Don't cry for me!
I thought that this newsletter would be very brief as I have not spoken with anyone in Australia for the last two-and-a-half weeks but once I started writing while waiting for flights and after the return to my hotel room, the content grew a bit (like I seem to have after some R & R in Argentina). If you have followed the news on our web www.equestrian.org.au, however, you will probably know more about what has been happening in Australia than I do . After attending two National Board meetings and the 2008 EFA Annual General Meeting on 18 November 2008 in Adelaide and after having some time on the 4-star cross-country course on Saturday, I went back to Sydney to re-pack suitcases and fly out to Buenos Aires on Sunday morning for the FEI General Assembly. But first back to the meetings in Adelaide. Board Meetings & EFA AGMThe National Board farewelled President and Chairman Geoff Sinclair and Director Alexi Kentish, thanking them for their contribution over the last five years. These two Directors had drawn a two-year term when the new Board structure was set up. They have now completed two terms and need to stand down for one year before they can re-nominate for the Board if they so wish. After the AGM, the Board welcomed two new Directors, Graeme Bowker and Natalie Nichols, and elected Mary Seefried as the new EFA Chairman and President. This is the first in the Federation’s history that a female has taken to top job. Congratulations! As mentioned in a news item a couple of weeks ago, the AGM endorsed a change of name of the Federation to ‘Equestrian Australia’ and received a preview of the new "branding" of the organisation with enthusiasm. Branches are keen to use the new brand and we hope everything will be in place by 01 February 2009 the latest. There is also some renewed hope that a new constitution can be agreed upon early in the New Year. Generally, the National Board and the Branch Chairs and Managers that were present were very much supported of a united and more unified approach across the Branches and agreed to the changed Memorandum of Understanding between ‘National’ and the Branches, which had been reviewed at a joint session some time back. More about all of this in the next e-news. EventsI can't say too much about the major events that have happened recently or are about to happen in Australia. I believe, however, that the major events like the ‘Australian International 3-Day Event’ (in Adelaide), Equitana Asia Pacific and the Christoph Hess tour went well and presented the sport at its best. I will be keen to find out more when I get back to the office on 08 December. Please consult the news section and the event calendar on our web for reports and for events in the pipeline, like the National Show Horse Championships, the ISS (Tempo) Summer Jumping Classic at SIEC (including the final World Cup Jumping qualifier in the Australian League), the Dressage Festival at Werribee (including the Final of the Pacific League World Cup Dressage) and the Lakes & Craters 3-Star. (I am not on the web as I am writing this so you will need to look up the dates.) FEI General AssemblyAs far as the FEI General Assembly is concerned, I had expected it to be a little more 'interesting' than most of the previous ones, mainly because of the Dressage Committee issue. I was not disappointed. A lot was said in the meetings of the various Groups with the FEI Bureau but this is not for publication. There seemed to be general agreement, however, that both 'sides' could have handled the matter better and that there was a strong expectation that there should not be a repeat of this sort of thing. The workshops on the new FEI 'family net', Eventing safety and Development had some interesting content. The Development session was the last and went way over time mainly because speakers before me did not stick to their allotted slots. I was the last speaker and used my 10 minutes to encourage FEI Committees and other decision-makers to shift their focus a little away from Europe and pay greater attention to how the sport works in more outlying regions. The presentation went across very well, particularly with the smaller Federations, which were pleased that a “medium-level” equestrian nation had voiced concerns that many of them shared. Many Delegates come forward to congratulate me, saying that my presentation should have been in front of the General Assembly. I am not sure what the FEI brass thought but I believe that “word got around”. Whether it will make a difference is another question. I know, however, that the ‘Interim Group’ that has been set up to look at Dressage after the ‘resignation’ of the Committee will consider our input into the Dressage rule revisions when they meet. So much for this e-news. More in the final e-news for the year. Now back to real holidays, sort of …. Supporters and Sponsors
We are also looking forward to working with the Australian Paralympic Committee in the management of the Para-Equestrian high performance program from early 2009. We hope our partnerships with our commercial sponsors can be strengthened further in the next Olympiad. So in summary, 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! Hasta luego! Franz Venhaus | ||
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