Integrity is becoming outdated.
Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change, it is about doing the right thing in a reliable way. To have integrity is to have a moral compass, a compass that leads you to doing the right thing.
Amazingly, some see integrity in sport as being something different as one website put it “Integrity in sport means that participants, officials, athletes and supporters can participate in and enjoy sport, confident in the knowledge that they are part of a safe, fair, and inclusive environment.”
Surely integrity in sport is far more to do with adhering to and promoting ethics and values which promote confidence in sports, and its competition outcomes including positive conduct by its members and community?
Then there is the matter of the integrity of a competition, here the vital component is to protect athletes from outside influences, and effectively ensure that all competitions are fair. Outside influences such as betting, doping, match-fixing all affect the integrity of a competition. In the lower echelons of sport playing an ineligible player or a ‘ringer’ is another way of impacting the integrity of a competition.
This is why if teams or individuals are going to enter a competition or a league they need to ensure that all of the rules and regulations are in place and published prior to the competition commencing. Unfortunately with some sports that has not been the case, and the rules have been altered during the competition. This has also resulted in some teams benefitting while others have been disadvantaged. The Integrity has been compromised.
Why has this suddenly become acceptable?
When the Football Federation of Australia took over the running of the sport they created the National Youth League. This was a Youth team linked to the A-League clubs made up of players on the fringe of making it into professional football. It was also a competition where those A-League squad members who were not in the first team could have match practice. In addition it enabled players coming back from injury to have game time under their belt as part of their recovery.
Regrettably, to reduce costs the National Youth League format was changed in 2015/16 to a Conference format. Then along came Covid and the competition did not take place, and it has not been resurrected since.
Now we have A League clubs having youth sides participating in NPL competitions against semi-professional club sides. Arguably this has affected the integrity of the top competition outside of the A-League, as despite FIFA regulations stating quite clearly that professionally contracted players cannot have “a dual registration,” the clubs and the administrators have allowed players on full professional contracts to play in the National Premier Leagues. (Double Trouble and Is the Integrity of The Competition at Risk?)
Having contacted both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation they were very clear on this issue stating that “a player may only be registered with one club at a time.” They also advised that this applied to all member nations, “Article 1 par. 3a) states that the above provisions are binding at national level.”
Yet somehow it is still allowed. Why?
Is it because we have been told that it is in the interests of Perth Glory, or a similar A League club, and that they are representative of our city and community? So it is in the best interests of all? Is that in fact true?
With the low attendances now at A-League games it would appear that it is far from true, and there is a disconnect between many clubs and the community. Could this in fact be because these clubs do not respect the rules and regulations of a competition, and have undermined the integrity of it?
In the sport of hockey it is fair to say that Australia’s national players are amateurs. The scholarship money that they receive would not even cover their rent each week.
Yet Hockey Australia, like Cricket Australia has adopted a program where players are selected to the National squad for a year. Once again the financial rewards are vastly different.
Sadly, just like cricket where the national players now rarely ever represent their state in the Sheffield Shield, we are witnessing the same in hockey, but more in relation to their clubs.
Recently someone in cricket explained this situation by saying that the gulf between Test cricket and the Sheffield shield is now so high there is not much point dropping back to play at that level. This is one of the problems that this sport also faces, like football there is once again a disconnect which has occurred between those at the top of the sport, and the rest.
State players benefit immensely from playing alongside international players. They can learn by watching how they prepare for a game, what they eat, how they behave, how they train and so many other factors. Not only that, but their mere presence will often lift those around them and their performances.
It is also important that the top team in the country is not a closed shop, and that those who perform have those performances recognised and are given an opportunity to be promoted and be a part of the set up. It is all about encouraging players to develop and believe that there are opportunities if they perform. (Picking Your Moment).
Just as it is important that international players play with their state sides, so too is it important that the state representatives continue to play for their club sides, as they too inspire the next generation. Creating a closed shop not only restricts the development of the players, but also impacts on those who show an interest in the game and come and watch.
Hockey faces a slightly different problem. The international men and women are based in Perth as part of the High Performance unit. Those from interstate do not get the opportunity to play for the clubs that developed them and inspire the next generation, or if they do it is only on very rare occasions. In recent years one player headed home and wanted to play for their club but was told that they could not as they needed to rest; as part of their workload management.
As result of these players being in Perth they are rostered to local clubs. There has been much criticism of this system in recent years as rather than helping players from interstate settle in better by remaining at a club, frequently each year some players have changed club, which is unsettling.
At the start of the 2024 season all clubs were advised that their rostered players were “unavailable in 2024 until after the Olympics, except in a few special circumstances (ie; they are not selected for the upcoming European Tour or Olympic Tour and may be released to play Club hockey at that time).”
While almost everyone understood that the reason for this was to give the players the best preparation for the Olympic Games, and to improve on the silver won in Tokyo, the feeling was why go through the charade of a draft.
Then in round three and four two clubs were asked to find room for two players returning from injury. The official explanation was that this was needed as part of the players rehabilitation / Return to Play schedule. The National program was on a rest that week due to the high volume competition schedule that was just completed – Test Matches v India – and could not provide the game time as the other players needed their rest. This does make sense, and the original email advised that this may be the case.
Despite being told that the clubs were aware of this, clearly there was a communication breakdown as some clubs claimed that they were unaware of this situation.
While the clubs fully understand that international duties will always take priority over the club games, the lack of involvement from some of the national players has created some tension.
For example in 2023, in a 22 game regular season 20 players played less than ten games for their local club, and 17 of those players played five or less games. Those whose teams made the finals were allowed to play in those games, and the qualifying number of games imposed on regular club players did not apply.
While the national team must always be the pinnacle, and there would be few who would not want them to succeed, as they know the impact that their success can have throughout the game in the country, there is clearly an issue in relation to the draft and the way it is being implemented. It is also clearly causing a disconnect between the clubs and the next level up.
More importantly the way things are, the integrity of the competition is being greatly compromised.
In fact the problem would appear to be far greater. In all sport the fans, the coaches and the players want to win. That is why they support a team, coach a team or play. However, the emphasis now is solely on winning.
In International hockey every game is now worth world ranking points. You lose and you can drop down the world rankings, this can in turn effect your ability to attract sponsors. What is more Government funding is based on performance, medalling at key events such as the World Cup, and Olympic Games. So the focus is now purely on winning, as that is the only way some of the sports can survive.
Is this why you often see so little rotation in terms of the players used, and some staying on longer than their performances warrant? It is a case of sticking with those they know can perform, and who have been there. However, what does this say to those outside the top bubble, who have aspirations to play at that level?
It used to be just the fans who expected the national team to win every game. This writer spoke to Frank Farina when he was the Socceroos coach about this very issue, and one felt for him. Not only did Soccer Australia have no money, they wanted him to be successful in order to bring in money. What he wanted to do was give players an opportunity at international level, to strengthen his pool of players and was prepared to sacrifice a few results in order to give those players experience, but the powers that be, and the fans wanted wins. As wins for the administration meant money.
In 2006 the coach of the Springboks rugby team Jake White, advised this writer that South Africa were likely to come bottom of the Tri Nations Championship – now the Rugby Championship- but that they would win the World Cup in 2007. They did come bottom of the Tri Nations in 2006 and 2007, and they did win the Rugby World Cup in 2007.
White knew he had a wealth of talent at his disposal, but as he said then, he needed to get as many players as he could over the 10 cap mark, so that they would know what international rugby was all about and feel settled when they ran out to play. Then he explained how vital it was that his key players all played against the top nations in the two years leading up to the World Cup. This was to ensure that none would be overawed, and would not be playing these top sides for the first time at the World Cup.
Would he have been able to do that if all he was told to focus on was winning every game? Instead he and the players had a plan and a focus on the ultimate prize the World Cup.
The Western Australian Government won the bid to continue to host the Australian Hockey High Performance program in 2023. They have promised an investment of $135million to “meet the needs of Hockey Australia’s High Performance Program — with a focus on athlete wellbeing, based on its connection to the broader hockey community, strong domestic competition, proximity to Asia, lifestyle appeal, athlete support networks and world-class facilities.”
Part of this investment is to help develop a strong domestic competition. The Australian Hockey League has been shelved and replaced by a competition in which teams are now Franchises. These teams no longer tap into the parochialism of the State teams with players from various states able to play for any franchise. Previously, those who missed out on selection were allowed to represent states whose talent pool may not be as big. Which meant that they too had a chance to shine. Hockey traditionalists have struggled to connect with this new competition, as once again there is no connection with the community.
So one of the goals has to be to promote and develop hockey in Western Australia by having the best players in the country based here. The Government is going to want to see some return on that investment. As they stated they are expecting “a connection with the broader hockey community.” The well being of the premier competition in Western Australia has to be a starting point.
With commencement on the redevelopment of the Perth Hockey Stadium due to commence in August, it would appear that the key players need to sit around a table and hash this out before work commences, or before it is even built we could find the new facility failing in its objectives. One of those being that Hockey Australia move its administration to Western Australia to be housed in the new facility. (Podcast #126)
The clubs, Hockey Western Australia, Hockey Australia and representatives from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries along with an independent chair with no skin in the game, need to allocate at least a day, but possibly longer to sit in a room and work out how this is going to work moving forward. A solution needs to be found whereby every section of the game benefits in the long term. Currently that is not looking to be the case.
If this is not resolved prior to the creation of the new venue there could well be many left with egg on their faces as clubs choose to opt out of the draft system.
There are so many sports today where the top tier has become elitist. They have forgotten where they came from and how they reached the pinnacle. Yet when one looks closely at many sports there is a great deal of mistrust, and a feeling that everything is not quite as it seems. Imagine the potential and the power a sport could have in a competitive market place if it was able to change that perception. If all parties were genuinely seen to be working together for the greater good of all. That they were being creative, inventive, communicative, and most importantly pro-active.
Sport is for all. It is not just for the international teams. Historically, the clubs are the ones that underpin the national teams. It is these clubs who develop the players before they go on to play at the highest level. Currently the clubs outside of Western Australia hardly ever see those players play, while those in Western Australia who are asked to accommodate them are finding that they too are in many cases not benefitting from having them linked to their clubs either.
What is interesting is that many of the players want to play for their clubs. They want the opportunity to put into practice what they have been focussing on all week in a less intense atmosphere. They also want to inspire the next generation.
Whatever happens the clubs are the lifeblood of the game, not only in terms of that next generation of players, but also your fans. Once again the clubs were put offside when the opening day of the local season fixtures had to be changed to accommodate the matches between the Kookaburras and India. The crowds for these games, and the women’s games against China and Japan have been heavily impacted because they have taken place when clubs are playing or training. A lack of promotion hasn’t helped either. The timing of these games once again showed a total disregard for the local game and the community.
Remember that to have integrity is to have a moral compass, a compass that leads you to doing the right thing. It is time to sit down and do the right thing for all levels of the game. It is time to restore the sport’s integrity, as well as the integrity of the competitions.
