Sporting Elite Lured to Sydney

By Bruce McDougall
The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday 8th June, 2005

Sydney Olympic Park will become an international education centre offering elite sports science and management courses to students around the world. Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, International Cricket Council chief Malcolm Speed and former national swimming coach Don Talbot are among a star-studded lineup of guest presenters. The list of high-profile sport and academic professionals also includes former marathon world record-holder Alberto Salazar and the former coach of Australia's Olympic gold medal winning women's hockey team, Ric Charlesworth.

Owned jointly by Sydney University, the University of Technology, Sydney and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, the centre - which has secured $8.6 million from the Federal Government - will open for business later this year. Over the next decade the university is expected to be a key development in the $1 billion transformation of the former Olympic site into a town of 15,000 residents and 20,000 workers. Sport Knowledge Australia was launched at Telstra Stadium yesterday by parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Pat Farmer. Mr Farmer said the program would be a global leader in professional level education, drawing together a team of leading sports science and management experts.

Sport Knowledge Australia would also play a role in the global growth of the sports industry, exporting expertise through foreign franchises. It would be headed by the former head of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, Leighton Wood. Mr Wood said interest had been received from overseas and target areas including China, India, South-East Asia and Europe. ''There will be live-in courses - it will be total immersion,'' he said. ''It's a good step towards making Sydney Olympic Park a live and viable place".

Bilingual courses for aspiring chief executive officers and elite team coaches would be run. The university would cover the major elements of sports science including medicine, physiology, pharmacology, nutrition and biomechanics.

A 10-year plan for the former Olympic site includes a $470 million development of residential apartments and commercial office and retail space - stage one of the $1 billion project.

Photo:Matthew Vasilescu