27 July 2011

$100,000 of your money for the ACT Olympics Council

| johnboy
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Simon Corbell has announced he’s throwing $100,000 at Canberra’s involvement in the London Olympics.

Fifty thousand dollars will be provided as grants to local Olympic and Paralympics athletes to assist in preparations for the London Games. The rest will go to the ACT Olympic Council, which held a fund raising lunch today.

Canberra is the most active and healthy community in Australia. It’s therefore not that surprising and very pleasing that we have produced so many local athletes striving to represent Australia at the forthcoming games. These athletes are great role models for Canberrans of all ages and all abilities and demonstrate to us all the benefits of being physically active.

Final selections have yet to be held, but there are approximately 25 ACT Academy of Sport (ACTAS) supported prospects for the games, 7 striving to represent Australia at the Paralympics and 18 looking for selection for the Olympics.

Personally I’d rather put my own hand in my own pocket for appropriate cake bakes.

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Henry82 said :

Jethro said :

Surely we can have some type of system where if an athlete starts to earn over a certain amount as a result of their sporting endeavours they have to start paying back some of the money spent developing them.

Thats not a bad idea actually, nice thinking

The idea gets floated pretty regularly (HECS for the AIS) – but no politician will ever touch it because the unwashed masses love sport and regard it more highly than such paltry matters as education, social services, etc.

Then again over 50% of the athletes probably compete in sports no-one cares about and should pay their own way. Shooting comes to mind.

Big words…

+1 for the suggestion of athletes paying back if they start to earn bit $$ in their careers. Also
+1 for the sentiments against the Olympic Committee gravy train.

What will really fire me up is if the media start carrying on about supporting our Olympic ‘HEROES’. These people are not heroes, they are athletes! They train as athletes and (sometimes) they win. It does not make them heroes for goodness sake!!!

shadow boxer9:38 am 28 Jul 11

LadyMelon said :

I would suggest that well over 50 per cent of the Australian athletes that compete at the Olympic Games would have to work full, or close to full time jobs, in order to support their ambitions to be an Olympian. Most of the time their days would consist of training either side of work, so that they can afford to live and compete.

Australians revel in our nation’s sporting success and for this donation to only cost 27.9 cents for each ACT resident I think is a good investment

Then again over 50% of the athletes probably compete in sports no-one cares about and should pay their own way. Shooting comes to mind.

I would suggest that well over 50 per cent of the Australian athletes that compete at the Olympic Games would have to work full, or close to full time jobs, in order to support their ambitions to be an Olympian. Most of the time their days would consist of training either side of work, so that they can afford to live and compete.

Australians revel in our nation’s sporting success and for this donation to only cost 27.9 cents for each ACT resident I think is a good investment

Jethro said :

Surely we can have some type of system where if an athlete starts to earn over a certain amount as a result of their sporting endeavours they have to start paying back some of the money spent developing them.

Thats not a bad idea actually, nice thinking

$100 000 isn’t a huge amount, so I’m not overly concerned.

What I do resent, however, is that athletes who get trained at the AIS get it all for free and in some cases go on to earn millions of dollars.

Whereas people who go to uni and train to become nurses or teachers end up with a giant HECS bill at the end of it.

Surely we can have some type of system where if an athlete starts to earn over a certain amount as a result of their sporting endeavours they have to start paying back some of the money spent developing them.

For example, Cadel Evans was trained at the AIS and wouldn’t have paid a cent for it. He would be earning in the millions now.

nobody said :

This is 27.9 cents from every resident in the ACT. I expect I will watch at least some of the London Games on TV and show an interest in the Australian athletes, so I don’t think this is too much.

I don’t like the concept of sport as a “career”, but the majority of Olympic athletes are amateur instead of professional athletes.

I don’t think so.

They used to be – but it’s fairly commercial now.

This is 27.9 cents from every resident in the ACT. I expect I will watch at least some of the London Games on TV and show an interest in the Australian athletes, so I don’t think this is too much.

I don’t like the concept of sport as a “career”, but the majority of Olympic athletes are amateur instead of professional athletes.

The Frots said :

The Olympics committee’s, and there are many different ones, are simply a gravy train for the bastards that are on them. We’ll see the same old, tired faces as they fly around the world yet again, telling us that elite sport is a God-given right for them to trouser yet more gifts and benefits.

I can’t tell you how bad these leeches bleed the system – and we (or Governments on our behalf), hand money over like there’s no tomorrow.

I’d personally be happy to see the likes of Coates sit this one out…………………………………..what are the chances of that? (damn, that pig is flying low these days!)

The Frots has obtained a nail and hit it correctly on the head. Juan Antonia Samaranch (now dead, thankfully), Sepp Blatter and his cronies at FIFA…they are all scum of the same ilk. We would all be better off if we could purge the whole “elite athlete” administration worldwide, and start from scratch. Or give up altogether, which may be a better choice.

So how many raffle tickets did they buy from those blokes in Garema Place ?

The Olympics committee’s, and there are many different ones, are simply a gravy train for the bastards that are on them. We’ll see the same old, tired faces as they fly around the world yet again, telling us that elite sport is a God-given right for them to trouser yet more gifts and benefits.

I can’t tell you how bad these leeches bleed the system – and we (or Governments on our behalf), hand money over like there’s no tomorrow.

I’d personally be happy to see the likes of Coates sit this one out…………………………………..what are the chances of that? (damn, that pig is flying low these days!)

I wouldn’t give two bob to pampered elite athletes while we still have homeless people in the streets, 8 hour waiting times in hospitals, buggered infrastructure, piss-poor mental health services etc etc.

What a bloody stupid waste of money.

Better that than some ugly peice of crap artwork on the GDE comprosing of painted coppers logs or some useless fake pond in Lyneham.

$50K to the athletes? Well maybe OK, though I’m generally against funding sport at the elite level.

$50K to a fund raising body? No way! Would be more efficient to give it directly to the athletes rather than having in eaten up by administrative costs.

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