Two weeks after the Australian Cycling Team announced a “restructure” resulting in seven job losses, a recruitment campaign is underway to find someone to fill a sprint coach role.

 

Cycling Australia recently announced changes to the structure of the Australian Cycling Team program. The pause created by the pandemic allowed for a strategic review to be undertaken and the immediate ramification was that, in May 2020, seven people involved with the team lost their jobs.

The news emerged in a press release issued by the Australian Cycling Team on 15 May, stating: “This restructure does not represent a change of strategy, but rather a refinement of the way the current strategy is delivered.”

The release explained that the changes related mainly to the “track and para programs”, that it was to “maximise performance” and that “communication, training, and preparation will be streamlined”.

It also didn’t shy away from the difficult details: “eleven roles will be restructured,” stated the release, “resulting in seven staff members leaving the team, with a further four staff members being offered refocused roles.”

The fall-out of this included a passionate open letter by one of the staff affected. Ross Edgar had, since 2017, been the National Track Sprint Coach and he issued a statement about how the changes would have a dramatic impact on him, his partner Bernie Quincey, and their four-month-old son, Maxson.

“CA’s latest restructure has sadly rendered myself and my partner Bernie victims of redundancy, effective immediately,” wrote Edgar on 17 May. “No consultation, no compensation, no remorse.”

The sprint coach role is up for grabs again and is being advertised by Cycling Australia via the recruitment agency Sports People.

 

– See job advertisement for Australian Cycling Team sprint coach position –

 

“Based in Adelaide,” reads the job ad on Sports People’s site, “you will form an integral part of the National Coaching Team. This role has two distinct functions; the primary purpose is to deliver face to face coaching to the Podium Potential Sprint Academy; the secondary purpose is to provide assistance to the National Senior Track Sprint Coach in support of the Podium sprint program.”

Applications for the new job close on 29 June 2020.

The role being advertised is essentially the same as that which was held by Edgar, only that it is now being combined with the Podium Potential Academy coaching position.

To date, this is the only position that has been advertised since news of the restructure.

RIDE Media understands that, despite the Sports People advertisement only recently appearing online, the position has already been filled by a capable coach with a good reputation but someone who has not yet had the experience of coaching for an Olympic campaign.

We will watch this space with interest and continue to report on any news that impacts the team’s progress as it prepares for the delayed Tokyo Olympics.

 

– By Rob Arnold