Sale in Sporting secrets

By Brendan O'Keefe
The Australian
Wednesday 8th June, 2005

AUSTRALIA'S mastery in sport is well known to the detriment of many international rivals. But now a marketing organization along with several universities won federal government backing to sell our secrets overseas.

Sport Knowledge Australia, formerly known as the International Centre for Excellence in Sport Science and Management, was launched yesterday in Sydney, almost a year after federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson approved a seed grant of $8.7 million for the body.

Director Leighton Wood told the HES the national body, co-owned by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of Sydney, would draw on the expertise of those institutions as well as Deakin, Victoria University, the University of South Australia and the University of Queensland to sell courses overseas. "We convinced sporting academics in management and science that this can be good for profiling their expertise throughout the world", Mr Wood said.

SKA is in talks with three universities in southern China. Visits to India, Southeast Asia and Europe are next on the agenda. SKA will conduct two intensive residential courses at Sydney's Olympic Park later this year, pitched at "deputy CEOs who want to become CEOs of their organisation in Australian sport". "The courses will be live-in and intensive and will run from 7am to 10 or 11 at night every day", Mr Wood said, "We are taking forms of those overseas and we are talking to partners to deliver those courses for us, SKA will sponsor six scholarships worth $447,000 over three years."

Mr Wood said SKA expected to have built up revenues of about $10 million in three years. The seed funding is in place until June 30, 2007. Universities would keep an eye on SKA using it as "a model ... a test case to better market the products that they have", Mr Wood said. SKA can't offer degrees but "we may work to the point down the track where we've earned our stripes to offer awards", he said. "We're talking to universities about accreditation of our subjects and articulation into their courses. We will set up an academic advisory committee with heads of departments."

Photo:Matthew Vasilescu