OZ REVISITED

The World championships are over and the riders are back home.

From a British perspective, Australia 2009 was "disappointing" - some would call it a "disaster".  Every one of the 20 riders in Team GB did their very best but at the end of the day, their best was simply not good enough.  Today we are well and truly a third rate cycle speedway nation.  So what can be done to restore British pride and get our riders back on top of the World?

In the days and weeks ahead, we'll be looking back at what went well and what didn't go so well Down Under.  We'll be examining how Australia can turn their team from also-ran kids into World beaters in the space of nine months.  Why are the Poles so much better than us?  How can we develop our young talent so they can complete on an international stage? 

We'll be enlisting some of the top names in the game, seeking their views and asking the same question - what can we do to make Britain Great again!

Oz Revisited opens the debate - and we'd love to hear from you with your views and ideas.  USA 2011 is not far away!

AUSTRALIA 2009

Steve Harvie's unique take on the 2009 Tour to Australia

“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” – Part One

Well that’s it all over for another four years, a month of insanity Down Under according to the various “Viewpoint” claims and other articles posted on Spokesman since our return to these shores. A good holiday had by the vast majority of those attending although a disappointment in racing success for the UK contingent according to all the reports and feedback now filtering through. I will pass by all this for the present as the “Downfall and hopeful Renaissance” of British Cycle Speedway is a still uncompleted and ongoing saga of the “Jock Strop” to be fully examined and digested over the next few months when we can look back in a more sensible and calculated way and try and encourage new initiatives for future improvement.

However if there is one thing I have learned over the past four weeks is that I will never get the job of a sport’s pundit or forecaster again as apart from the Club Championship I drew a blank on all the other competitions, woefully off the mark in all predictions except the inevitable “Beer Drinking Competition” on the final night which of course went GB’s way.

Back to the beginning then. It was a cold freezing miserable Friday 6 February when the majority of the British Cycling clad cycle speedway party assembled at Terminal Three at Heathrow to be issued with tickets by tour leader Ian Brown and photographed indiscriminately by Brian Barnett, a foretaste of the four hour security scenarios we would have to go through with which flying entails these days. Having left my home in Kent at 10am to avoid the usual M25 chaos, it was 12 hours later that we actually made it into the air. If the World Championships had been in Poland I would have been able to drive to Berlin in that period of time.

Subdued Banter

With everyone on board, the flight was fine with plenty of lively banter, subdued, compared with 1997, as the youngsters were all nearly accompanied by their parents or suitable guardians. It must have been daunting for the tour’s youngest member, Sheffield’s12-year-old Richard Hudson whose hand-luggage dwarfed him and he could have easily been smuggled there in his bike bag.

No one got lost or was caught smoking in the toilets and only Birmingham’s Winwood brothers, Mark and Karl, offered any risky behaviour. I was sat next to Blakenham’s Osborne brothers, “Virgin Flyers!”, especially a terrified Chris who spent both flights hidden under his black flight blanket prompting comments from all that he was my Muslim wife or Lewis’ sister Fatima!

The refreshments served suited me well although were challenging for the normal teenager’s pallet with McDonalds and Burger King immediately raided at the Hong Kong stopover, a disappointing boring venue doubling up as a corporate shopping mall, expensive and not a lot of life about it compared to Jakarta or Bali in '97. In this economic meltdown do we really need discount duty free outlets snaring their captive audience at every airport? Surely an old RAF hanger with a tea machine, portaloo and only a jobsworth security man would bring the price down to a realistic figure.

Cycle speedway talk was confined to past tours and strangely the coming  season in the UK discussing the usual wave of damaging and pointless secondary transfers of riders to clubs that should act more responsibly if our sport is to prosper and little anticipation of the immediate task in hand. My own preparations were the same as '97 – same bike, same luggage, same holiday book and probably same clothes (my trainers had already arrived before me!) but only older legs and poorer eyesight, the only new items being a useless mobile phone and new digital camera but I still brought the old 35mm Kodak Brownie as backup!

Arrival in Adelaide

Arrival at Adelaide in temperatures more like a British summer rather than the extreme heat wave they experienced a few days previous soon had us all out in the car park being shoehorned into a variety of hired vehicles and trailers with helping hands present driving quickly to the usual Semaphore Beachfront Caravan Site or other pre-arranged digs. Any accommodation problems were soon sorted out by Brown and Barnsie and most of the party regrouped at the Findon Skid Kids track a couple of hours later to meet up with old and new friends, watch the local Sunday fixture and for the more energetic of us try out the track.

I caught up with ex East Londoner Glynn Whale and was glad to be still remembered by the Stauntons, dad Alan as usual the workhorse behind this fine facility and son Craig disappointed that he will miss out on the Vets eligibility by only a few days. Arrangements for “Hot Line” to Witham HQ in Norfolk evaporated, so queuing for a space on the camp email had to make do from now on. Copious “stubbies” consumed then it was off with room mates GB Manager Dave Murphy, Mike Burgess and partner Lynne, along with referee Bob Prince for a pasta meal, jet lag catching up as we all almost fell asleep face down in our pizzas.

Our first awakening the next morning (Monday) was greeted on TV and radio of the news of the dreadful bushfires in adjoining state Victoria which had claimed the lives of over 300 people and took up most of the news coverage like 9/11 in the USA did in 2001. Many of the party, including almost all the East Anglian lot, set off for a few days in Sydney where the weather was very British, cold and wet whilst I jetted off to the troubled area to catch up with old biker mate John Gartside and family taking in a couple of games of golf and trips to Australia’s ski centre and 90 Mile Beach. Old stagers Dave Baxter, Josh Gleave with Manchester Speedway mates Gordon and Norman (The “Last of the Summer Whine” boys!) returned from Ayres Rock to take up residency on site whilst independent travellers Harris, Aris and Wheeler arrived eventually along with the large Polish contingent but none from the USA.

A low key Press event took place at Findon (No Jock and Jessica TV chat show this time round!) followed by practice meetings at the three Adelaide tracks before the first Great Britain v Australia tests started on the Thursday. Full results and reports of all the racing then appeared soon after on the website and is still available so no need to repeat them here. However right from the start the UK Lions were never in the hunt for whatever reasons. Of course the excuses of the new starting arrangements and the appointment of a single referee for all eight Ashes fixtures crammed the Viewpoint section of “Spokesman” to such an extent that some contributions became very animated with claims and counter claims of internet fraud and doctored bogus articles forcing this media format off the air for a while in case legal challenges were lodged against unproven individuals. The perils of the instant super highway of communication rearing its ugly head like it did in its email infancy in our sport quite a few years ago.

A Lot to Answer For

The referee in question, Megan Rufus, in my opinion was just a victim of circumstances rather than inadequate performances and some obvious sexist criticism by some who should know better. The main contributing problem was the actual make up of the tour programme which was the cause. Not wishing to lay all the blame at the host nation for this, the British authorities have a lot to answer for as well. From the first tour in '81 until 1997 it was purely a British tour to Australia followed in the intervening years of an Australian tour to Britain. With the emergence of Poland and reduced numbers of Australians coming to Britain in subsequent years it then evolved into “The World Championships” although in '97 the Polish team present was in reality the Rawicz club.

Despite being the World Championships, the British still insist on this Test Match Series against Australia as the principal event which has now diminished from a seven match series to a three match one. Whether this is due to a British Cycling funding issue or more an out of date “colonial” matter like the bloated importance the cricket equivalent still commands despite the Indian sub continent being the major arena of that sport these days.

Unique Opportunity

This year there was the unique opportunity to promote a very competitive six-match series involving Australia, GB and Poland, using a home and away programme, neutral referees and in this case supported by a Australia v GB junior series (The Junior World Cup match England v Australia should have been scrapped as it really was just another Test Match) to run the full length of the tour utilising all four tracks in South Australia.

The official World Championship fixtures, the Senior World Cup, Individuals (Veteran, Junior and Senior) and Best Pairs were all high profile and perfect as they should be, although I thought the girls' version deserved international status. The two principal ones, a credit to the sport in the electric speed and atmosphere as the racing unfolded with Australia grabbing the main prizes in both the team and individuals.

The British of course always kick up a fuss when things are organised differently from the way things are done in the UK. The starting system the Australians use is perfect in my opinion as the commentator has the power to inform and quieten the crowd for the referee to concentrate on the race. The commentary is exciting, especially if riders of limited talent like myself find themselves surprisingly in the lead then I can rely on the commentator’s information to guide me home! Mind you five seconds at LeFevre does seem longer than at the other tracks!  Likewise the Polish system of having assistant corner judges helping the referee works well in Poland but is a no no as far as the British establishment is concerned, only being briefly tried once and dismissed immediately.

Boring Old Farts

Rugby’s Will Carling criticised his ruling body as “Boring Old Farts” famously many years ago in a similar scenario therefore it is not British Cycling to blame this time but the CSC establishment that must look at themselves. After visiting the Gorge Wildlife Park during the tour, the normal position one views ostriches in their usual habitual pose rings a bell somehow! Possibly in future, as has been already been suggested, the World Cup should have the holders and hosts seeded to the final with the rest having a match to determine the other two finalists to save us from such a long final of 30 heats although this year’s event held everyone’s attention from the start and being held in the cool of the evening under lights only highlighted the excitement.

The much anticipated World Club Championship was also a disappointment. It was always going to be decided between the two Polish sides Torun and Leszno, the previous Euroteam champs, with the later triumphing this time in the final along with the two local sides LeFervre and a less than full strength Salisbury concentrating on the upcoming individuals. It took three days of qualification to get down to this final.  The British teams were all lacking in full squads to put up a challenge, some having to track complete novices and relatives to field a full side. A similar tournament with a loosely based mixture of club and made up four-man sides (16 entries) would have been an excellent single day warm up for the main events if held on the first weekend and given riders who were not with club sides a chance of proper racing before the more serious competitions started.

The Senior Best Pairs, despite being the last event, went off ok whilst the Junior Club version gave additional racing for them as did their Junior Individual tournament. The senior version, the most important event on the calendar, could have been expanded to give several touring riders more racing as that was the only category some were entered in and it is a long way to come for just five races.
 
Away from the racing the social calendar was as busy as ever, immediately reported on “Blinners Shorts” and examples of that, a look back at the racing, Aussie culture comparisons and a general post mortem and thoughts of future International events will make up the final part of the OZ - coming soon!

BRITISH CYCLING HOLDS THE KEY TO CYCLE SPEEDWAY'S INTERNATIONAL FUTURE - posted 17 March 2009

There is no mincing words.  Australia 2009 was a real disappointment.  Sadly results show that Team GB suffered five straight defeats in the internationals, our youngsters struggled to make any impact and individually only Steve Harris emerged with any real credit.  We trailled in behind the Aussies and Poles in virtually every event, literally making us third rate Britain.

Ok, perhaps we were unfortunate not to win the World Cup and a couple of the international matches and yes - Team GB must be more ruthless after failing to finish opponents off when the winning line is in sight.  But results are results.  That's what we are all measured by.

It's now six years since we boasted a World champion.  Unless we take drastic action soon, there's a real possibility that we will not produce a World champion for another six years and our international teams will be beaten everytime they step outside this country.

The reasons for this are complex and many.  Several of our knowleageable contributors have already made their views known covering a wide diversity of learning outcomes.  The one over-riding message coming through loud and clear is that we must do all we can to ensure only the very best available represent this country abroad. 

With no disrespect to anyone who has worn the red, white and blue abroad (your editor included), we can no longer afford to send journeymen competitors to World events.  Cycle speedway has moved on dramatically since the early 80s when modern-day international racing was born.  The Aussies and Poles have raised the bar and elevated international racing to a level never dreamed of a decade ago. 

They have invested in their national teams - and this is where British Cycling come in.  They hold the key to our international success as a cycle speedway nation.

One of the prime reasons for joining forces with British Cycling in 2000 was the promise that our new national governing body would be able to open doors and access funding which was not directly available to cycle speedway at the time.  So the time has come for British Cycling to literally put its money where its mouth is, relax the purse-strings and make a solid investment in cycle speedway's international future.

It's true that the governing body did financially support Team GB this year - we believe to the tune of £250 per rider, some £5,000 in all.  But given British Cycling's sound financial footing, reportedly £24 million development budget and a multi million pound sponsorship deal with Sky, £5,000 seems a very modest contribution to send an international team half-way around the world.

Back in the early Eighties, the Sports Council, convinced of cycle speedway's international future, invested £10,000 in the 1981 Tour to Australia and repeated that level investment for at least a decade.  £10,000 in 1981 equates to over £34,000 at today's prices.   

USA 2011 is not far away.  Hopefully the canvassing has already started to ensure that we send our very best team to South Carolina.  The racing calendar will be less protracted than Australia 2009, so the commitment in terms of holiday will be considerably less.  That alone should encourage more riders to make themselves available for selection.

Let's hope British Cycling can see the benefit of having the best cycle speedway team and riders in the World - and makes a significantly increased contribution to the squad's travel and accommodation costs.  If that happened, we could field a truly quality team - and management and competitors would have to take greater responsibility for their actions and realise they are there to represent you, me and the sport - not just themselves.

Let's hope the building blocks for USA 2011 are already being put in place - built on British Cycling's sound financial footings.

It's time to make British cycle speedway great again!

Top Learning Points

We must send our strongest team
A better balanced itenary
More suitable accommodation, especially for junior riders
Improved publicity
Improved and targeted coaching
Reviewing racing rules
Need to be more physical
Closer team work

BRITISH CYCLING REPORT WON'T BE PRETTY! - posted 7 March 2009

Just a quick thought from myself having just jetted in from Oz.  It's my third tour on the trot, so I feel I can comment in my UK International Competitions role. I will be submitting a much more detailed report to British Cycling. It won't be pretty!
 
Generally Australia got their act together.  The timing of their very gifted juniors coming through, both age wise and physically, was a perfect platform. On the way out I predicted that our juniors could well struggle because I saw the Aussie talent in 2005 and here in 2007. Mick Harley is right to say we had that advantage in 2005. Also we were a couple of riders short of being our top ten - for example Tom Haddock made the British final. The Aussies trained hard and had a similar approach to the racing as Poland, that is nto say they were there to race! It was their time and they were going to take it.

Senior wise we were taken by surprise that the experienced side we actually had didn't win a test, let alone the series, although the refereeing here could well have made a difference.  However look at it realistically.  How many of our top riders were unable to go?  Terry Norman, Mark Boaler, Arron Lowey, Lewis Bates and Adam Peck spring to mind and there are others.  Would they have made an impact?  I think so especially with the style of racing allowed. Poland only had one of their top ten riders missing from last years Euro's (Skowronek) and they didn't win as they expected, either the senior team or individual!
 
Daniel Pudney is a class act anywhere in the World and twice as good in South Australia, so no disgrace seeing him lift the title, a popular World champion. Ross Priest finished third in the junior at Poole, so not a big surprise in the junior either although he was seemingly overlooked by most pre-match pundits (but not me), as the Chadwick brothers and Rob Fitzpatrick caught the eye more in the tests.

The World Cup was a debatable Gavin Wheeler exclusion away from an England win, as certainly the Aussie rider appeared to slip prior to Gav hitting him.  The same rider also fell bringing down Ben Mould later and escaped punishment. Poland didn't have the rub of the green either.  It was Australia's day this time - however fine the Wheeler call, some Brits agreed with it and some Aussies didn't.  That's cycle speedway warts and all!

The itenary could have been more balanced as it was in 2005 - something we need to work on with Aussies for 2013. Also there is some debate that a November tour would be better in terms of preparation for the Europeans.  I believe there is definite mileage there.

There were complaints about the tourist park.  However it's the same we've always used.  Again this comes into the general balance of British Lions Cycle Speedway/World Championships Tour versus Holiday/Socialising that we Brits tend to have a problem with.  Let's face it, it's a lot of hard earned cash being spent by each individual - so what is right and which is wrong? However there is an argument that says if you want the latter then Ibiza, Magaluf or any of those exotic 18-30 type places should be the venue rather than the former. Let's face it, it's a problem everytime we go to Poland as well.
 
Dave Murphy has vowed to get the International rules sorted.  There was a "working together" feel to the ICSF forum in Findon and rules we Europeans thought were agreed before the 2005 tour and certainly there were no big racing issues.  They will be set in stone, printed in black and white and possibly only the referee's interpretation will slightly differ as is the case in any sport in the world, for example we all know the English refs at soccer tend see things differently to European refs. That will ease some of the frustration especially witnessed in the test matches.
 
I would like to thank Ian Brown and Pete Barnes for all their hard work throughout the tour and all our Australian hosts who once again afforded us hospitality with a capital H. Plus of course Dave Murphy.

Adelaide is still the best place in the world - other than Horspath of course!!!!!!

Geoff Gamage

PETER FORD HAS AN EXCELLENT POINT - posted 5 March 2009

Just reading some of the comments on Oz revisited.  Firstly I think Peter Ford has an excellent point of view although I'm not sure if he referring to the Australian CS Commission or the British or both. The only true publicity I saw for a GB Team was from the websites quoted, the official BC site still to catch up if it ever does. Cycle Speedway was promised that a media officer would be appointed, and whilst we are very much at the bottom of the pile as far as BC is concerned, we still contribute to the BC coffers. It is time the Commission took this on board.

Equally good to see an honest appraisal from Lee Aris.  I am sure that Dave Murphy as manager and Lee as captain felt they had the team to take on the Aussies and Poles.  Instead it has been a very steep learning curve. I can't comment on the referring as I wasn't there.  Perhaps someone might do a video.

Interesting to read Lee's comments regarding the physicality of the racing Down Under. Certainly the referees in the UK has been trying to allow racing with physical contact to continue without going over the top. As an old stager who had to put up with the elbows and  legs of Dad Mick whilst trying to race cleanly, it's an interesting point!

Finally we do have to look at our coaching.  Our sport is like no other cycling sport, and whilst gym conditioning and road training no doubt helps, the only way to actually train is on the track. We do have to look outside and see what is available from other sports or cycling disciplines, to help to deliver best practice.

I understand Fred Rothwell has relinquished his coaching badge as, like everything these days, it was more paperwork than actual coaching.

John Whiting

WEBSITE THANKS - posted 5 March 2009

After reading Peter Ford's views I, probably along with many others, would like to thank him and Darryl Daniels for the updated reports on the Oz 2009 Tour.  Along with Spokesman, I went onto Cycle Sport News every day to catch up with the days' events.

So to Spokesman and Cycle Sport News, a big thank you.

Bev Hughes
East Newport CSC

IMPRESSIVE AMATEURISM IS JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH - posted 5 March 2009

I read with interest the article submitted by Brian Barnett re lack of publicity and media coverage of the World Championships in Australia.

Cycle Sport News did its best to send all we could to every major cycle speedway websites in the UK and the US.  Unfortunately, through our own ignorance of the set up in the UK, we omitted to add British Cycling to the list of recipients.

We had Darryl Daniels spending many hours producing very detailed reports after each major event, although it wasn’t possible for him to be in two places at once on some occasions.  Darryl did a fantastic job, and frequently burnt the midnight oil, and I doubt very much if any of the Australian hierarchy have stood up and publicly thanked him for all his efforts.

At no stage was Cycle Sport News officially approached by the Cycle Speedway Council and/or the Australian organizers of the World Championships to be the official media managers of the event, nor was Darryl Daniels officially employed in the capacity of Publicity Liaison Officer.  We just did what we did because we both love the sport.

But reading between the lines, I understand what Brian Barnett was getting at.

This was a World Championship, and hopefully a sporting event that would encourage professionalism at every level, including the areas of publicity, promotion and media coverage.  Regretfully, the Cycle Speedway Council AGAIN failed dismally, although the Mick Harleys of the World will probably read this and jump in with a smooth sounding response to the contrary.

In 2009, Australia had the BEST tracks, the BEST teams and the BEST opportunity for organizers to get it all right, but the Powers-that-Be still weren’t able to take that final step from “impressive amateurism” to “award-winning professionalism”.  If you are going to run a World Championship event, at least have a designated website.  Cycle Sport News could have set one up for less than $100, and ran it, free of cost, for the duration of the Championships.   Fans all over the world could have gone to the site daily and seen regular updates and images, start-lists and reports and even daily video footage of all the action.

Photos and articles on the designated site called “CycleSpeedwayChampionships.com”, for want of a better name, could have been made copyright free for international editorial use, and there could have been some form of sponsorship/advertising on the site to off-set minor costs.

Above all, the Cycle Speedway Council should have also employed a Publicity Manager right from Day One…someone whose sole task would have been to establish and co-ordinate every aspect of publicity, promotion and media coverage leading up to the Championships.  (Apparently this year’s “official” media onslaught produced ONE very impressive article in the Adelaide Advertiser and one small report in one of the local “Free” newspapers….pretty woeful really!)

The Publicity Manager could have been involved in the production of regular media releases for internet and newspaper distribution months in advance of the Championship; making sure that all cycle speedway media outlets were contacted, and that all email addresses were current; and co-ordinating a media accrediation to give organizers an idea of who was covering the event.

I personally travelled 5000 kilometres to cover one day of action in the World Individual Championships last Saturday, and although Mick Harley was aware of my presence at the track (I was the guy desperately trying to get dial-up access on course), there was no apparent recognition of who I was and why I was there, no attempt made to make me feel welcome, and no attempt to express any gratitude for the two weeks of reports that Cycle Sport News had published or sent overseas on everybody’s behalf!!!

This was a classic example of the apparent lack of importance placed on media representatives by members of the Cycle Speedway Council.

Cycle Sport News has been the only Australian media outlet prepared to support cycle speedway, and quite frankly, I don’t think that anyone in the Cycle Speedway Council really gives a damn.  Can someone please get it across to these guys that it is the media that partly reflects the excitement and vitality of this sport, and it is the media's images and reports that will assist in helping to attract the next generation of boys and girls to this fantastic cycle discipline.

Too easily the words “amateur sport” and “sub-culture” are bandied around when groups of cycle speedway followers get together after these major events.  I think it is time administrators started taking off the blinkers and started looking at their sport outside the safety net of their own importance, and their own comfortable little backyards.

The sport of cycle speedway, as demonstrated by the fantastic roll-up at the finals last Saturday, is ready to take the next steps in professional growth, and setting up decent media and publicity infrastructure will be one way of ensuring the sport’s well-deserved future.

Peter Ford
Editor
Cycle Sport News

GB SKIPPER SPEAKS OUT
WE LET MANAGER DOWN WHEN IT MATTERED - posted 5 March 2009

This is an e-mail after reading some of the latest views and reviews of the recent Australian tour.

First things first.  As a team Great Britain did not perform to their/our potential and credit must go to the Australians. Australia have obviously worked hard and definitely put in the ground work to challenge us on the track and this helps Brits like me to congratulate them on their earned victory.

I still believe (biased it maybe) that we (Great Britain seniors) could and should have had the beating of Australia but was not able to perform to our potential when needed.  This can be backed by the last heat deciders in the last two test matches (also the World Cup to mention it) and at least half of the team was left feeling absolutely gutted and asking themselves questions like... if only I did this? With this, my commiserations goes to our team manager Dave Murphy who I believe had done a tremendous job in getting us ready only to be let down when it mattered.

Moving on to the referee and unfortunately for us, Megan's take on the rules is nothing what us Brits have experience back home, with passes been allowed with the use of the inside of the track or just taking out your opponent with the use your front wheel.  You’re excluded for running with your bike within the last half lap? And probably the major difference being - you don't need to be at racing pace, with riders being allowed to take their opponent out wide and hold them there for what felt like an eternity as they wait for their partner even if they are quarter lap behind.  Unfortunately us Brits fell victim to this on numerous occasions and looked like a fish out of water when we tried to change our normal game. Deep down I believe Megan called the shots how she sees them and was unbiased but we was taken completely by surprise of her take on the rules.

My hat goes off to the Australian juniors and their management team to keep them focused and be ready for us Brits. As the scoring suggests they made a major difference to the Australian senior team and were comfortable winners against our juniors. Yes, their juniors were older than ours but this did not show by appearance with the majority of our squad taller than the opposition. But on the track the Australian's definitely had the physical advantage, riding a lot harder and fighting for every point, to the point of lapping their opponents if opportunity arises.

Again our juniors are not use to this physical side and even we seniors were speechless on some of the brutality witnessed. Why is this?  I believe cycle speedway has changed over the recent years with our youngsters over looked from our top flight league racing and referees stamping out the physical contact that was more present previously. Saying this, with the correct training to combat this, I’m more than confident that us Brits (junior and senior) are capable of taking the titles from Australia.

I again congratulate Australia on their triumphs and hope this recent success helps them to build a
strong travelling squad to the next World championships. I finish off to mention it's natural that nobody likes losing especially in an arena that the competitive Aussies provide, but I believe we held our heads high and took our defeats a lot better than publicised, shaking hands and congratulating all of the Aussie team, officials and finish off walking around the track doing the same to the spectators.

I know it doesn't make good news stories but I don't recall any untoward behaviour, only hard racing and competitive banter.

Lee Aris
Great Britain Team Captain

ALL SPORTS CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER - posted 5 March 2009

So Dave Hunting believes that cycle speedway has nothing to learn from any other sport ('Would we take instruction from a roller skating manual? Of course we wouldn't,'). 

At best this view is naive. Any sport should be looking outside itself at the training methods of other sports to see if there is anything they can learn/adapt for their sport/imitate or incorporate into their training regime. The NFL sent a camera crew to film Rugby League matches in the late 1940s to see what they could use in their sport.

A nearby football club, whilst in the Premiership, employed an Aussie Rules specialist as their conditioning coach. Formula One drivers employ ex-athletes for their fitness coaches whilst many baseball clubs have coaches who are extremely knowledgable about cricket. If the NFL, Formula One, Premier League & NBL, not exactly unsuccesful sports, are prepared to look outside their immediate circle, why isn't Cycle Speedway ?

Barry Watson

BACK TO BASICS - posted 4 March 2009
                     
Over the past few weeks the main topic of conversation within the cycle speedway fraternity, whether it be at a practice session at the club track, or a well deserved pint afterwards, is what's gone wrong with British Cycle Speedway. Whoever in their right mind would have even considered the Australians keeping up with us, let alone giving us a lesson in true grit Cycle Speedway.

When you consider the position of the Australians only twelve months ago, to everyone's mind they were there for the pickings, and both our senior and junior teams were guaranteed to come home with the 'Ashes'.

How did they do it - everyone is asking. How did they mature so quickly from also rans to elite masters of our sport in such a short time, even showing the Poles how to ride Cycle Speedway?

Please, please, lets not hear any more about blaming the poor referees for our demise, because the one thing a referee can't do is get you in the lead  in the first place, which is where the Australians were winning many of their races, from the gate.

So lets look at this situation in a realistic and rational way, and try to put our finger on the seat of the problem – what are we doing wrong, and even more importantly, what are the Aussies doing so  obviously  right.

The one thing for sure is that the Australians have trained – and trained – and trained, probably being at the track every day of the week, maybe even twice a day. They have also been building a very strong team spirit at the same time, bonding into two superb Test team outfits, knowing everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and working on these weaknesses, whilst building on the strengths.

We, the British Cycle Speedway fraternity, must learn from the 2009 World Championships, and start preparing for 2011.  If we don't, the next country to take advantage will be America, and I am not joking.

So, what is the answer, and where do we go from here?

The answer is so obvious, but many of us will miss out by looking for more technical solutions to the problem. The answer is 'Back to the Basics', to forget all the text book training scenarios which our so called professional coaches insist you use. These obviously work in British Cycling Road and Track events, but Cycle Speedway is another ball game, the only connection being the use of wheels. Would we take instruction from a roller skating manual? Of course we wouldn't, but they too have wheels and are used to propel us at much faster speeds than our own legs!!

So lets get back to some serious Cycle Speedway coaching, using the brains and knowledge of both our past and present super stars, to bring on our young stars for the future. Listen and learn from these star riders, lets encourage them by offering them a coaching fee to have their own training schools up and down the country.

If the Commission, in their wisdom, do decide to encourage us to go back to basics, and do decide to offer a fee to the stars of both today and yesterday for setting up cycle speedway coaching courses, then I personally think this will be a giant step in the right direction.

No doubt we will see.       

Dave Hunting

LITTLE BRITAIN - posted 4 March 2008

Having spoken with team members, Great Britain lost the word "Great" this year to a bunch of kids with adult supervision, ie the Aussie senior team! This, I know, is a major concern to the English Cycle Speedway Council and selectors.

Firstly I thought the team you sent over was fine, some a little under prepared than others and therein lies most of the difference between the sides, weather apart!  Having spoken to quite a few amongst your teams, both senior and junior, there seemed to be large gaps between mateship and socialising, the latter being very important.

The place where you were mostly based at the beach is ideal for a refreshing swim, wading sore thighs or even sun baking, but there is precious little else in the way of entertainment for the younger riders.  Boredom is something that can affect any persons wanting to perform. There are some good things to remember for the next time you venture anywhere.

I had room for a couple of riders at my place but no-one asked and by the time I had asked no-one needed somewhere as they had all booked. Next time it would be a good idea if a pre-trip memo was sent out to any clubs in the areas you will be racing in, to see if there are any members who would jump at the opportunity to billet a rider or two.  Some did already though personal contacts.

This way there will be plenty to entertain youngsters and not have them not wanting to come back to the same thing each time. Local knowledge just can't be beaten.

Another thing that stood out in all conversations was, bar Murraylands, all local clubs are within 20 minutes of each other which makes practice and team meetings all that much easier as the distances involved in GB were so far. The local team always bonded right from the start and saw so much of each other that I heard one member say it feels like we are all related! Now thats what a manager or coach wants to hear - and it showed!

Training was as gruelling and punishing as any League football team would go through and actually the senior team did use the League football teams training area in the sandhills followed by a refreshing swim at the beach, then dry off riding back to the track. This another reason why our juniors won easily - they were so fit it was almost criminal.  They could do their own Test and backup the seniors because they were that fit. They were primed for bear!

The Poles looked strong and they were but only a few were fit and found wanting also. Now have a look at the vets, especially your vets.  Who won?  The fittest bloke there won - Steve Harris.  Whatever he's doing, your team should be doing.

Fitness is what it's all about.  Sure luck comes into it via refs, mechanical , draws etc, but at the end of the day if you are not fit for it then you ain't ready!

Solution - fitness, fitness, fitness and lots of good old mateship!

Darryl Daniels
Cycle Speedway Columnist
Cycle Sports News, Australia