Out and about in NSW
My regular trip to Sydney to meet with the other State Dressage Chairs and the ADC can be a tough job. It is always a very full day of reports and rules, rules and more rules to be considered. Of course this is an essential task, but not much fun.
This year I allowed some extra time to inform myself about what was going on in the NSW Dressage scene. I did coffee with Dressage NSW, chair Prue Spurrett, who clearly reinforced my growing belief that all in EA need to focus on looking after the “grassroots”. Many leaders in our sports have paid lip service to this area but few have delivered.
With this thought in mind I ventured outside the city limits on Sunday, to visit Alexander Park Dressage Club just north of Newcastle. In recent weeks I have visited the new Elmore Equestrian Centre and Tatura Park and on each of these occasions I have enjoyed a “can do spirit” and enthusiasm for the task of running their events.
Alexander Park DC won NSW club of the year a few years back and for good reason. As a Dressage Club event organiser of 30+ years’ experience, I thought I could instantly identify a happy event as I drove in the gate. What caught my eye? Well I saw plenty of floats and horses waiting in yards. Six arenas operating all day with horses warming up in abundant space. Clearly identified stewards ensuring smooth operations and scores going up quickly. Rotary Club volunteers were selling food and coffee to add to the country spirit. But hang on, there were also 2 riders proudly wearing their Australian representative badge while many others had their NSW representative emblem on show. This show was sweet and bucolic but it was also the home club of many highly competitive Dressage riders. All the levels from Prelim to GP were contested and not all the winners were called Ryan.
One local FEI rider (not Ryan) told me that the Sydney riders didn’t come to APDC for fear of not winning against the hot local competitors.
On the Saturday the focus was on encouragement classes of all levels, while Sunday was an official Championship.
What may surprise many Victorian competitors is that at such a high quality event there were no stables, 4 of the 6 rings and all the warm ups were on grass and the majority of rings had only one judge.
But don’t take my word for it that it is a great club championship, I asked all the riders and judges I could find. The first comment a number of competitors made referred to the OC’s preparedness to bend over backwards to help the riders. They loved the grass surface and the club insisted on inviting fair and generous judges. These comments came unsolicited from every rider with whom I spoke. I sensed that the local competitors were proud of the spirit at their local club. The president of the Alexander Park D C, Bruce McVey said they have always had a customer focus philosophy and it clearly showed.
At this event the “Tall Poppies” were flourishing in a symbiotic relationship with the “Grassroots”.
Thanks to Bruce and his team, I gained important insights from this visit.
Michael Bragge
Chairman, Dressage Victoria