Well there is the winning.
The weather smiled during the first week
The atmosphere, the collective mind set which like a virus, contaminated us by the success of the opening ceremony. We had prepared for failure and suddenly we could celebrate a remarkable event.
We were bewildered to be contradicted in such a positive way.
How close to crying one became and one has to ask, why ? Why does emotion produce such empathy with the athletes and the man and women, lining the streets and filling the velodrome.
The success has come through "investment", remember that word ! We invest so little in so many important aspects of our collective life (apprenticeships, business set ups, up to date industrial machinery, long term banking support) and yet when we do we have the success we yearn for.
The investment spent on sports facilities and on coaches has been repaid with success on the world stage.
Unfortunately and this is reflected in the split between the successful athletes and the less successful athletes, it all comes down to the investment in the facilities in our schools. We have a deeply flawed school system, Public (Private) and State.
Look around the Private School and you will see a wealth of playing fields, swimming pools, equipment and full time coaches. From these schools come the winning athletes. The school timetable that recognises the importance of sport. Saturdays set aside for compulsory sport or study, these are the building blocks to success.
Contrast this with the State School. The bulk of the playing fields sold off to balance the books. Teachers roistered to teach sport but trained for other specialities and not properly equipped. A curriculum where sport is relegated to two hours a week and can be cancelled. The kids inculcated with the message "winning is not important" and that every child will receive the same praise whether first or last.
When we mess around with young minds so much, it is predictable that mediocrity is the norm !!
Its not that the pupils from the Private Schools are cleverer, its is that they are taught to be resourceful, they are taught to plan, to prioritise and set goals !!
The four year plan of the athlete is brim full of commitment and endeavour. Not for the faint hearted, not for the weak willed and not for the young chap who is thrown out and expected to stand on his own feet without reference to winning, receiving little or no praise, how ever well he tries !!!
How different it could all be if the system treated us all as potential achievers and gave us the encouragement, the resources and the committed plan to raise this country into a winning team !!!
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