By JULIE ASH
With trampolining now an Olympic sport, New Zealand's best competitor, Justin Dougal, could be expected to be entirely focused on qualifying.
But the purse strings are so tight that Dougal has to concentrate on a non-Olympic event, the double mini, in the hope of securing additional funding.
The sport
is divided into two disciplines - double mini and trampolining.
Trampolining requires athletes to complete 10 consecutive moves, whereas the double mini is a power-based event involving two skills.
Only the trampolining discipline is part of the Olympics, coming in under the umbrella of gymnastics.
Dougal, aged 21, is ranked fifth in the world in the double mini and 25th in trampolining. If he breaks into the top three he is likely to receive funding from the Sports Foundation.
National team coach Angie O'Brien says that obviously it would be better if Dougal could concentrate solely on the one discipline, but at this stage that was not an option.
"Justin is one of those rare people who are good at both disciplines. But at the moment his focus is on the double mini, which is frustrating, but he needs funding to carry on."
A former national trampoline representative, O'Brien is well aware of the demands of amateur sport.
The New Zealand team have already competed in Australia this year and have events lined up in Demark, Japan, Australia and Invercargill. Although they do get some funding, it is nowhere near enough.
"It's tough. We have just had our top female competitor, Katrina Moodie, pull out because of the cost of competing. For her, it came down to attending the world championships or buying a new fridge.
"The fridge won out ... When you're young and out flatting, money is already tight."
O'Brien says any acknowledgment goes a long way.
"Just a letter from the Sports Foundation to say, 'Hey, you're doing well, here's $100,' would be nice. It's nothing in terms of money, but it makes you feel worthwhile because you do sacrifice a lot."
Dougal has a chance of securing a top-three spot at this month's world open and age group championships in Denmark, where he will compete in both disciplines.
He is one of 17 New Zealanders who will take part in the event, which starts on July 26.
O'Brien has high hopes for the team and is determined they will improve on their results at the last world championships in 1999, where they failed to gain a single medal.
"I would like to see five to six finalists, and there is a possibility of gold medals in the open men's double mini teams event and open men's double mini event with Justin."
Along with Dougal, Chris Ormandy (Auckland), Steven Vette (Gisborne), Antony Jackson (Auckland) and Kylie McNaughton (Palmerston North) will compete in the open event and the other 12 New Zealanders will compete in age-group events.
New Zealand have been successful in the double mini in previous world championships.
Kylie Walker won the open women's title in 1992, 1994 and 1998, and the open men's and women's teams were successful in 1998.
Dougal and Ormandy were part of the men's team.
By JULIE ASH
With trampolining now an Olympic sport, New Zealand's best competitor, Justin Dougal, could be expected to be entirely focused on qualifying.
But the purse strings are so tight that Dougal has to concentrate on a non-Olympic event, the double mini, in the hope of securing additional funding.
The sport
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