NEWSLETTER
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Our Thoughts on the London Olympic and Paralympic Games
SOA Development Sponsors Paralympian
We are delighted to announce that SOA Development will be sponsoring a Paralympian in the run up to the London Games. We are yet to select an individual athlete and will let you know when we do.
SportsAid functions to raise funds from the private sector to provide financial assistance to Britain's sportsmen and women, allowing them to compete against better funded athletes from abroad. The money goes towards travel, accommodation, equipment and competition fees. If you would like to become involved in this great charity then visit their website.
South African Olympic Team to Prepare in South London
We are able to announce the fantastic news that the South African 2012 Olympic Team will be using South London as their base for their 2012 preparations. Congratulations to our clients South London Partnership and the Go South Go team who worked hard to secure such a strong international team.
Hosting Visiting Olympic and Paralympic Committees
If you’re expecting a visit from an Olympic or Paralympic Committee, Peter Hutchison gives a few tips on how you might make the most of your time.
With less than three years to go until the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012, National Olympic and Paralympic Committees will be increasingly looking towards London 2012. Competition is tough for Pre Games Training Camps, so make sure you use any time you have with visiting delegations carefully.
If you’re successful, your first meeting will be the first of many. Your job is to help your visitors see the mutually beneficial relationship in a shared future and to set firm foundations for a relationship of trust.
Here are four things to do, and one thing to avoid when your team come to town.
Plan Do what you can to find out what the visiting team is expecting. Have they done their research? Have they seen the London 2012 PGTC website? Have they seen your facilities on that website? Ask the questions, or create a template and ask them to complete the details. A carefully planned trip will save a lot of wasted time.
Draw up a list of the information that you think your visitors would like to know about. Then draw up a second list of information that you would like your visitors to know about. Hopefully the two will cross over. If they don’t, their list takes priority.
Present Try to get a good balance of people involved in your visit. If you have a medical facility, let them present the physio suites and services. They know what they’re talking about, likewise for training, coaching, facility and catering support. A natural flow between people will show you’re part of a team, a winning team at that.
Prepare A visit is to look at the facilities, but when a delegation sees something they like, they start to look at some of the challenges and problems. What about availability? Cost? Transport? Make sure you’ve thought out some of the difficult issues in advance. The variables are so great that you can’t answer every query, but you should have a grasp of the main issues.
Enjoy and relax Simple as it sounds, but if you’re comfortable, others will be too. If you’re stressed, three years out from the Games, what are you going to be like two weeks beforehand? Your delegates are looking for a confident, UK-based team. If you’re not confident, it may be time to do a bit of rapid planning and team building. It’s worth it – you’ll all benefit in the end.
Respect their time It’s worth remembering who the decision maker is in the process, and making sure you use their time carefully. Don’t line up a long list of delegates on wordy, heavy functions. Use your dignitaries like seasoning – sparingly, and to good effect.
Once it’s all over, make sure you send out your thanks. It’s a team effort and win or lose, there are always benefits in building networks with new local partners.
Good luck!
If you’ve got a team visit coming up, and see how we can help.
Latin American Preparations for London 2012
Peter Hutchison shares his experiences with Latin Amercian National Olympic Committees and how they are preparing for the London Games:
It’s not just the capital that’s excited about the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Through my travels in Latin America I’ve visited a number of National Olympic Committees. All are looking forward to the prospect of visiting, training and competing in London.
Talking through options for pre games training in their offices and Olympic institutes, it’s interesting to see the range of facilities and level of planning that is in place for 2012. High aspirations meet head on with budgets. The reality is that many of the disciplines – such as fencing – are out of reach due to the cost of equipment.
The LOCOG financial award is an interesting idea. In many cases, the NOCs are not yet aware of the award – in all honesty from their perspective it’s not that important. In some cases the £25,000 towards the cost of pre games training camps is equivalent to the NOCs annual budget. It runs the risk of unsettling future plans. It also shifts priorities.
However, just like the big teams – China, USA, Team GB and so on – the smaller teams want to do their best. The four-year Olympic cycle is already ticking with a schedule of regional, international and sub-continental competitions being used to develop the talents of national athletes to reach peak performance in the summer of 2012.
Does a financial award shift that planning? Does it help or hinder? Therein lies the beauty of sport: ability, focus, training, dedication, experience and strategy. The canny teams will be working on the positives, playing to their strengths and using that financial award accordingly, strategically. If a team can come to London and achieve their best ever performance, the profile of 2012 and the wider Olympic movement in each country stand to gain.
It’s also a great opportunity for LOCOG Approved PGTCs to work with visiting competitors and teams to build long term relationships.
Once the NOCs start to think about the LOCOG award, it’s clearly a useful opportunity – one that will hopefully be sustained by whichever of the 2016 Candidate Host Cities of Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo is successful.
Progress on the Main Olympic Stadium
Fancy seeing how the new stadium is coming on? If so, London 2012 have created a virtual tour which is actually quite good! To have a look click here.
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