ACC Developments

I took part in a local radio interview this afternoon.

During the day it was reported that the Canberra Raiders were one of six rugby league teams under investigation in the current Australian Crime Commission’s inquiry.
The club had made a brief statement and the CEO, Don Furner, was in Sydney receiving a briefing from the NRL and ASADA.

We can confirm we were contacted by the NRL late last night in relation to the ACC report, however we have no further details at this stage. As previously stated, we fully support any investigations by the NRL or the ACC in relations to these matters. Our club will continue to work with the NRL and ACC until these matters are resolved and will update our members, sponsors and supporters when we can. Until we are provided with more information we have no further comment on the matter.

Whilst reading up on some items for the radio conversation, I followed up on:

• The transcript of Stephen Dank’s interview on the ABC’s 7.30 Program.
• Benjamin Koh and Martin Hardie’s post in The Conversation.
• Peter Badel’s discussion of Peptides in The Australian.
• The Minister for Sport’s morning Doorstep Press Conference.
• ESSA’s statement on a unified solution on regulating sport scientists.

I have compiled some of the discussion of the ACC’s activities in an Evernote Notebook

One of the important issues for me in the discussions thus far has been the relationships between a head coach, performance scientists and strength and conditioning coaches.
My hope has always been that if sports do find effective, ethical strategies to overcome the catabolic effects of performance in training and in competition then these strategies could be shared openly.
My naive but fervently held belief is that this transparent sharing would enable sport to flourish.
Sport would become a non-zero sum activity … everyone gains by accepting that sharing is the new competitive edge. I think this is the time for a Fourth Age of Sport.

The move from the bottom left hand corner to the top right corner is the essence of the integrity of sport for me.
I think we can develop a deferential sport system that is appropriate for the 21st century. We might even rediscover playfulness as an antidote to dis-play.
Postscript
Dennis Hemphill has a post in The Conversation (13 February) on the role of the sport scientist.
Robin Willcourt was interviewed on the 7.30 Report (12 February) on the use of hormones.
Chris Berg post on The Drum (12 February)