How to pick an Australian Team.... comments needed

[GeorgeF]

In the latest issue of 'Whats the Score' I wrote my personal view on what needs to be done to address the issue of National selection in this country. I have pasted it below, I would appreciate any comments in relation to the matter, agree, disagree or new ideas.... please post them so I can forward them to TBA.

Thanks in advance

Point of View
By George Frilingos (Jan 08)

This year’s Men’s World Tenpin Bowling Championships to be held in Thailand in August is going to feature two significant changes the sport has never seen before. First of all, it will be the first time PBA stars are allowed to compete in this event. This means we will see the like of Walter Ray Williams Jnr, Park Bohn III, Tommy Jones, Chris Barnes, Patrick Allen, Sean Rash and Rhino Page competing with the World’s best.

Another significant change is the introduction of a finals format to each event at World Championships. The new rule is the four best after qualification play semi finals. The two losers get bronze medal and the winners play a final. All matches will be played over 1 game. The highest ranked player in each match after qualification chooses lane pattern - short or long oil.

The second rule makes for good TV and is a great way of promoting the sport worldwide. The first rule though which allows the PBA stars to bowl is significant. This is the sports first real step to trying to get into the Olympics by allowing all athletes professional or not to compete in the one arena.

It has always been argued that teams such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc are already fulltime paid professional athletes but with this rule it no longer matters. The world’s best will compete and for the first time, we will have true World Champions.

With an amazing depth of talent and now having the ability to select professional athletes who how do you go about picking Team USA? Certainly one of the most difficult processes a governing body could ever make. Let’s take a look at the grueling selection process involved.

USBC Team USA 2008 will consist of a minimum 12 men,

• 4 existing Team USA members (if you make Team USA you have a 2yr spot on the team)
• An undetermined number of men will be selected by the USBC/PBA Committee from the 2007-08 exempt field of the Denny's Professional Bowlers Association Tour
• Te top two men in the 2008 USBC Team USA Trials will earn automatic spots on Team USA 2008
• Two additional men will be selected from the field by the National Selection Committee.

We don’t have the depth of bowling as they do in the USA but there are some interesting ideas TBA could easily adopt to ensure our bowlers are best prepared.

Ask any Australian bowler or TBA official now, how do you make an Australian team? No one can give you an answer, why? The reason is because there are no set parameters in place so people have a tangible understanding on how to make a team. How do you make an Australian team has been a mystery in this country for the last 10yrs, time to end it. This brings me to my first point, SET PARAMETERS

Just like with Team USA, if you bowl the Team USA trials and qualify in the top 2, you will earn automatic spots into the team. Why can’t we have that? Why not create Team Australia selection trials, maybe 30 games over 3 days and over 3 patterns. If you make the top 3, you in! No buts, no maybes, you’re in the team! Now 3 doesn’t seem like a lot but it’s only 1 way of making this illustrious team.

Another way of confirming your spot in the team is to finish in the Top 2 in the Australian Rankings. Simple, if you’re in the top 2 of the rankings, you’re in the team! I would like to personally see the same rule applied for youth, if you are the top youth bowler in the country, you deserve a spot in the adult team (that takes our tally to 6). I think it is important to exposure our youth bowlers to adult competition, the experience is priceless and it prepares them for the future.

The 3rd way to make the team is to select 2 bowlers based on State, National and International performances. We have a few bowlers in this country who bowl overseas a lot, they may not finish in the top 2 in the rankings or be here for the Team trials but their International experience and results deserve them a spot in the team. Allow a selection panel of 3 High performance coaches to pick the other 2.

There you have it, a team of 8, which at the time of going away will be cut to 6. It is important to have a few reserves ready to go, not only does it prepare them mentally but it exposes them to the National team culture and training. Throwing a fresh bowler in the deep end because another bowler pulls out has been proven not to work, the days and hours spent preparing go out the window if the new bowler hasn’t prepared as well.

Here is the catch….. If you make the team, you make it for 2 years! Yes, if you earn a spot in the National team you keep it for 2 years. Now there are numerous reasons why this is a great thing.

1. It allows the team to bond and prepare. Instead of picking a team 6 weeks out from an event, cramming in 1 lousy training session how about we allow National team to travel together, stay together and bowl together over a longer period of time. I.e. If the Australian Open is on, the team is required to stay together, bowl together and have team briefings before and after bowling together. Do this for 6 or 7 tournaments a year and all of a sudden you have a close nit group who work together. No need for random 2 day coaching clinics to prepare, let’s prepare over the entire year.

2. Experience, if you make a National team and for whatever reason you go away and bowl terrible, it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be there and kicked off the team, it means you bowled bad and should have the right to work harder, practice some more and redeem you not so good performance. Experience is something money can’t buy; good chance that same bowler will bowl a lot better next time he shoes up!

3. Bowlers can relax a little knowing there spot is guaranteed for 2 years. I can tell you as a fresh man in the National team I felt an amazing amount of pressure to perform my first time out, constantly thinking, if I bowl bad I’ll never make a team again. That is a tremendous weight to carry when you bowl, it is constantly in the back of your mind, you don’t want to let down your mates but you also want to prove to the TBA selectors that they made the right decision.

So that’s it! George’s sure fire way of picking a National team, set parameters, allow a 2yr spot in the team, prepare like we have never prepared before. It’s not difficult and it’s something bowlers in Australia have been waiting for over the last decade. So TBA, the balls in your court.

 

[wchester]

Interestingly enough, the six male bowlers who were selected to represent the USA in the World Championships are only bowling in that one specific event. Reigning USBC Team USA Trials men's champion Derek Eoff, was selected for the World Cup and aims to repeat Hoffman's winning performance from a year ago. John Janawicz will represent the US at the PABCON Champion of the Champions, a new event that will be held June 2-6 in San Salvador, El Salvador, while Del Ballard Jr and David Haynes will represent the United States in the adult division at the Tournament of the Americas.

A fact that isn't very well known, is that each of the team USA bowlers receives a stipend of $200 per day while representing the USA in competition. This is on top of the expenses paid trips to foreign lands.

I'm in agreement with George in regards to our team selection. parameters need to be set and made known to the bowling public. No secret ballots or back room deals. Simple and straight forward rules, by which our representative teams are selected.

 

[CSP]

I totally agree with George and Wayne on this view. I have been excited to be a representative of Rachuig for NSW for 8 years and very proud to be the winning captain in 2007.

My ultimate goal has always been to represent Australia and realise there has to be alot of hard work at my game to achieve that goal. When selectors don't inform you on what you need to improve on in your game, what's the point. For the last 12 years I have nominated and made training squads before the Aussie Team was cut down to the final 6, but there was no information sent advising of the non-selection and what we needed to improve on to gain that representative position for the green and gold.

I agree there has to be set guidelines in the future and these rules have to be made public. If rules are changed they can only be done at AGM's, not just changed because the rule is not liked.

When the criteria for representative teams are made public then all bowlers that wish to trial or nominate know everyone has a fair chance at making the Australian Team.

Let's set criteria and guidelines for the future of the National Team

Regards,
Christian Purdue

 

[PoITeR]

very interesting to see ppl agreeing, lets see if we can make it happen

 

[farma]

Here is a novel thing NZ is ahead of Australia in this area. NZ already has a policy of this nature in place. http://www.tbnz.co.nz/policies/2008 NZ Team Selection Criteria Final.pdf

 

[GeorgeF]

thats just flat out embarrassing that some sheep shaggers are miles in front of us.....

 

[farma]

We will take that as a compliment George.....

 

[lgt]

Throughout all the areas of concern in our sport we have a lack of policy documentation and information sharing

Accessibility of policy for all associations and organisations
Adhering to policy and rules
The idea of working together with the NSO not 'under control'
Education of state organisations

I thought the ASC tagged $ last year to the administration of the sport?

The TBA is under-funded and I don't think the bandaid approach is going to work any longer.
Suggestion: I and others are willing to assist in areas of personal expertise or experience to help with information etc, not as a Board member but as advisers, in all areas - Junior Presentation Dinner, National Selection Criteria etc etc

Leanne.

 

[mattr]

So how do we nominate for this team anyway, also there has been no word as to if AU are sending a team has there

 

[CSP]

My opinion is select (Frawls, Belmo, Walshy, Jez, Mick Little, George) and then commence discussing the future guidelines and criteria for selecting future National Teams.

 

[rambo1]

the new zealand team selection criteria is similar to the one i suggested in another thread & i do believe this method will revitalise championships & rachuig
other sports have trials why don't we
it's true belmo & some of the other bowlers mentioned by christian would make good representatives but there are many more bowlers that would represent australia with distinction but may never get the chance
unfortunately the ATBC & now the TBAL LACK VISION or it's too much work so choosing the same bowlers is the easy option
my 2 cents worth

 

[Michael Little]

For a start the TBA need to actually make a decision to send a team. It hasn't looked good from the onset due to financial reasons, but I for one and many others would obviously relish the chance to play against the pros again (who wouldnt?).
George is right in his thoughts, for years, if not decades, the Australian Team has been selected with no clear direction or guidelines as to selection criteria, they may have written selection guidelines to begin with but try naming a time when they were really stuck too.
I won't mind however being the first to shoot some holes in George's theory or at least throw some more questions out there.
1) Having a 3 day selection trials over 3 diff patterns with top 2-3 players making the team automatically
Q - How do we organise a said time and place for the average weekend warrior to do this? Adds more financial expense, not many centres let alone technicians have the no how to assure these patterns will be set correctly. Sounds good in theory though. Which leads me to point 2
2) Selecting bowlers based on top 2 rankings.
Q - Maybe this should be restricted to top player at the end of the year, however the biggest down fall of this, is that this will be proven totally useless as a selection method unless the current sham of a rankings is not revamped to at least a year by year system. I know the rolling system is supposed to promote consistancy and rewards those for continued high performance but tournaments change so often these days, old ones stop, new ones start up, previous farces such as double points come and go etc etc, you get the point and has been covered in a gazillion prev posts.
In all honesty our whole tournament calendar and what is ranked and receives points needs to be totally revised. A tier system should be in place and each event given set points or a weighting, to be discussed in another post, another time.
3) A selection panel of high performance coaches select relevant bowlers with o/s experience that cant make trials or bowl in required ranking tournaments.
Q - obvious flaw, where do we find qualified high performance coaches? there may be one or two lurking in the shadows but in all honesty we just dont have the infrastructure within the national body to develop coaching systems like the us or similar countries, we just make do with what we have, its no fault of any coaches, but just goes to show the reach of TBA mismanagement and what a lack of financial resources results in.
4) The team should prepare together well before the actual event.
Q - Great idea, there is no reason why it cant be done, may not actually require all staying together at tournaments as everyone usually travels with friends etc to cut costs down, but tacking on a day after the tournament has finished throughout the year where time off is allowed from employers would prove beneficial, not only allowing coaches to develop strategies with player, give them guidance, technique to work on for next meeting/camp, I was also a believer of the TBA previously misguided attempt to attain a certain level of fitness for our supposed elite players. Whilst bowling doesnt require extreme fitness, anyone that comes from a sporting background of any other type and I am sure George would agree, the more physically fit you are, the more mentally aware and focused you will be and anyone who has competed at bowling events around the world, will know that being that little bit sharper could mean the difference between whether you carry that 10pin and win a medal/$20000 cheque or miss out by 10 sticks.
5) Experience and staying in the team for 2 years.
Q - Sound nice in theory but when the World Champs are every two years and no team events in between, a lot can happen in that period of time. This however would be ideal if Australia was to still compete in the Asian Zone champs like in previous years, as you could use the Asian champs as a springboard to build towards Worlds, but it just doesnt happen anymore. I do however believe in giving the youth players a chance if good enough.
The real bottom line is, noone will ever be happy with who is picked or not picked in a rep team, the main point of this post I presume is to get the ball rolling on making concrete guidelines that are fair and can be adhered to, a chance for everyone to see what is required to make an Australian Rep team, be transparent about the process and at least then everyone will understand.
My personal views for selection - Roll off over patterns for two players if a cost effective weekend, time, location, correctly laid patterns can be done properly
Next player to come from rankings if rankings is fixed
Final three to be based on performance - ie as above, overseas experience, analyze bowlers skills levels, their adaptability, national tournament results etc etc
If you wanted to extend it to a 8 person team, maybe include top youth bowler if they are already not in team, experience and recognition for efforts and bowling performances does wonders for peoples self esteem (funny that), too little encouragement has been given to junior/youth bowlers over the years and again if not decades to give them the extra onus to take their game to the next level, unless you have a lot of personal support and encouragement from family , these guys and gals just become drop outs from the bowling scene. And also pick a genuine no 7/8 bowler who would easily fill the void of any team member that wasnt able to bowl for whatever reason.
Final point, everyone knows when world champs are held n where. So I guess reiterating Georges point. Pick the team reasonably early enough, allow players to bond, develop strategies, ball layout techniques to suit the patterns etc etc, if this is done properly and a player starts to go through a slump, it can be addressed early enough as well, there is nothing worse than a player starting to doubt themselves and fear they will let their teammates down.
I think the TBA will find it hard to do anything in this arena for a long time until they become a little more shipright, but hopefully down the track all of this can a long term goal and maybe just one day, we can become as well developed as neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore where the bowling is fulltime and a genuine source of stable income.
Anyway, am sure I will edit this a few times as I think of more things.

 

[Dozza]

TBA have now detailed their International Competition and National Team Selection process. World Youth criteria is detailed on the website. They will be conducting a selection camp that will be held in association with the Challenge Youth Cup on Saturday the 31st of May – Monday the 2nd of June 2008 in Campbelltown NSW. They will be choosing the team that travels 6 weeks later to Florida USA.

Doriana

 

[Griffo]

Hello all,

I don’t know whether I should be commenting about this online or not, and whether Brunei censorship will come down hard on me and sensor the post (lol) , but here are a few thoughts I have on the topic.

As a full time National Coach based in Asia, I can say that I experience National Team Selection on a daily basis. And I can honestly say that many of the issues and problems you are facing in Australia (and mentioned in this thread) happen all over the world. We are not alone.

I support George and his view to bring this to the forefront, drawing attention to the many issues, with the hope of improving the situation in the future; it certainly needs to be done. He has brought up some very interesting examples and ideas.

Unfortunately, no matter what process is used (selection based on performance or open trials); no matter how many people are involved in the decision making process; whether or not the athletes qualified automatically through national rankings, performance or tournament wins – there will always be people who disagree with the choice, and feel that someone else deserves the chance more. We can never make everyone happy.

It is unfortunate, and it also happens over here, but many people’s first reaction to a team, selection or process they do not agree with is to shoot it down. Families, friends and associates often bag the selections, have goes at the team or selection panel, and even blame the coaches. In their minds, someone else should have been selected. This, however, is not productive.

As a Coach, I feel the number one goal in selecting any National Team is to have the BEST bowlers (who are available at the time) to represent their country at an international event.
National Athletes need to be able to perform well, show pride, and have the right attitude and confidence to do their stuff internationally under extreme pressure.

How best to select them? God only knows. Sometimes it works, other times not so well. Hindsight is a wonderful tool, but unfortunately we cannot use it until it is too late.

The one thing that I fully agree with is that, no matter what process is used, it needs to be transparent. Bowlers need guidelines and parameters set so that they can see exactly how the decisions are made, and more importantly, what they need to do in future to make a National Team.

A few comments on the points already mentioned:

Fitness – I fully support a reasonable level of fitness in Bowling. Here in Brunei, as well as elsewhere in Asia, bowlers must attend Gym, and pass a fitness test to be selected in a National Team. Bowling is treated just like any other sport, but with its own fitness requirements. As Michael mentioned in his post, bowling does not require extreme levels of fitness, but the fitter you are, the better you can perform over longer periods and while under pressure. It also helps with injury prevention. The key here is core stability, flexibility and overall cardiovascular fitness.

Selecting early, and training together – definitely if it is at all possible. Team dynamics, trust and support, plus an understanding of your team mate’s game, can lift performances when it is needed most. It can help create that winning edge. This cannot be done correctly apart, or at the last minute.

Cost and time or travel restrictions – unfortunately this will always be a problem. Bowling is an expensive sport, and people have lives and work outside bowling. Only real solution here is full time professional athletes …… ahhh dreaming!


Two Years like the US – has both its good and bad points. Yes it gives the selected team the chance to relax and have less stress. It gives the team a chance to train together, get to know one another and their games. But, two years is a long time, and if someone else is knocking on the door or suddenly deserves selection, it may be too long to wait. Will they have to make certain standards to retain their spot? I am undecided on this point.

Funding for trips – Obviously here in Asia, we have it a little better than in Australia. Some trips are funded by the Government, allowances are paid, and most people can receive “unrecorded leave” to travel when representing their country. Some other countries have it even better, with full time athletes who are paid to bowl. It is their job. Yes this would be great in Australia, but I feel it will be a long way off.

When selecting a team, you need to choose people with versatility, proven performance, and the ability to bowl well on INTERNATIONAL conditions. Local performances are a good indication, but as happens many times world wide, once overseas it is a different story – different environment, conditions, pressure and travel all play a factor. This must be taken into consideration.
Roll-offs, National Ranking, and Tournament Results are a start, but there are many other factors to consider. Whatever the process, it must be set; it must be clear; and it must be transparent.

I know I have not given many solutions, but just my thoughts.
Let’s hope this helps

Mike Griffith
National Tenpin Bowling Coach
Brunei Darussalam

 

[Troyza]

On the point of fitness;

I agree totally that being fit is an important part of bowling. But... Northern NSW president shield team were made to run immense distances under a time limit, & were told to do beep tests, etc, which I do not agree with. Because the way I see it, bowling is an endurance sport, not a sprint. Just my opinion.

 

[Jez]

The selction criteria released looks very detailed and very hard to assess in one weekend.

Avergaing the rankings is a good idea in theory but when events have double points, triple points etc it just doesnt work.

Also being on 6 week before the event is just not fair for ppl who make the team..given the costs which as i understand is in excess of $5000 it is just not right to expect ppl to come up with this money so close to the event. Not only the cost but putting the team together 6 weeks before the event is crazy

It is good to see TBA ibut think this should have been put together for future years to make sure they got it right

 

[jwalsh]

Selection criteria what a great read.
What year is it again?????