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azzuri
'Our Scotland' Fossil
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 3797
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 Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:28 am Post subject: Tough with the smooth - Dougie Donnelly.......... |
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Source - www.sundayherald.com
| Quote: | Beat sloth and crime while winning Olympic medals. The Institute of Sport chairman delivers his masterplan to Natasha Woods
IS the ever-affable and smooth Dougie Donnelly turning into a grumpy old man? He thinks he might be. First, he is frustrated at the petty politics in Scottish sport. Then there are today’s soft kids and the pc-brigade who don’t like competitive sport. And don’t even ask him about the idea of a British Olympic football team.
“There are people in football politics who are not to be trusted. I’m not naive. This is the thin end of a very dangerous wedge. I’m totally in favour of the Olympic movement and a London Olympics, but reluctantly I go along with the Scottish Football Association.
“There is serious danger, because there are other countries around the world who still wonder why – as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – we should be entitled to more than one football team. If there was a GB Olympic team with Scottish involvement that would only add fuel to their argument.”
Before anyone gets the wrong idea, Donnelly doesn’t do ranting. Those familiar, smoothly modulated tones haven’t changed at all.
But the man who has been face of BBC Sport in Scotland for the best part of three decades has got something to say. And a platform to make his point.
For Donnelly is also the chairman of the Scottish Institute of Sport, the body who provide a support structure to almost 250 elite sports men and women. Next spring, come the Winter Olympics in Turin and the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Institute athletes will be expected to deliver medals.
Those who may have viewed his appointment as just a slick public relations move – all style and little substance – would find themselves dissuaded of that view by some time in his company.
Donnelly really cares. Yes, the Institute now have a recognisable figurehead. But he believes he has something to offer beyond raising the organisation’s profile.
“You could just come in, turn up for meetings, and have your name on the letterhead. But that’s not real help. I hope I’ve been able to offer a bit more than that. When I fly out to Turin it will be to my seventh Olympics, so that is a fair amount of experience in sport.
“And I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It has been a pretty steep learning curve, but I’ve been impressed by so much. It is fascinating to get up close to elite sport. You really get a sense of ownership. I’m really looking forward to seeing Institute athletes compete in Turin and Melbourne. I’m desperate for them to do well because I know how hard they work.”
The man who famously called the “stone of destiny” in Salt Lake City as Rhona Martin curled her way to victory will be hoping to do the same in Turin for the BBC. But doesn’t that present a possible conflict of interest since it will now be his own Institute athletes whose performances will have to be critiqued?
He says not, although the subject of which side of the fence he is on has caused him some concern. “It’s not so much an issue at the Commonwealth Games because I’m doing weightlifting there and Scotland only has one competitor,” he said.
“Turin might be more of an issue because I’m doing the curling commentary, but the Beeb said their only issue would be if I had any hand in picking the team. Fortunately I’ve not!
“So they are happy to rely on my professionalism. And because I’m commentating on a British team at an Olympics, I can be partisan to an extent. To a point, you can be a fan with a microphone.”
Donnelly has always been that, providing a gentle hand on the television tiller; a presenter unlikely to make waves with controversial comments. However, Berti Vogts’ dismal reign as Scotland manager prompted the first signs of a more polemic response from the typically genial host.
“I’ve never thought my job as a broadcaster was to create stories or be the story. I’m not confrontational by nature, but in the Institute role I will be outspoken when I need to be.
“Maybe an element of it is ‘grumpy old man syndrome’, but it’s also the confidence that comes with long years of experience and thinking you’ve got something to contribute to the debate.
“That’s why some of the politics I’ve encountered has frustrated me, because I don’t want to play these games. I just want to see Scottish medallists and Scottish success.”
It is a topic Donnelly warms to. He has been delighted by the response he has found from athletes, but disappointed there is still some resistance to the services offered by the Institute some six years after its formation.
“I didn’t naively go into this thinking that everything was going to be wonderful. But I must admit to some disappointment and frustration at the politics of it. There is so much petty jealously around, and people who don’t buy into the Institute model.
“After six years, the evidence is all there that it does deliver. But there are still people who feel they know a better way of doing it.”
From what he has seen, the political will is there to back sport, from the elite Institute to grassroots. Forty years too late, he says, Scotland is also finally getting its indoor facilities up to scratch. But over that same period society has changed too, and not always for the better.
“Kids are softer because life is easier. The current generation are less fit, we all know that. They are less willing than my generation were to stand out in the rain and cold and put down coats for goalposts.
“We are a society where a lot of people play sport, but a lot of it isn’t competitive. Keep fit and fun runs are great, but we also need more competitive sport. I just know there would be fewer ASBOs if kids were playing more sport.”
Donnelly checks himself, knowing the grumpy old man has resurfaced. But his passion for the subject is obvious. He is taking this seriously and personally.
Hence the man with a particular passion for golf has set himself a little project in the new year. He feels there is a funding and support gap when young golfers first turn professional and he wants the Institute to get more involved in the professional game.
He also needs to recruit two new non-executive directors to join the Institute board. Only those with elite coaching experience need apply. That is another target.
The big one for Scotland, of course, is the Commonwealth Games. Officially the aim is 15 medals. Donnelly hopes for more. Ever the patriotic fan, he now has more at stake. Because he is the chairman of an organisation who will be held to account if the numbers don’t add up. But he is happy with that equation. |
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azzuri
'Our Scotland' Fossil
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 3797
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:31 am Post subject: |
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Just thought - might C-Scot be interested in a figurehead like this?
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"Every single person on this planet is unique. Just like everyone else..." - Random Guy in Edinburgh Pub
Possibly the funniest site in the world, 'The Daily Mash' - http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/ |
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