Australia 'EX-SPORTS' Education to China

By Imago Group - Liz Herbert
Tuesday 15 March, 2006

Behind the scenes, the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne is providing an ideal platform for Australia to promote its sport event management and scientific expertise to the world and particularly China, a country whose social development is forecast to evolve rapidly with the staging of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Melbourne - At Melbourne Town Hall today the Lord Mayor of Melbourne John So and CEO of the City of Melbourne, David Pitchford, were on hand to witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – a forerunner to Australia’s delivery of leading edge sport science and management education programmes in China.

Leighton Wood, CEO of Sport Knowledge Australia (SKA) and Mr Delong Xie, Deputy Director of the Tianjin Municipal Sports Bureau (TSB), put ink to the agreement, which outlines China’s education needs leading into the 2008 Olympic Games and beyond.

Fittingly signed in Melbourne, the sister city of Tianjin, the cooperative agreement will see SKA and the TSB run as many as ten courses in China, starting in May or June this year.

Wood, who is promoting SKA’s products to four separate delegations from China during the Commonwealth Games, says TSB is keen to learn from Australia’s experience. “China will open up its country to the eyes of the world when it hosts the Olympics in 2008 and like all hosts, they have a strong desire to continue to raise the standards,” says Wood.

“SKA offers a vast bank of knowledge on sport science and running international events. We aim to enhance the ability of China’s sports administrators to develop infrastructure that will have long-lasting community benefit.”

SKA’s Director of Business Development, Joyce Chew, will also be discussing collaboration plans with the four Chinese delegations from Tianjin, Guangzhou, Beijing and Nanjing. The plans will focus on the joint delivery of leading-edge sport education that combines Australian best practices with practical application within a local Chinese context.

Mr Zhenduo Han, Director of Tianjin Sports Bureau, said Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics signifies China’s social development is entering a new stage.

”The major role sport plays in advancing China’s social development and progress is becoming increasingly evident day by day and the sports industry has a broad market in Tianjin”.

"During the Commonwealth Games, our Sport Delegation, led by Vice Mayor Mr Sun HaiLin, has signed a MoU with Sport Knowledge Australia. This important signing ceremony is a perfectly timed to coincide with such a significant sporting event.”

“Governments at all levels and parties concerned have invested heavily in building sport infrastructures for hosting the Olympic Games, Asian Games, National Games and major tournaments at home. Our administrators keenly feel they have to learn world-best practice in managing and operating these sports facilities. Senior administrators and training centre coaches for outstanding athletes also want to obtain the most up-to-date knowledge and experience.” he said

SKA’s offerings will be tailored to the needs of China’s senior administrators and will include study tours of Australia, sport facility management, marketing, development, event hosting and operations, along with the development of training centres for athletes.

In conjunction with the Melbourne School of Sport & Recreation Management, SKA also completed its presentation of the inaugural International Sport Facility Management Programme at Sports House in Melbourne this week (9-14 March). At the same time in Melbourne, SKA’s Academic Programme Director, Dr Paul Jonson delivered a paper to the Commonwealth International Sport Conference outlining his organisation’s leading-edge approach to professional education for the sport industry.