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From - MNZ:
2003 High Performance Squad to be Announced Soon:
MNZ CEO, Trevor Gill, has announced that the very successful High Performance Programme started last year is to be enhanced, this year’s squad will be announced next month.
“ The programme was very successful last year,” said Gill.
“We have spent the last few months evaluating the results. This has meant talking to all parties with an involvement, including the motorcycling industry and international icons like Shayne King and Aaron Slight. We all need to be moving in the same direction to get optimal results. There will be a few structural changes, we are going to have a two tiered elite structure this year,” he said today.
The direct funding situation hasn’t improved reported Gill. “SPARC put $7m into elite sport last year and we didn’t benefit at all from it. That’s not about to change, but we can build partnerships in non-financial ways and that’s what we are about. We put about 10% of our annual revenue into high performance.”
“Last years elite report card was very good, especially in off-road motorcycling. With Townley and Coppins ranked sixth and second in the world respectively, plus a plethora of other youngsters competing internationally we were on a podium somewhere in the world most weeks. We won Oceania Championships in Motocross and Trials and we sent a development team to the Trial Des Nations in Portugal.”
“The world is looking in our direction to produce the next motocross world champion, and we can oblige them”
This year we are seeing exciting development in our women’s rankings and the re-emergence of New Zealand in world speedway. For the first time for many years the Kiwis will be represented in the Individual and Under 21 World Speedway Championships.”
“This year we need to work hard with our Road Racers. We have the World Six Day Enduro Championship here in New Zealand in 2006, that’s our long-term focus.”
Mr Gill sees the history of motorcycling as strong motivation for this year’s squad. “We have a Roll of Honour on our website that goes decade by decade. We don’t need a mission statement, once the squad is announced their first job will be to study the list. They will see that New Zealanders have won 22 World Championships in the past. We are proud of our record and we will use it as a positive tool to move forward.”
