With an Olympic Games to be hosted by Australia in just seven years and the professional ranks of road racing increasingly leaning toward younger and younger riders, the importance of getting the pathway right for developing young riders from the nation couldn’t be clearer, so it’s not surprising that AusCycling decided it was time to run the ruler over its junior selection pathway.
CEO Marne Fechner said queries were being raised at an organisational level, by parents, community and coaches about issues from how the system stacks up against others to why more athletes weren’t being taken away to compete.
To guide the process, AusCycling appointed Chelsea Warr, who has wide ranging experience in both the British and Australian high performance space, delivered a report that identified 10 “considerations” which included defining and communicating a clearer pathway strategy with embedded rider development and selection principles, improved communication of selection criteria, minimum performance standards, integration of the development and selection process, a separation of the policy for Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines – which according to the report “feel undeserved and overlooked by the current policy” – and unlocking sponsorship, philanthropy and partnerships to help with resourcing.
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