{"id":30366,"date":"2016-11-18T10:28:04","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T23:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=30366"},"modified":"2016-12-28T15:25:44","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T04:25:44","slug":"brett-parbery-on-the-selection-process-for-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2016\/11\/brett-parbery-on-the-selection-process-for-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Parbery on the Aus Dressage Team Selection Process for Rio…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Print\"<\/strong>Interview – Rebecca Ashton<\/p>\n

“It was a tough one, this last Olympic campaign. Straight after Odense I was in a bit of a lull because I didn\u2019t have the best show there and the way the selection policy is, if you have one bad show, you\u2019re out. You\u2019re finished. After that first selection event I was a bit down and disenchanted with the whole process. I don\u2019t think the process is really right. It\u2019s definitely fair and equitable for those who live in Europe, but not for those of us who come from Australia. We\u2019ve got a lot of work to do to come up with a process that is fair and equitable for all participants.”<\/p>\n

What is that then?<\/em><\/p>\n

“Ours is a situation where it has to be so black and white, it has to almost be like a spreadsheet that it just selects itself and the numbers do all the talking. At the end of the day, and it happened this time, it was the last one standing.”<\/p>\n

Would America act as a good template? They seem just so very tight as a team. They\u2019re almost in lockdown together before the big events and Robert Dover is all about, \u201cYou\u2019re not just turning up, you will exceed your best\u201d…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

“They\u2019ve taken a while to evolve to that. They\u2019ve already been through all the Facebook posts and the infighting. There\u2019s a couple of things that they\u2019ve done that are very good. They have a very strong discipline. If someone rocks the boat, they are out. There are no questions asked. If you contradict what is seen as the team culture, or have behaviour that is in direct contrast to the team, you are finished. No questions. They did it with Caroline Roffman.”<\/p>\n

“The other thing I find, which I think contributed to the bronze medal they won, is that they have three teams, they put an A, B and C team into that training venue in Belgium. They had their own nationality coaching, Debbie McDonald, and they may help each other as well. All the grooms, all the owners, they\u2019re all in one place. Not one thing gets out on social media, not one bit of bad press, not one \u201cpoor me\u201d. There are probably fights, but they are so damned disciplined, it is so strong, they all have one goal. That works. And the person on the B team isn\u2019t trying to upset the chances of someone on the A team.”<\/p>\n

“The Europeans are a bit different, they\u2019re wired differently to us. We\u2019re better off basing off the American model. Especially the way they\u2019ve embraced their own countrymen as trainers, mentors and their chef d\u2019equipe, and the way they have discipline, so that things don\u2019t leak.”<\/p>\n

\"carrdaymartin-advertisement\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“We need, and we spoke about this in a meeting today, we need strong leadership like that. I know it drives Ton de Ridder crazy. Not that Ton wants to control it all, but there\u2019s no discipline. We need to make tough decisions, and people have to cop it. We are where the Americans were 10 or 15 years ago, but we\u2019ve got to grow up. We\u2019ve got to be a bit more mature. We need to also rebuild it from Australia. I can fully understand interaction with Europe, and we need that, but I believe that needs to happen in the middle years, the years in between the Olympics and WEG. We need to have a training trip to Europe, go for 4-6 months with a few riders; train, compete, train, compete without their neck on the line so there\u2019s no desperate behaviour.”<\/p>\n

“The problem with sending riders in Olympic or WEG years, you put them there with strained finances and a dream they\u2019re trying to fulfill, of course you\u2019re inviting desperate behaviour. I found myself, being depressed and getting down, and never wanting to compete for Australia again, that\u2019s how I felt and still feel, to some point. All sorts of behaviour comes out when you are placed in a very desperate situation.”<\/p>\n

“The guys in Europe, we love them all, but they just don\u2019t understand that sort of desperation we have, and they don\u2019t understand how we have to survive in this business, and we need Australia to be thriving because that\u2019s our profession and our source of income. I know it\u2019s impractical to think that you can make the selection events in Australia all the time. I can use Rio as an example, because the horses had to fly from Europe, so in some way, the horses were going to end up in Europe. That doesn\u2019t mean that at least part of the selection process couldn\u2019t have been in Australia though. That means getting in and designing a way. For example, Kelly (Layne) is in America, the girls (Kristy and Lyndal Oatley, and to some degree Mary Hanna) are in Europe. That doesn\u2019t mean the selectors can\u2019t say, \u201cRight. two scores are chosen. The first comes from one of three selection events in America or Australia or wherever you live. This score will make up 40% of your grand total; 40% to remove judging imperfections.\u201d<\/p>\n

“If we do have to travel to a big event from Europe, then those who feel they have a chance will go to the next selection event which is two head-to-heads. You must attend. None of this if you don\u2019t go – you still get a score. You put your best score from those two events forward and that is 60% weighting of your grand total.”<\/p>\n

“If there is no need to go to Europe, say for example the Tokyo Olympics, there would be a completely Australian process. The thing is, these poor Australian show organisers, who put their heart and souls into these events, are battling to get people to come and watch. Let\u2019s give the spectators a reason to come. It would be a selection event. Have two of them so you can afford to muck one up, you can take a risk.”<\/p>\n

“For the Tokyo Games, which you can get to from Australia, then everyone has to come home (it’s called Australia) for the final selection events. I know there\u2019s going to be problems, and I know there\u2019s going to be whingeing, but we\u2019re prepared to fly there, so those guys have to be prepared to fly here. And if they don\u2019t want to, then don\u2019t be part of it.”<\/p>\n

\"marcusoldham\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Where do you see the money coming from for training trips? That<\/strong>\u2019s one of the big reasons riders don<\/strong>\u2019t do them.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

“I believe there are a lot of very good people out there. The \u201cGo Fund Me\u201d for Sue Hearn and those people who contributed to the Travel Fund, is a great example of how much people want to back their own riders. I believe that if people have confidence in the system, they\u2019ll contribute. Heath and Rozzie (Ryan) raised a hell of a lot of money through their ball. The Americans are all privately funded, and those backers put out some very big cheques, but people need to have confidence in a structure, because at the end of the day, they want to see the fruits of their generosity.”<\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s say we sent four young riders to Europe next year on talented horses, I\u2019ll guarantee they come home better. If they\u2019re better, they push everyone else, so you start to raise the standard. I mean we want to go to Europe and we need to go to Europe, but let\u2019s do it in a different time in the cycle. So the Americans use Aachen in an Olympic year for a reason, but rewind the clock, in 2008\/2009, they used it as a training trip, which is where I think we are – we\u2019re in that phase. You go to the good shows in the training years.”<\/p>\n

“In the big years, for example with Tokyo, all the riders have to come here. Then you get Kristy and Lyndal Oatley, Hayley Beresford or whoever, all competing in Australia. I guarantee you, in ten years, you have a different sport. For those people who disagree with it, come up with a better way and look at the way the current system is killing our sport. If they want to support the current system, then they should accept full responsibility for the bad state the sport is in.”<\/p>\n

“Sue, Maree (Tomkinson), I, we just didn\u2019t want to be part of it. I guarantee Sue will come back totally burnt out. I\u2019m burnt out, I have no enthusiasm for this current system. I would have more enthusiasm for a better process. Maree\u2019s the same. She doesn\u2019t even want to ride. The bad set ups really burn you out\u2026 If you want to ride for Australia, this is what you have to do: Go to Europe, go to two shows and by the way if you muck one up, you\u2019re out\u2026 and put your life on the line for it. It\u2019s so inequitable. My poor owners, it\u2019s cost them $100,000 at least. Ok, we had issues with the horse ,and my owners accept that, they\u2019re horse people, but you get an idea of the costs.”<\/p>\n

“Ton is a great guy. What he\u2019s done for us is nothing short of outstanding and I can\u2019t rate him highly enough. He\u2019s the perfect person for the role he\u2019s in. The question is, if we go in the direction that I suggest, we will need his input and influence in Europe, but if we\u2019re trying to make it stronger in Australia, I think we\u2019ve got to try to get it through the state training structures like the state squads. They\u2019re the ones that meet frequently. The state squads are the ones that need to hum along and they need to produce the culture of, \u201cYou\u2019re here, it doesn\u2019t finish now that you\u2019ve made the squad, you\u2019re just starting. We expect you to stick to the structure, you need to be disciplined,\u201d so when you get to National events, the riders are schooled, they\u2019re ready for it.”<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s one good thing about hitting rock bottom… the only way is up. And it really makes people dig deep and think about what\u2019s going on. You don\u2019t want to undermine anyone\u2019s efforts in the past, because people really tried their best for it, but I think we have to look after Australia, number one. I think that\u2019s the biggest thing to come out of all of it. We need to take ownership of it nationally.”<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s no other country really that has to do this over two hemispheres. We are faced with more challenges than any other country in the world. When you go to the shows and you explain your selection process to the guys in other countries; to the Americans, the British, they can\u2019t believe we do what we do. I had a good dinner with Richard Davidson, he said, \u201cYou guys have got to get more pride. You need to look after your own sport back in Australia. Get Australia strong. You\u2019re good enough. You just have to believe in yourselves.\u201d I agree with him. We will get much more respect internationally when we stop being the guys who just turn up out of the blue, when we start being the ones who control it ourselves.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brett Parbery talks to Rebecca Ashton about his views on the Australian Dressage Team selection process for Rio…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30366"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31008,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30366\/revisions\/31008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}