Australian Capital Territory Olympic Council ________________________ INCORPORATED ________________________ 2012 ANNUAL REPORT 2 ACT Olympic Council Address: C/- 53 Glasgow Street HUGHES ACT 2602 Website: www.olympics.com.au/act/ E-mail: See ‘Contact Us’ in www.olympics.com.au/act/ Formed: December 1979 (as ACT Olympic Sports Association) Patron: Katy Gallagher MLA Chief Minister of the ACT President: Robin Poke Vice President: Andrew Dee Treasurer: Harry Carroll Secretary: Bruce Coe Executive Members: Shaun Creighton (Olympians) Jim Ferguson Regan Harrison Owen Heness Brendon Prout David Pembroke (resignation from Executive effective from 12 July 2012) Auditors: Ernst & Young Life Members: Peter Anderson OAM David Dickson Denis Wilson AM 3 Contents Sports Directory Page 4 President’s Report Page 5 Treasurer’s Report Page 8 Education Page 9 Pierre de Coubertin recipients Page 10 Olympic Team Partners & Suppliers Page 11 London 2012 Olympians Page 12 Olympians Page 13 Other Activities Page 13 Financial Reports Page 14 Sports Directory ARCHERY www.archery.org.au ATHLETICS www.athleticsact.org.au BADMINTON www.badmintonact.asn.au BASEBALL www.act.baseball.com.au BASKETBALL www.act.basketball.net.au BOXING www.boxingact.org.au CYCLING www.act.cycling.org.au EQUESTRIAN www.actea.asn.au FENCING www.actfa.org.au FOOTBALL www.capitalfootball.com.au GOLF www.actgolf.com.au GYMNASTICS www.actga.net HANDBALL www.acthandball.org.au/?page_id=48 HOCKEY www.hockeyact.org.au ICE HOCKEY www.actiha.org.au ICE SKATING www.actisa.asn.au JUDO www.facebook.com/pages/Judo-ACT/400691443313889 ROWING www.rowingact.org.au RUGBY www.brumbies.com.au SAILING www.act.yachting.org.au SHOOTING – Clay www.canberrainter.org.au SHOOTING – Pistol www.pistol.org.au/about/associations SHOOTING – Rifle www.canberrarifleclub.org.au SNOW SPORTS www.snowsportsact.com.au SOFTBALL www.act.softball.org.au SWIMMING www.swimmingact.com.au TABLE TENNIS www.tabletennisact.org.au TENNIS www.tennis.com.au/act/ TRIATHLON www.triathlonact.com.au VOLLEYBALL www.volleyballact.com.au WATER POLO www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-3212-0-0-0 WEIGHTLIFTING www.weightliftingact.com WRESTLING www.act.wrestling.com.au 4 President’s Report The Australian Capital Territory Olympic Council (ACTOC) represents the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) in the ACT and is recognised as the ‘umbrella’ organisation in the Territory for the associations whose sports are among those on the Winter and Summer Olympic programs. ACTOC also promotes the interests and activities of Olympians resident in Canberra and provides administrative support to the Olympians Club of the ACT. It liaises with the ACT Government, its departments and agencies, including the ACT Academy of Sport, and supports the AOC’s education program by liaising with and providing material to schools and educational authorities as part of promoting the Olympic Movement, its ideals and ACTOC activities. It also assists the AOC in raising funds for Australian athletes preparing to participate in the Olympic Games. As such it has a key role in the ACT’s sporting and community activities. I am pleased to present the Council’s 2012 Annual Report and to outline the activities that took place during the year. The first significant event was attendance by Council Secretary Bruce Coe and myself at the unveiling of a headstone marking the Melbourne grave of Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic gold medallist, Launceston Elliot. Bruce had identified the hitherto unmarked grave several years earlier, and was subsequently instrumental in contacting British Olympic Association (BOA) and AOC officials in a bid to have the headstone erected. The ceremony, which took place on 18 March at the Fawkner Cemetery in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, was therefore the successful culmination of a lengthy campaign. In attendance were BOA Chairman Lord Colin Moynihan, Britain’s Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson and his Australian counterpart Senator Kate Lundy, the Assistant Chef de Mission of Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic Team Jan Paterson, Britain’s High Commissioner to Australia, Paul Madden, and the Secretary-General of the AOC Craig Phillips. Photo: Courtesy of BJ Coe 5 On 17 May I attended a ceremony at the University of Canberra Senior Secondary College (UCSSC) Lake Ginninderra marking the institution’s 25 years of operation. In that time, in concert with the Australian Institute of Sport, the College has played an integral role in the education of aspiring athletes, whose daily training environment has been complemented by high quality educational and vocational opportunities. As a result more than 100 Olympians have studied at UCSSC during its first quarter century. During the commemoration proceedings a Hall of Fame was unveiled and I presented a letter of congratulation from Craig Phillips to College Principal Martin Watson. Assistant Secretary Owen Heness once again took full and efficient responsibility for the administration of the annual Pierre de Coubertin awards, the centrepiece of the AOC’s education program. The awards engage students from Canberra’s secondary schools, whose nominees are required to have taken an active part in their schools’ sporting activities, and in literary or artistic projects demonstrating their appreciation of the Olympic Movement and its values. On Friday 22 June, the day before the internationally-recognised Olympic Day, 27 students were presented with their awards by Olympic rowing silver medallist Jaime Fernandez. Jaime also provided an inspirational insight into the trials and tribulations that beset him during a distinguished career, then showed the students his ‘home movie’ of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games opening ceremony. Also popular with the students was marathon runner Martin Dent, who had learned only days earlier of his selection for the London Games. The Council again wishes to record its appreciation to Jenny Noordhuis from the ACT Department of Education for her help in running the event, and to Diane Heness, who once more provided superb catering. On 27 June, one month to the day before the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Council held a major fundraising lunch at the Lobby Restaurant, Parkes. The guest speaker was Olympic swimming gold medallist Petria Thomas, who enthralled the audience with her account of the challenges she faced prior to at last achieving her lifetime’s ambition at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Also there was British High Commissioner Paul Madden, who reported on London’s progress towards presenting the Games and took great delight in reminding us of the challenge to Australia that Great Britain presented! A further notable contribution was made by the 2012 Deputy Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller, while Olympic rowing gold medallist Mike McKay was interviewed, as was the doyenne of Canberra Olympians, Judy Wilson, who as Judy Canty contested the long jump the last time London hosted the Olympics in 1948. As always we were very grateful for the generosity of our major benefactor, Richard Rolfe, whose contribution of Olympic memorabilia ensured that we exceeded our fundraising target, and to Vice-President Andrew Dee and his Rowing Australia colleagues, who played a major role in organising the event. It was also good to welcome federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy, her ACT counterpart Andrew Barr, the CEO of the Australian Sports Commission Simon Hollingsworth, AOC Vice President Ron Harvey and members of the local Carbine Club, one of the foremost supporters of sporting endeavour in Australia. Council members fortunate enough to travel to London for the 2012 Olympic Games were Vice President Andrew Dee, Assistant Secretary Owen Heness and myself. All members, however, had a role in Australian team ‘welcome home’ events held in Canberra on 28 August, all of which were enthusiastically supported by our Patron, Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, the ACT government and a small but very efficient team from the ACT Academy of Sport led by Manager Gerard Coradini. A public reception in Civic Square was followed by a private function for team members and officials in the Canberra Theatre Centre, then to mark what was the last day of the team’s national welcome home tour a further reception was held at The Deck, Regatta Point. The event also had an unusual sequel. During the Theatre Centre function Britain’s Assistant High Commissioner Tony Brennan overheard dual Olympic rowing medallist Kim Crow explaining how her bronze medal had been damaged. Mr Brennan duly arranged with the British Olympic Association for a replacement medal to be sent out, and at a light-hearted ceremony at the British High Commission on 11 October he presented Kim with her new medal. 6 It was a fitting climax to a delightful relationship with the High Commission that had endured throughout the Olympiad. Photo: Courtesy of British High Commission An ACT Sport Hall of Fame lunch had meanwhile taken place on 5 October, at which Beijing 2008 hockey Olympian Sarah Young, formerly Taylor, was inducted, and this was followed by the ACT’s annual Sportstar awards on 30 November. The provision by the AOC of banners, a Channel Nine DVD and an athlete action Powerpoint ensured that the event was very much Olympic-themed, while it also provided the opportunity of presenting Olympic participation pins, medals and certificates to Canberra-based Olympians, notably the most successful of all in London, swimmer Alicia Coutts. Olympians, some 130 of whom live in the ACT, are role models to sportspeople of all abilities, most notably aspiring Olympians, and are a great resource, potentially, in terms of assisting the Council’s fundraising efforts and profile. Olympians Club activities, individually and collectively, were reported in regular articles submitted to the AOC for the national newsletter The Olympian, while Olympians also either assisted with or attended events organised by the Council. Notable attendees were Olympians Club president Shaun Creighton, his vice-president, David Dickson, softballers Sally McCreedy and Joanne Brown, Bruce and Kay Hick from rowing, and swimmers Petria Thomas and Adam Pine.