Hey Jase,
I understand what your saying but I also think the coach issue is not as great as some would believe.
Now you have Walshy, Belmo, Quala and Mac Stewart with young families and when you do something for love, life gets in the way. You then have Mick Little and Jarrod who while may be in different situations are not prepared to make the amount of sacrifice when it is not to be with their best mates.
Sorry for the long post but.
I have only just noticed this post as don't get on TB much these days, but I will say in response to Carl's post above, over the last few years, things have conspired in differing circumstances which have prevented me from participating in the national team like I would like to. I would love the chance to compete for my country again and certainly more than I have in the past. I have been away for two youth trips and two adult trips for a return of 4 gold medals. I have also been on what I feel the wrong end of many selections over the years, have point blank been told by the coach or selectors if I hadnt of rolled my way into the team I wouldnt have gone even if I had been bowling well in tournaments or was high in the rankings at the time.
After the Worlds in 2003 I wasnt able to afford the Asian zone trip to Thailand the year after, the next Worlds in Korea I wasnt selected, feedback I received from two of the selectors included clangers such as "if he missed original nomination dates he must not be interested in going" (I missed original dates due to not bowling for about 3 months because of injury) and "just because he won the masters at previous worlds, does not mean he should be selected this time", that was about as constructive as it got from two of them.
2007 I went for the Asian champs and made it, bowled reasonably well and enjoyed the trip. The next worlds and the roll off happened to coincide with the first weekend of a planned family holiday, so because I didnt attend the roll off, I couldnt be selected, another trip down the pipes, this year I had nominated for the trip to Germany but the cost became prohibitive (ie new retaining wall or trip overseas with no return) and unfortunately Amanda's Nan passed away that weekend as well and was a pretty tough time for everyone. And as for not nominating for UAE, the cost is where it lies again. It just isnt worth it and isnt because I dont get to travel with my mates. Mortgages, renovations, family holidays all play a bigger part.
I do agree with Carl, I dont have too many issues with having a paid national coach, but what I do feel is that more needs to be seen on the surface to where all the planning or development is going.
I have not seen Chris at a national tournament this year, not sure why? I don't know how far his responsibilities stretch as part of being national coach so not sure if he is required to do so or not, but would have thought it to be a good idea. On the surface there doesn't seem to be a progression for bowlers to follow ie a set development plan to ensure the future of bowling. Is this part of the coaches responsibilities? I am not sure. Jase is right, there are and have been far to many bowlers over the years in the youth ranks that have shown potential only for them to disappear altogether.
You only need to look at just about any other sport in the world to see how progression is made to the top level. Why is it so hard for bowling to follow?
1. No stability in the head organisation, until recent months, reliant on too many people going in different directions all with their own agendas, before Cara I don't think too many would disagree the previous CEOs have been a cancer to the sport.
2. Which leads to the reversal or perhaps removal of some of our sport commission funding, lower membership numbers, different bowling organisations not willing to be under the one. Remember back in the day when everyone who bowled a league regardless of centre also was required to pay a membership fee? Imagine the money TBA would have if this were to be the case today. Imagine what they could use this money for? It sh*ts me to think that people whinge over a price increase of a few dollars for a sport they are supposed to love, yet are happy to p*ss it up the wall spending 10 bucks in the cafe.
3. Previous attempts to develop state structures, coaching or development have failed, see point 1. From point 2, extra money, means extra promotion, extra funds to develop coaching programs, building bowling up in participation numbers as a sport, not just social play.
4. Starting in the grass roots, I remember when I started bowling, there were people employed at the centre to help new bowlers learn more about the game, once I progressed a bit, there were coaches at different levels. See pt 2 & 3. Maybe because the centre I bowled in cared about the bowlers and was an independant compared to the money hungry corporate now?
5. Now too many people that have been burnt before are not willing to bother now, who can blame some of them when their suggestions have been shot down in flames, refer pt 1 again. I agree in principle to a suggestion that Geoff had, higher profile bowlers should do more when they can. I have always been more than happy to help whether it be helping junior bowlers at training camps, helping with president shield selections, it is usually always fun and I feel like I am contributing in a small way to helping.
It stuffs me what the answer is, but you have to wonder how much longer bowling can go for without it changing for the better?
