The Institute of Sport Management (ISM) has revealed that both the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Federal Minister for Sport, Rod Kemp, have responded negatively to the Institute’s recent calls for the government to boost funding for professional development opportunities for the sports management industry. The ISM wrote to both Minister Kemp and Peter Bartells, chairman of the ASC, in May, citing a need for continuing professional development of sport managers in Australia.
The Institute declared this week that the two have responded that the government already provides adequate funding for the sector through the “Our Sporting Future” conferences, club development network and women in sport leadership grants. They both also stated that it is up to individual sports to address their ongoing governance and management and hence no separate allocation of funds into this area would be considered.
In background to this week’s announcement, the ISM presented the case for the ASC and Federal Government to take a lead role in the delivery of initiatives directly aimed at improving the professionalism and performance of sport managers. The Institute states that significant amounts of taxpayer funds are invested into Australian sport and numerous mismanagement issues have surfaced within National and State Sporting Organisations that has attracted media scrutiny and damaged the credibility of the industry. It adds that these instances highlight the need to remain proactive in the area of structured professional development, and provide support and development programs not only for the elite athletes and coaches but for the sport managers who are the backbone of our industry and are the ones responsible for the management of large sums of taxpayer funds.
Moving forward, the ISM states that it would now like to continue this debate and gain feedback on what its members think.
- In associated news from the Institute, planning is currently underway for a new series of ‘Meet the CEO’s’ seminars for Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne later in the year and in 2007. The ISM adds that it is looking to grow its Professional Development Series to include other capital cities to ensure that sport managers from all areas are able to access professional development opportunities.
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