AN A$5.2 million (RM15.1 million) grant for a university-driven sports science research programme in 2013 was the biggest federal government grant in the history of Australian sport, dwarfed by the significantly higher annual grants for various sports from the Malaysian government.
And that should tell us about not just how much less of a burden sports development is on Australian taxpayers, but the direction in a research-based development and an inclusive environment where universities play a major role in the high performance sector and in the sports industry.
Significantly, virtually all high performance and professional teams have a collaborative partnership with at least one university, as Timesport discovered during the recent Sports Diplomacy Visit hosted by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs.
While this benefits the athletes' preparations in areas such as strength and conditioning, recovery and development, it also strengthens the research base and programmes for students and the universities themselves who gain from working hands on with high performance athletes.
The programmes, systems and even equipment developed via this culture is evidently a significant contributor to Australia's status as a global sporting power, holding the distinction of having had world champions in most popular sports.
The Bond University, Sydney University, the Queensland University and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) are charged with research in areas such as biomechanics, strength and conditioning, performance, statistics and even community sports under the A$5.2 million grant from the Australian Sports Commission.
Gold Coast-based Bond University has an added advantage in also sharing premises with the Gold Coast Suns Australian Football League (Australian rules football) team, while also fielding its own Bond University Football Club.
“Having the Gold Coast Suns on the premises gives us a great opportunity to work with professional footballers. It opens the door to a lot of hands-on research in working with real athletes,” said Bond University associate professor in the department of exercise and sports science Dr Chris McLellan.
Bond University's compact premises house a laboratory, gymnasiums, swimming pools, recovery areas and various other facilities putting this relatively small, non-profit private institution on par with the National Sports Institute (NSI) in Bukit Jalil in terms of capabilities.
“We don’t just work with footballers. We have a lot of swimmers, tennis players, rugby teams, cyclists, athletes and even just regular people looking to improve their performance, treat injuries or recover utilising our facilities. We are a centre for lots of research and our students are usually either athletes themselves or from the industry.”
The Gold Coast, where the 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held, is also where the Griffith University has one of its two campuses, where the Griffith Sports College is housed and trains some of Australia's top swimmers, among others. Hardly surprising when the college is managed by former Olympic gold medal swimmer Duncan Free.
Griffith features some of the world’s leading sports scientists who work on some of the most sophisticated facilities in Australia, including laboratories for multiple biomechanics, exercise physiology, biochemistry and sports nutrition.
This is also a centre for sports engineering, where the famed Sports and Biomedical Engineering Laboratories (SABEL), which in partnership with the Griffith University centre for wireless monitoring and applications, has been responsible for successfully inventing and producing groundbreaking sporting equipment and devices.
Griffith University boasts partnerships with the AIS, the Australian Olympic Winter Institute of Sport, the Brisbane Lions (Australian rules football), Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Over at the University of Canberra, the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise provides among the most elaborate research and development centres for rugby with partnerships with the Brumbies professional rugby team, the Canberra Raiders, Australian Rugby and the Rugby Football Union.
“The Brumbies have a section of their own in our centre and they benefit from a lot of the research that we do. The centre is constantly evolving and we continue to develop and introduce new systems to test and research athletes. But it isn’t just that high performance aspect,” said Professor Kevin Thompson, director of the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise.
The centre also partners the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) and thus also houses facilities to aid and develop paralympians, apart from partnerships with the Australian Winter Olympic Committee and an overseas partner in the English Cricket Board.
It also houses the headquarters of Australian Capital Territory Sports Authority (Actsport), which also means the university is actively involved in research and development of community sports, with an interesting touch.
“In community sports, we also try to generate growth and provide the necessary assistance such as our Actsport Sports Hub service, which is mainly desk space for small sports bodies to come and use for administration and for them to be able to interact with similar organisations,” said Actsport chief executive officer Jon Wells.
“They have the leased office space, meeting rooms, photocopying, scanning, Internet and IT support, along with advice on issues including grant applications, legal matters and Government relations. We basically assist them to get going, but not too much. They have just the basic necessities, so it’s up to them to ensure they grow.”
This large scale, widespread culture that includes virtually all levels from the community up to government agencies in everything from community, grassroots sports up to the high performance levels, might well be the sign that a sporting nation is at work and to great effect.
Every facility, bits of information, assistance, advice and support is never too far away from everybody, be it the regular morning jogger to the athlete training to become the next Olympic gold medallist. Because whatever research funded seems to be aimed to benefit everyone.