ASC Home
>
Sports Coach >
Resource reviews > More than Sunshine and Vegemite - success the Australian way
More than Sunshine and Vegemite - success the Australian way
Issue: Volume 29 Number 4
More than Sunshine and Vegemite – Success the Australian Way
by Jim Ferguson
Halstead Press, 2006
224 pages
RRP $22.00
Based heavily on interview and discussion, combined with Jim Ferguson’s own perspective, More than Sunshine and Vegemite – success the Australian way, covers the role and development of the Australian Sports Commission programs and their impact on sport in Australia over the past two decades.
This book provides an insight into the growth of both elite and development sporting structure in Australia, during a period of unprecedented growth leading into and following the success of the Sydney 2000, Olympic Games. Through his numerous interviews and 'insiders'perspective, Ferguson has produced an essential read for those interested in the development of Australia’s sporting “system”.
Ferguson’s account, while not complete in its scope, provides a balanced view of the real challenges faced by sport in Australia. In doing so, he gives a glimpse of what challenges lie ahead. His frank account of the complexity of the drugs in sport issue and the challenge of balancing community benefits of sport with elite focussed success, is honest and challenging.
From the slow and cumbersome recognition of coaching as a profession to the direct impact of elite programs such as the Australian Institute of Sport, Ferguson’s book covers a lot of ground, in what has been an exceptional growth industry. His explanation and discussion of policies, programs, athletes and practitioners poses the question of what will sport and recreation mean to Australia over the next twenty years. More importantly, how will Australians view and accommodate this change, given our nations unusual passion for sport/
More than Sunshine and Vegemite – success the Australian way, clearly articulates the challenges faced by governments and national and state sporting organisations to provide an environment of excellence, while being able to comply with the demands of a heavily government reliant industry.
At the conclusion of his book, Ferguson gives a clear call for the provision of an enhanced accountability framework for sport, while at the same time not killing sport with bureaucracy. He also highlights the ongoing quest for a clear government mandate to reconcile the seemingly dichotomous roles of sport as a community benefit and elite pursuit. These, indeed, are some of the current challenges faced by sport in Australia.
