Europe. On the other hand, horses travelling by air for the first time can bring a few surprises ... Channel Seven and some other media were interested in reporting the departure of the three AUS-based Eventing horses from Mascot today but did not get permission from AQIS to get anywhere near the loading corral. The pendulum on general security and "biosecurity" has obviously swung to the "extreme caution" side, even when horses are being exported from a country that has declared itself free of Equine Influenza. (Something similar can be said about some of the measures introduced following the outbreak and the Callinan Report. A proper risk assessment may replace some of these overreactions with measures in like with risk in due course but in the meantime ...) TV camera crews may have to hire "cherry pickers" and record from the distance but then they will probably be booked or shifted on some other grounds. Unfortunately, the current strong media interest is mainly due to the (Summer) Olympic Games and they only happen every four years. The Australian Olympic delegation hopes to make this Games one of the most successful ever, and we wish them all the best of luck! It will be interesting to see how weather conditions in Hong Kong will impact on performances of both horses and riders. Temperatures have been between the high-20s to mid-30s, and last week was amazingly dry. It is, however, wet and a little stormy this week. We must not forget that the Games take place during the Typhoon season. These storms can develop very quickly and when they threaten to reach force 9, the whole city shuts down, including the airport. A typhoon of this strength would also force organisers to postpone competitions and to dismantle a large number of temporary facilities. It is for this reason that the current competition schedule shows the Individual Jumping Final (the last Equestrian competition) for Thursday, 21 August, giving organisers three days up their sleeves for delays beyond their control. Olympic ReportsEquestrian "Section Manager" Brett Mace has been sending us some reports and photos from Hong Kong. We hope to provide further behind-the-scenes information on our web before and during the Games. John Gatfield is the AOC's appointed Media person for Equestrian and will produce press releases and reports. There are, of course, various other sources of information apart from the "official" web sites with live results and web casts. These include blogs and other sites run by riders and a number of accredited journalists and photographers. As far as television coverage is concerned, it will be interesting to see how Channel Seven and SBS will split their reporting. The expectation is that whenever there are AUS medal chances, Seven will take over, so let's hope there will be a lot of Equestrian on that channel. GOOD LUCK to all of our riders and a big THANKYOU to our partners, sponsors, owners, helpers and other supporters! All competition except for some Eventing Dressage and the Cross-country will commence at 9:15PM AEST (Sydney time) and will finish after midnight. There will only a couple of other "equestrian" pieces on FoxSports and BBC News in August. On the other hand, Yahoo!7 is the official on-line broadcaster for the 2008 Olympic Games although we do not know exactly as yet what is going to be covered (and how much it is to view). The Yahoo!7 website has profiles of all athletes and lots of other information. You can even answer questions, provided you know the answer, of course. Good luck to our riders InsuranceEarlier this year we went through a tender process for the EFA National insurance scheme. I am pleased to report that we were able to negotiate insurance premiums substantially lower than last year's rates and that Aon will remain our brokers for the next three years. The reductions apply to both Member Personal Accident Insurance and the club, coach and general member insurances (Public Liability/Professional Indemnity, Associations Liability and Voluntary Workers' Personal Accident. The 10 percent rebate for clubs that were insured last year will, however, not continue on this occasion. Insurance scheme income was affected last year by the cancellation of events due to Equine Influenza. On the other hand, clubs that meet a list of requirements may become "EFA Premium Clubs" and get one third off the applicable charges. Insurance renewals for clubs, associations and coaches will go out some time in August. The new scales of fees and the associated paperwork will also be published on our web. Day MembershipOur insurance allows competitors, who are not EFA members or members of an EFA-insured club, to participate in Associate/unofficial competition of an EFA-insured club provided they become "day members" of that club and provided the club remits $20 per event per such day member to the National Office, together with basic details of these day members. Clubs may charge more than the $20 but need to send $20 to the National Office. No remittance, no cover. Clubs that have applied or are applying to become an "EFA Premium Club" and want to take advantage of the one-third discount on insurance charges, will also lose that privilege if they do not comply with Premium Club and insurance requirements, including the day membership arrangements. In any case, clubs and individuals that do not pay what they are supposed to are simply benefiting at the expense of all the others who are doing the right thing. As far as insurance in general is concerned, it always amazes me how many people feel that don't need it even though they could easily afford to pay the cost involved. It is just that when "bad things" eventually happen, they will kick themselves for not taking out insurance but hopefully they will not be relying on others to help them. EFA National MattersEFA National Board ElectionThis coming Friday (01 August - The Horse's Birthday), Branches will elect two new Directors to the EFA National Board. EFA President and Board Chairman Geoff Sinclair and Director Alexi Kentish have completed their terms and need to stand down for at least one year from the AGM in November. This means the EFA will have two new Directors and the new Board will elect a new Chair. Interesting times ahead, not least for me ..... There were ten nominations to fill the two vacancies. Backgrounds include sport achievements, senior public service, tertiary qualifications, officiating, committee membership and directorships on corporate boards. The two new Directors will take up their appointment from the 2008 EFA Annual General Meeting in Adelaide in November. National Office StaffWe are still accepting applications for the positions of Sport Consultant (with Dressage and Show Horse emphasis) and of Policy & Project Officer/Assistant to the CEO. You can find details on our web. Policies and ReviewsWe are in the process of updating our (human) Anti-Doping Policy to comply with changes of the World Anti-Doping Code effective from 01 January 2009. In essence, we will be adopting the template provided by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA). Apart from changes to the list of prohibited substances, the new policy gives more flexibility in sanctioning and has new provisions for "Athlete Whereabouts" information and Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE). You can find out more about the changes on the WADA web. We have submitted our "Fully-Costed Operational Plan" for this financial year to the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to ensure that our funding continues smoothly. The plan includes commitments to "recognise" the ASC as our principal sponsor at major events. We must all bear in mind that the financial support of the ASC has been tremendous for many years, allowing us to conduct the very successful high performance program that brings benefits to all levels and to all equestrian sports, regardless of whether they are "Olympic". We are also most grateful for the substantial additional support provided in recent times by Federal and State Governments when our preparations for Beijing were affected by the outbreak of Equine Influenza. In the subject of EI, the EFA is one of the "stakeholders" represented on the Federal Government's AQIS Horse Industry Consultative Committee that held its first meeting in Canberra today. The Committee is a consultative forum for the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) to engage with industry on equine biosecurity, quarantine and market access issues. Minutes will be published on the AQIS web. A committee of Branch and National representatives will meet at the end of August to review the proposed new EFA Constitution that will update the current document and its wording to "current industry practice" and remove the "shareholder" provisions from the governance structure. This update will bring the EFA corporate structure into line with ASC policy. Talent Hunt for London 2012Part of our ASC recognition program is to help the Commission publicise its initiatives. The most recent one is eTID, which stands for electronic Talent Identification program. This is a world first and is designed for ANY sport. To find out more, click the rider on the left of our home page (riding a bicycle) or go straight to the ASC web. Australian International 3-Day EventThis is the new name for the Adelaide International Horse Trials, which will take place 14-16 November 2008. Why not become a member of the Four Star Club and make sure you can enjoy special privileges during the event? Supporters and SponsorsI would like to thank our funding agencies, sponsors and supporters for their continued assistance. In particular, we would like to mention
For more news and other information, please visit www.equestrian.org.au or your State Branch web (www.[state].equestrian.org.au). Make it a good day! Franz Venhaus | ||
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