Nick Hill: Setting medal targets one measure of accountability

In the build-up to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and, to a larger extent, in the wake of the New Zealand team's overall performance at the Games, much has been made of Sport and Recreation New Zealand's (Sparc) decision to publicise medal targets.

Why was it necessary to establish medal expectations, and how did Sparc arrive at the target of 46 medals?

First, and most important, medal targets are established by national sports organisations, not by Sparc.

Well in advance of every major competition, the high performance directors of each of the NSOs establish medal targets and expectations for their individuals and teams.

These targets aren't simply predictions, either. They are informed opinions based on world rankings, past performance, an analysis of the competition and a host of additional relevant factors.

Sparc then provides the investment, in dollars and in resources, to help the NSOs achieve those targets.

Having said that, let's be clear that Sparc invests in high performance sport with the understanding that recipients of funding are accountable for performance.

Setting medal targets is one form of that accountability and, as a public entity, Sparc needs to be open and forthright about its expectations.

Equally important, however, is the point that sport at the elite level is a competition. And when New Zealand teams compete against other countries, we need to establish goals for performance.

Australia and England began establishing medal targets as early as the 1980s. In the sporting world, it's the primary way we as a nation can quantitatively benchmark ourselves against the rest of the world.

As a team in Melbourne, we didn't meet our expectations. This is a sharp reality check about where we sit in terms of international sport and, overall, it is very disappointing.

Having said that, there were some positive results. We witnessed the emergence of some promising New Zealand talent.

Among the names of the future are Nick Willis, Andrea Hewitt, Brent Newdick, Charlotte Harrison, Kate McIlroy, Shelley Kitchen and James Dolphin, among others.

Progress was also apparent in the blue riband sports of swimming, athletics and triathlon.

And let's not forget the netball team's gritty gold-medal performance, defeating Australia on their home court.

While this is heartening, we need to look at the here and now. Internationally, the bar has risen.

For more than 20 years, the Australian Institute of Sport has focused relentlessly on its objective of winning medals. Sparc, meanwhile, is just four years into the process.

We therefore must continue to take a long-term view and a constructive approach to improving our methods and our programmes.

In that vein, a significant number of positive underlying changes are now in place. Most recently, Sparc invested approximately $24.7 million over the past 24 months in the high-performance programmes of the sports that made up the New Zealand team competing at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Despite this investment, we noted a lack of depth at the top in key sports.

At the Games, it was apparent that most of the top countries had three or four athletes competing to be the best. New Zealand too often over relied on one or two key individuals. But this is not about assigning blame or making excuses.

It's about benchmarking ourselves against the best.

With all this in mind, Sparc, together with the New Zealand Olympic Committee and the individual sports, will now commence the post-Games debrief process, just as it does after every major international event.

The debrief will consider the performance of teams and individuals prior to and during the Games, factors that assisted or detracted from these performances and what can be improved upon for future competition.

There is no doubt that New Zealanders believe winning in international events is important.

It offers social, economic and health benefits: it helps to create a strong sense of national identity, pride and social cohesion; it creates a healthy image for marketing New Zealand goods, services and experiences abroad; it helps to attract high-profile sports events to New Zealand and the associated economic gains; and it encourages New Zealanders to be active.

The New Zealand Government recognises the public good in these outcomes and invests in high-performance programmes as a means to achieve them.

It is our responsibility at Sparc to see that those goals are achieved.

Finally, I want to make clear that I am extremely proud of the New Zealand team. I was personally heartened by the number of athletes who performed beyond expectations in Melbourne.

The fact that many of our competitors did the same speaks to the challenge we face to continue to improve and win in the events and sports that matter to New Zealanders.

* Nick Hill is chief executive of Sparc.