Annual Report 2009
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Annual Report 2009 MMessageessage ffromrom tthehe 5 AAustralianustralian SSportsports CCommissionommission CCEOEO RReporteport 8 PProgramrogram PPartnersartners 1122 22009009 SSkiki & 1166 SSnowboardnowboard AAustraliaustralia AAwardswards 22009009 NNationalational 2200 TTeamseams FFinancialsinancials 2244 CONTENTS Ski & Snowboard Australia wishes to thank our Program Partners and Corporate Supporters Principal Partner Key Supporter Institute Program Partners Resort Program Partners 4 International Resort Program Partner Message from the Australian Sports Commission The power of a successful sports system like Australia’s lies within the many cooperative partner- ships and relationships between its system partners. As our sports system has diversifi ed and increased in complexity over the years, so too has the nature of these relationships. Now, as ever, a critical ingredient for our system’s continued success and sustainability is to ensure that we all remain on the same page—that our links between each other, our leading programs, our roles and relationships are clearly defi ned and understood by all. Sport operates in a dynamic, demanding and rapidly changing environment. The sources of change include advancing technologies, new structures and systems, products and services, people concerns and rising international competition and benchmarks. The Australian Government has fl agged the need to address this change by reforming our sports system and has outlined its approach in the paper Australian Sport: Emerging Challenges, New Directions. The Government has also appointed an independent expert panel headed by lawyer David Craw- ford to investigate ways to ensure both high performance and community level sport is prepared for those challenges. The Australian Sports Commission has already taken steps to review and evaluate our strategic po- sition and intent in active consultation with national sporting organisations and other stakeholders. These system improvements will provide a foundation for any changes emerging from the Govern- ment process. Already we have identifi ed a number of priorities. These include: the need to better align our high performance sport efforts with our partners; to work more collaboratively with state departments of sport and recreation in strategic approaches to growing participation in sport; to re-communicate the value of sport to the Australian community; and to retain and develop our best coaches. Our efforts to act on these priorities are inherently intertwined with our partners. These partner- ships represent a powerful tool in our ability to adapt to a changing environment, to share respon- sibilities, effectively communicate and continue to expand and strengthen sport. Our work together will ensure that the Australian sports system is progressive, robust and sustain- able for decades to come. 5 Matt Miller Chief Executive Offi cer Australian Sports Commission Ski & Snowboard Australia Annual Report 2008-09 CEO REPORT Michael Kennedy Chief Executive Offi cer Skiing and Snowboarding are among Australia’s largest and most popular participation sports. The numbers involved are staggering; particularly when you consider much of the activity is under- taken in the Eastern states. According to industry fi gures, approx 6% of the population or over 1.2 million individuals partici- pate in the sport of ski and snowboarding on a regular basis, a number that is on par with some of Australia’s largest participation sports namely Tennis, Golf and Cycling. The participation rate is even higher when you consider that the bulk of the 1.2 million comes from Victoria, NSW and ACT representing approximately 9% of population from those States. Of particular note, unlike many of the mass participation sports, the snowboard discipline and many aspects of the freestyle skiing disciplines have particularly strong youth appeal. This is espe- cially signifi cant when you consider the push from the Olympic movement and from Government to better engage with the younger generation and encourage them to participate in sport. It is little wonder then that we are able to continue to achieve success at the highest level of winter sport, particularly in those events that are facility driven and with great support from the State and National institute network. The resorts too are key players in the growth and success of skiing and snowboarding from a competition perspective. There is little doubt that the growth of competition based clubs and pro- grams increases visitation and fi nancial commitment from families, and we look forward to working with the Australian resorts to grow and promote the virtues of Skiing and Snowboarding in Austra- lia. We in turn look forward to their continued and increased support over time. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver will provide over 1700 hours of coverage of Win- tersport to Australian lounge rooms via the Nine Network and four dedicated channels on Foxtel. This increased coverage is due in no small part to the relevance and competitiveness of Australian athletes across a broad range of Wintersport events. This increase in coverage (comparable to 700+ AFL/NRL games) leads to increased awareness, which in turn leads to increased participa- tion and patronage at Australian ski resorts, not to mention the fl ow on effect to the snow industry retail sector. The value of sport, though not easily quantifi able, is undeniable. The fact that skiing and snowboarding is a mass participation, lifetime sport and one which has enjoyed sustained success at the Olympic and World Cup level, ensures we remain a meaningful player in whatever direction Government takes with sport policy in the future. The 2008 – 2009 reporting period again provided many on snow highlights and fi rst for Australian winter sport. The major highlights of the year include aerial skier Lydia Lassila breaking through to claim her fi rst World Cup title after fi nishing second on four previous occasions. Lydia Lassila secured the World Cup Title with a bronze medal in the fi nal event of the season in Moscow, to take her season tally to two gold and two bronze and her career medal victories to nine gold and 18 minor medals. Team mate Jacqui Cooper became the fi rst Australian winter sports athlete to win three World Championship medals, collecting bronze in Inawashiro at the end of the season. On the snowboard front 19 year old snowboard halfpipe rider Nate Johnstone fi nished the season ranked second in the world, while Holly Crawford rode to Silver at the World Champion- ships in Korea. Damon Hayler secured his fi rst ever world cup victory with a win in the SBX in Bad Gastein, Austria. Torah Bright continued to show her world dominance by winning the X Games 8 gold medal along with several other events on the US Pro Tour. The SSA board upon its formation set as one of its main priorities, a review and restructuring of the four Discipline Committees. This was necessary to provide a clearer level of accountability to the Board under the new Constitution which established a “top to bottom” responsibility for competitive sport in SSA. Earlier in 2008, the Board undertook a process of calling for nominations for the SSA Discipline Committees based on a structural overview paper published as part of the nomination process. The Board set out to complete the process and announce the makeup of the Discipline Commit- tees in July 2008. This was delayed pending the release of the Mark Sharp Alpine Report which was likely to contain some structural recommendations in its fi ndings potentially relevant across all disciplines. The fi nal report did contain such structural recommendations which resulted in a re- nomination opportunity specifi cally for Alpine. The process was completed and after a comprehensive review, the new SSA discipline committees were formed and announced in November 2008 which coincides with the reporting period. A huge amount of work has been undertaken by the discipline committees, and while they remain largely volunteer positions the increase in expertise and skills based nominations is noticeable. The Ice House at Docklands, Melbourne, is in its fi nal stages of construction and is scheduled to open to the public in early 2010. SSA will relocate to the facility together with the Olympic Winter Institute in early 2010. The facility has been developed by ING Real Estate as part of the waterfront city development and the sport is incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity to move to a world class, permanent base for Wintersport in Australia. The facility including meeting rooms, gymnasium and hospitality areas will be available to the wider Snowsport community to utilize in time. The Australian Olympic Committee delivered its High Performance Plan in March 2009. A copy of the report is available on the AOC website (www.olympics.com.au). The HPP process was thorough, comprehensive and marked the biggest High Performance review of sport since Australia won the rights to host the Sydney Olympics in the early 1990’s. Wintersport was well represented in the plan, and was identifi ed as being capable of delivering the largest increase in medal performances across all sports given an increase in funding. This is a testament to the leadership, structure, effi ciency and the National approach taken by Wintersport and SSA in particular. The increase in funding will be one of the many issues the government will need to address as part of its response to the Crawford Report in early 2010. Given our history of sustained high performance success, effi ciency of delivery and the mass participation and relevance of Wintersport we remain confi dent of a favourable outcome. The Ski & Snowboard Awards proved another highlight of the 2008-2009 period, with many of Australians leading Wintersport athletes and industry fi gures coming together in Melbourne on 30 April 2009. Aerial skiing World Cup champion Lydia Lassila was named the Ski and Snowboard Australia Ath- lete of the Year, taking the honor ahead of team-mate Jacqui Cooper and snowboard halfpipe star Torah Bright.