7.4.5 Funding of Elite Sport Proposals
Active New Zealand must resource National Sport Organisations for elite sport that has a focus upon coaching and preparation for international competition.
Support for elite sport cannot be divorced from the rest of sport. For success at the community level through to the elite end in the long-term, there must be vibrant modern sporting organisations. Providing limited resources and then expecting results is wasteful. Unless sufficient funds are allocated for elite programmes and backed up with funds for staff then the programmes are being funded to fail. Funds should not be used to intervene in those codes which are able to work towards supporting an elite programme from their own resources.
Characteristics of the support required for elite sport include:
- Full-time coach appointments to become the norm rather than the exception.
- Improvement and monitoring of the quality of coaches as well as increasing their number.
- Talent to be identified and developed through a nationally coordinated strategy involving the successful integration of coach and sport science expertise.
- Targeted competition opportunities and an insistence upon excellence.
- Elite academies supporting New Zealand's top performers in partnership with national sport organisations.
- Professionally led and expertly managed national governing bodies enhancing the development of their sport.
Active New Zealand must resource national sport organisations for high performance initiatives that focus on coaching and preparation for international competition. Based on indicative figures supplied by 41 national sport organisations to the New Zealand Sports Foundation it is projected that the total cost of desired elite programmes over the next four years is approximately $160 million or an average of $40 million per annum. Indicative resourcing requirements per annum involve the following:
| - |
Coaching |
$8 million |
| - |
International competition |
$15 million |
| - |
Preparation and sport science support |
$6.5 million |
| - |
Talent development |
$5 million |
| - |
Education scholarships |
$5 million |
| Total: $39.5 million |
Active New Zealand will lead the continued development of a network of sport-specific elite academies that offer a focal point for the development of elite coaches and athletes in accordance with the approved plans of the national sport organisations. Each regional centre of the New Zealand Academy of Sport should comprise up to six core staff focused on providing expert services for coaches and athletes. The costs of the services are incorporated in the elite sport figures above ($500,000 per regional centre, with no more than three required).
Total cost: $1.5 million
The Taskforce emphasises that the level of financial support currently available through the Hillary Commission and the New Zealand Sports Foundation must be maintained and continued. This support totals approximately $35 million. The total cost for the initiatives listed above is summarised below and involves approximately $90 million of new initiatives. Resourcing of the initiatives should involve a mix of funding from government for education, health and recreation and sport, the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board, gaming profits, and Community Trusts. Resourcing from these sectors must not preclude the corporate sector from also investing in additional recreation and sport initiatives.
| |
Total |
| Education* |
$26.25 million |
| National Recreation & Sport Organisations |
$18.7 million |
| Regional Organisations* |
$16.25 million |
| Local Organisations & Physical Activity* |
$19.504 million |
| Elite Sport* |
$41 million |
| Active New Zealand Operations |
$2.5 million |
| Total |
$124.204 m |
* Total includes some existing funding.
