Elite athletes village closed before Athens

Olympics National Coaching and Training CentreMild outrage and bemusement was the tone in Leinster House as the shambles that unfolded before the Athens Games was revealed to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sports and Tourism yesterday morning.

Dr Pat Duffy, director of the National Coaching and Training Centre (NCTC), told the committee that the Athlete's Village based in the NCTC centre at the University of Limerick (UL) was forced to close before the Olympics in August because of lack of funding. The facility has 30 beds for athletes.

The departing Olympic team, which was described as the best prepared and the most professionally trained team ever, was denied the use of the "all-year-round residential facilities" when Dr Duffy reluctantly decided the NCTC could no longer continue to keep it open.

"I find it inexplicable that the village for the athletes was closed in the year of the Olympic games," said Jimmy Deenihan, Fine Gael spokesman for Sport. "It reflects very poorly on how you are resourced and reflects poorly on Ireland as a country and represents bad foresight and bad planning."

The NCTC, which was opened in 1992 and has its headquarters at UL, is the main Irish body involved in the training and development of coaching for emerging high-performance athletes. Its work is carried out in close association with National Governing Bodies (NGBs), and provides state-of-the-art methods of training and preparation for all of Ireland's Olympic athletes.

It has 25,000 certified coaches and provides direct sports science and medical support to over 30 national squads and to athletes who have produced over 50 medal-winning performances at major games. It is the principal driving force behind Ireland's elite sports industry and is largely funded by the Irish Sports Council (ISC).

"I find it amazing that in the primary year leading into the Olympics you are being cut," said Fianna Fail deputy and former international rugby player Jim Glennon. "It strikes me that maybe there is not as much communication between the Irish Sports Council and the NCTC. It doesn't appear to be all that it should be."

Dr Duffy did not expand on the exact nature of the relationship between the NCTC and the Sports Council, or indicate whether any friction exists. But the decision to have to close the centre was clearly difficult and embarrassing.

"I agree that it reflects poorly on our preparation. I had to take the decision to close the village. We made provision for athletes who wanted to train in Limerick through B&Bs, etc. It was not satisfactory," said Dr Duffy.

"It was regrettable that we had to close. Really, we'd no alternative. We pay a rental charge to Plassey (Technological Park), a subsidiary of the university, and we have to generate revenue to make it operate. Even on a good year we would run up a deficit of €60-€70,000. Our budget in 2004 was no different to that in 2003, and in 2003 it was €60,000 less than 2002."

In essence, that means the NCTC was receiving more funding in 2002 than they were in the Olympic year 2004. The €60,000 represents about seven per cent of the core budget, which amounted to €894,000 for programmes in 2004.

Even before the Athens review has taken place this issue has cast a shadow over how Ireland prioritises the needs of its athletes. And, just as seriously, Dr Duffy went on to say that the Sports Council has still not discussed the closure of the village with them and that the NCTC have not been centrally involved in how the Athens review is to be conducted.

"We will be participating in the Athens review," said Dr Duffy. "We have expressed disappointment to the Irish Sports Council about how we were not involved in how it should be conducted. But, yes, we have made a submission to the UK consultants."

Dr Duffy added that he believed consultants have been over-used in this Olympic cycle.

The episode sits uneasily for a number of reasons, not least for Dr Duffy's explanation of how complex and difficult the nurturing, training and development of elite athletes can be. The closing of an athletes' facility when it is most needed certainly dulls the glow of excellence in which the NCTC normally basks, and it challenges the relationship between the various agencies. Ireland may not keep the equestrian gold medal won in Athens by Cian O'Connor, but to ever win another everything must be perfect. In that Dr Duffy was clear.

"It takes 10 years and 10,000 hours to produce an Olympic champion," he said. "Using a very crude analogy: if we were manufacturing television sets, the very least we would know is what the component parts are and how long it takes to produce them. In sport, if we have not developed the motor skills before 12 years of age, then they will never reach their genetic potential. Never."

And how, he asked, is an athlete going to survive the 10 years and 10,000 hours unless a highly-trained coach is beside him or her for most of the journey.

About three-quarters of the Athens participants used the facilities in Limerick before the Games, with the rowers being there most regularly. Sam Lynch repeatedly returned to engage in the various programmes. Irish football manager Brian Kerr is also a regular visitor with the underage teams.

"We need to define the fabric of Irish sport for the 21st century," concluded Dr Duffy.

Clearly there are bricks and mortar issues to be sorted out first.