Cricket Australia Sports Development Programs - Case Study Example

CRICKET AUSTRALIA SРОRT DЕVЕLОРMЕNT Name Course Tutor University Department Introduction Australia is known for its capacity to develop athletes who can participate in top level international sporting activities. The sport has been significant to the country's culture, ethos, and economy, contributing to our identity pride, and attracting high-profile sports events. In the past, Australia sporting could manage their developing policies and procedures (Adair & Vamplew 1997). However, in the 1970s the government became more involved in the development of nationally based sporting policies. The pathway of athlete spans the entire range of athletic development, at the start of the primary movement and involvement in physical activity and mastering those skills through proficiency. Various studies have analyzed ideal pathways through which athletes use to achieve elite competitive success. Understanding how a sporting learner develop until they become elite athlete enables a sport to put in place effective strategies and delivery systems to optimize athlete training environment, competition and sports science to strengthen the stages of development. Athlete development is said to be an important strategy as it increases the probability of a sports expertise outcome (Gulbin & Weissensteiner 2013). For this reason, knowledge generation should shift to analysis of sport development programs. As such, this paper seeks to examine various sport development programs for Cricket Australia. Cricket Australia Sports Development Programs There are various sport development programs for Cricket Australia from the government and sports organizations at corporate and individual levels. However, the main programs include the government statutory authority of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC); the sporting organizations; coaches, umpires, and management programs, and Competition programs. Government through ASC programs ASC philosophy is in two folds, increase participation in various groups including indigenous people, people with disability, women, and young players. Secondly, achieve international elite athlete success through sports excellence and high-performance programs. Development of Participation The federal government statutory authority, ASC has the mandate to deliver government sports policy and funding of NSOs to ensure the development of cricket sport in Australia. The government, through ASC, have developed close working relationships with NSOs to achieve sport development goals. NSOs also recognize that ASC provides elite athletes for the continuation of cricket sports development. ASC also allows NSOs to provide the necessary resources that are required to achieve Cricket sports objectives. Resources are critical factors in determining the dependence of one organization on the other. ASC has also played a crucial role in supporting and financing the development of national teams as well as upcoming talents. It is believed that federal government funding to NSOs enables the ASC to put performance standards after grant allocations. In this regard, Crickets Australia noted that ASC act as a purchaser of their results. In other words, if cricket sport expects financial funding from ASC, it is thus expected to produce results in terms of elite success and participation numbers. The continuous success of Cricket Australia has made to the ASC, has increased their commitment to the sport. For an organization to continue providing for the other organizations needs, it may demand certain actions in return. Most NSOs agree that success has a strong relationship with increased expectations and demands from all stakeholders. For instance, Cricket Australia believes that their continuous success is faced with growing demand from the sports stakeholders such as coaches, players, managers, sponsors, and fans. Since ASC provides direction and guidance for both elite and participation, it can establish success criteria. ASC allocates grants only when NSOs shows participation and elite athlete requirements. Participation, in this, the case refers to the popularity of the sports and growth while elite athlete requirement refers to the players success. For this reason, the NSOs objective should include elite development programs, as well as mass participation. Elite Athlete Development Success in the sport in Australia at the elite level is characterized by a sports system that assisting talented players in reaching their potential. However, success is always measured by the number of medals or championship won by elite (Australian Sports Commission 2006). Development through Funding Allocation NSOs applies for funding from ASC, however, allocation of elite athlete level is based on elite success and players performance at international championships. Cricket Australia has won successive three tournament title in 1999, 2003, 2007. This year the team won 2015 Cricket world cup, as a consequence of regaining the title, the sport has attracted funding from Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) funding. This shows that the sport was being continuously assessed on the results of the international events. These results were good and generated additional funding for the sport. Generous supports from the federal government call for good results and maintain high standards. Cricket Australia argues that when the sport is considering future funding allocation, ASC must assess their key performance indicators and measure their success in achieving them. Therefore, the success of the team is the primary factor of the amount of funding allocation. Cricket Australia aim to professionally prepare and succeed at the international championship because, their success is crucial to the elite program and support from ASC. Cricket Australia has remained well supported by the ASC for participation outcomes. In2013, women cricket received an increment of approximately 40%, achieving the same level of funding allocation to their men counterparts, which was heavily determined by their performance. Sporting Organizations Programs Geo-spatial influences the development of the sport of Cricket. Cricket is one of the major sports played in Australia. Local clubs participate in various competitions in their respective regions delivered by regional sports organizations (RSOs). These RSOs are in both urban and rural areas. The RSO handles overseeing the delivery of cricket sport to the community at a given region, and it is thus perceived to be the basic unit for Cricket sport development in Australia. The RSOs then select athletes from the local clubs to compete with or regional representative teams in the interregional competitions organized by State Sporting Organisations (SSO), which are based on the States of Australia. The SSOs select athletes from the interregional competitions to form a state representative team that is trained and developed to compete against representative teams from other SSOs in interstate competitions. Interstate competitions are governed by the National Sports Organisations (NSO) of their respective sports. During the interstate competition, talented athletes are selected trained and developed by the NSOs and professional teams to become elite athletes. However not all elite athletes must follow this typical path, but it is clear that sports organizations are crucial for the development of Cricket sport. Player Development The ASC recognizes NSOs to be extraordinarily important for the growth and development of both the players and overall sport. Therefore, Cricket Australia is responsible for good governance, management and development of the cricket sport at all levels throughout the Australia. The same concepts are also applied at international, national, elite and mass participation levels. The sports programs are thus shaped so as to develop sport for the country without compromising its global competitiveness. As a result, it adds the sports enthusiasm injects enthusiasm for young and older players. NSOs handle both elite and participation development, however, they emphasize more on elite development. The NSOs use various strategies and collaborative patterns to share these responsibilities for participation and talent identification programs with their SSOs. Elite development All organizations at the national, state and local levels should work together to ensure the successful development of Cricket sport in Australia. Slack (1997) supported the argument that key player's collaboration is vital for sustainable development efforts. Mullin (1985) described the characteristic of sport as one that allows the sporting organizations to cooperate and compete at the same time. Cricket Australia has competed fiercely at the field and cooperate as a single entity away from it. Cricket Australia is organized in such a way that its organization is represented at all levels, allowing a lot of competition during leagues. Slack (1997) studied how various sporting manage conflict, results indicated that roles are broken down allowing allocation of some task by NSOs to SSOs, thereby reducing the probability of conflicts. Elite Success through Intra-organizational Cooperation Irrespective of disparity with Cricket Australia, they ensure cooperation at all levels. Intra-organizational cooperation clarifies how Cricket Australia manages sports development by sharing responsibilities between them. Cricket Australia works together with the state members in the promotion, development, and improvement of participation in Cricket sport. Its association with the state is excellent, as a result of good communication between Cricket Australia and the state. Certainly, this is a desire for the sporting organization to cooperate at all levels. Cricket Australia explains that they support SSOs and work with them on various issues concerning cricket as this make the sport stronger and effective. The NSO continues to work with states organizations as it is necessary for the sporting success. Intra-organizational cooperation, as well as good policies, improves communication, thereby strengthening good relationships at all levels. Sports organizations have noted increased leadership levels as well as improved communication, as this helps to move towards achieving a common goal. Cricket Australia has noted that it is only working with the states that the sport will triumph. Working together with all the states affiliates has helped the organization to implement its strategic plan and give a national direction. Intra-organizational cooperation enhances the organization ability to communicate both at the internal level and with the assist organizations towards implementation of the national initiatives. Cricket Australia's support and funding helps the states in their development works and allocate adequate resources to those programs. Consequently, coaches and players that are based in various states in Australia have profited from some programs that are funded by Cricket Australia. Elite success through SSOs development plans All state associations are required by ACB to pursue actively development strategies that are aimed at enhancing participation growth and standards. The SSOs are responsible for promoting and developing cricket within their respective states. This is accomplished by the constant effort of staff in all states towards promoting the sport at the community level to continuously pursue sport development plans. Elite success through NSOs distributions Australia Cricket Board handles funding all state association depending on availability and profitability. As the Australian Cricket Board illustrates, NSO distributions play a significant role in helping the state associations to encourage growth and development in their states (Australian Sports Commission 2000). Shilbury & Deane (2001) argues that NSOs generated surplus should be distributed to states programs as a way of developing the sport. This extra funding allocation to the states helps increasing participation within states. NSO fund distribution is regarded to be crucial for state association sustainability to enhance investment in cricket development at the local level. There is numerous financial assistance of ACB to SSOs. However, the results are evident in the way elite success has helped to finance growth and development at community level. Coach, Umpire and Administration/Management Programs Australia Cricket Board has coach has a coaching program that is paramount in recruiting, retaining, and developing cricketers. Todays, international games are very competitive. Thus coaching is essential to make sure that the country continues to shine in future in a professional cricket environment. Furthermore, in Australia most NSOs find coaches and umpires at the grassroots level. For instance, the Western Australian Cricket Association has collaborated with Cricket Australia to develop coaches and cricketers in Western Australia. The program offers to learn opportunities to cricket coaches at local levels. The knowledge and skills acquired are tailored to meet the coaches' requirement about the Australian Cricket Pathway. Cricket Australia has taken advantage of grassroots to find and develop umpires. Consequently, many junior empires have moved to senior level increasing the number of player at senior levels. In other words, training of coaches, umpires is crucial to ensure that they get high-quality cricketers. Development of Elite Development through Coaching Program Cricket Australia coaching and development programs are paramount for the sports development because they enrich a coach skills and knowledge, thus enabling them to select adequately and skill the players (Cricket Australia 2008). Currently, the coaching program has enabled all coaches to recruit and skill players with cricketing skills. Coaching development plays the significant role for junior talent identification and development for elite success. Coaching is thus important for talent development process. Cricket Australia select suitable coaches who handle designing coaching program, plan an achievable cricket career pathway and set objectives to achieve elite success. Coaching contributes to the overall elite success because during training both coaches and players get an opportunity to interact, compete, and exchange ideas, therefore developing a high-level athlete-coach collaboration. On the other hand, development of umpires, judges, and son on is also important for sports development. Even though their contribution to elite success is indirect, they are crucial as they are involved in the running of sports events. A well-run competition allows elite athletes to perform at their best. Development through good management practices Development of good management practices is also vital for the smooth running of a competition, as well as elite success. Moreover, the management is responsible for the provision of quality services to its members to ensure the organization is planned successfully. Elite performance is also attributed to the involvement of management. Any successful programs that facilitate successful performance rely on the management support. For instance, Australia Cricket Board noted that its outstanding performance is contributed by the coaches, player, as well as the support of ACB management. On realizing the benefit that management has to offer, Cricket Australia has intensified talent search for managers at junior age as talent should not only be sought at athlete level but also in coaching and administration level. Competition Programs Sporting competitions have numerous benefits to the sports beneficiaries such as players, coaches, fans, as well as the overall growth of the sport. Hence, Cricket Australia aim at managing competitions at all levels to ensure they rip more benefits. The competition offers port and player development benefits and promotion benefits. Player Development ACB views competition to be a key component of local, state, and national levels of participation and successful performance. Therefore to ensure both elite and mass participation the board put more emphasis on the importance of exiting and well managed competitions to ensure continuous growth of the sport. This year, Australia co-hosted cricket world cup with New Zealand, and this will provide a pathway for team development as the competition is perceived to be a standard for future growth. Development is attainable through a competition because it provides an opportunity for the players to compete, thereby attain experience and work hard to improve on their skills. Player Development through Skilling Irrespective of the level of participation, competition helps players to acquire valuable skills. For instance, top elite competitions improve the players' standards, and also to junior players as it provides valuable experience (Green & Houlihan 2005). Cricket World Cup has been paramount in player development program as during each competition new stream of player gain more skills and international playing experience. Each competition gives the players an opportunity to play at the more challenging level and further their cricket skills. International competitions offer an opportunity for players to be exposed and broaden their skills. This opportunity through competition is accepted by many NSOs. The competition also offers their coaches a chance to develop too. Player Development through Retention The competition also provides an environment where the player interest levels remain high, and thereby enjoy remaining in the game. Research indicates that lack of quality competition may force talented players to leave. If senior athletes are no longer content with competition level, they may opt to leave. Cricket Australia argues that they introduce more competitions to their players to give them an opportunity to play an additional game and thus become more involved. Additionally, competition benefits motivate coaches in their career progress. Players Development through Progression Competitions also enable the players to progress from where they are to where they want to be. ACB has various matches starting from 5-8 years, this initiative offers players an opportunity to strive for something more from older age group matches (Cricket Australia 2008). It is argued that ability to compete at international level give the player a clear picture of what they want to achieve. Due to the intensity experienced in a competition, skills of a player continue to be set higher for participation. Competition may also be regarded as a platform where participant step up to the next level. Player derives more benefits from the experience, and ACB expect them to have significant roles. Elite Success and Finances Cricket Australia recognizes skilling, retention, and progression qualities of competition to be imperative for elite success. Players develop skills through competition participation can be translated to successful performance, and helps their profile to grow in the sporting career (Côté 2007). Cricket has held several world cup competitions, thus raising the profile of the cricketers. There is a strong correlation between elite profile and success during a competition, as the sport receives funding from the government and sponsors. Over the years, ACB has been able to attract sponsors due to the success of their competition. Moreover, successful performance may generate funding fro ASC. Additionally, NSOs argue that successful results may generate Federal Government funding. Due to Cricket success, it has received a significant increment in government funding. Competition also increases Cricket Community The competition also offers a chance for media attention and exposure; as a result they reap these benefits by elevating the sport and players profile. Cricket Australia noted that world championship and other competition had the ability to increase their profile to the Australian community. Such competitions showcase the sport to the Australian community. Additionally, media exposure is also in line with the ACB strategy to increase sports awareness in the country. Conclusion This paper has examined Cricket Australia development programs and the benefits the deliver to the sports stakeholders in Cricket Australia. These advantages are numerous, and all are linked to all aspect of sports development and participation. The paper has also analyzed comparison of the benefit derived from these programs about Cricket Australia, even though they target varying aspects of Cricket sports development. They include participation, talent identification and transition to elite success, fans, community awareness, and financial viability. The sport development programs are essential if the sport is seeking players, coach development, and elite success. Successful sport, in turn, generates public awareness that enable stakeholders to create interest and support for development. References List Adair, D., & Vamplew, W. (1997). Sport in Australian History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Australian Sports Commission. 2000. Media Release: A new direction for Australian sport. Author. Available on line at http://www.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/ascmedia/20000511.html. Australian Sports Commission. 2006. Annual report 2005–2006. Canberra: Author. Côté, J. 2007. Opportunities and pathways for beginners to elite to ensure optimum and lifelong involvement in sport. In Junior Sport Matters: Briefing Papers for Australian Junior Sport (pp. 20-28). Cricket Australia. 2008. Policies. Retrieved October 21, 2015, from cricket.com.au: http://www.cricket.com.au/site/_content/document/00000142-source.pdf Green, M., & Houlihan, B. 2005. Elite Sport Development; Policy learning and political priorities. Abingdon: Routledge. Gulbin, J., & Weissensteiner, J. 2013. Functional Sport Expertise Systems. In D. Farrow, J. Baker & C. MacMahon (Eds.), Developing Sport Expertise: Researchers and Coaches Put Theory into Practice (2 ed.). London and New York: Routledge. Mullin, B. 1985. Characteristics of sport marketing. In G. Lewis, & Appenzellar, H.(Ed.), Successful sport management. Charlottesville: Michie Co. Slack, T. 1997. Understanding sport organizations: The application of organizational theory. Champaign, IL.: Human Kinetics. Shilbury, D., & Deane, J. 2001. Sport management in Australia: An organisational overview. Melbourne, Vic: Strategic Sport Management. Read More