How Do We Explain?

March 26, 2018
by Rodney Olsen
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Looking across a couple of news websites today I’ve seen a common theme.

“How do I explain this to my 10-year-old son?”

“I was ashamed to explain to my nine-year-old son this morning that we had planned to cheat.”

It seems parents are agonising over how to explain the Australian cricket cheating scandal to their children.

For those not in Australia and therefore not having their newsfeeds swamped with stories of the unimaginable horror of the latest scandal to rock the sports world, here’s the very shortened version of ball tampering by the Australia national cricket team.

Cameron Bancroft was charged with alleged ball tampering on 24 March 2018 when videos showing him rubbing and then concealing a suspicious yellow object emerged during day three of the third test against South Africa, at Newlands Stadium. Captain Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft accepted the ball tampering allegation in front of Andy Pycroft, the match referee, and press. – wiki

How do we explain to a child that a game that’s meant to be played fairly and by the rules isn’t always as fair as it should be? How do we tell our children that their heroes aren’t heroes after all?

Of course, we should be able to expect more from those who represent our country and yes, it’s not easy to explain these things to a child.

But as I read these articles I’m left wondering too.

How do we explain to our kids that there are around 400 million children, just like them, that are living in extreme poverty in our world today? How do we explain that millions of young people around their age don’t know if they’ll even eat today?

How do we explain to them that today there’ll be roughly 15,000 children under the age of five who will die from preventable causes? How do we tell them that tomorrow there’ll be another 15,000 who will die, then another 15,000 the next day, the day after and the day after that? How do we tell our children that ‘preventable’ means that we have all the resources, all the know how, but as a world community we refuse to step up and stop those deaths?

Are we agonising over how we explain the horrors of war where children their age are killed daily? Do we struggle to find the words to explain why children are locked away in detention centres under Australia’s watch?

I don’t think we struggle to explain any of these things to our children. We don’t struggle because there really is no explanation as to why we continue to allow these things to go on. We don’t struggle because we choose to simply not have those kinds of conversations.

There’s no agonising over explaining these kinds of horrors to our children because these matters are obviously not as important to us, or as earth-shaking, as some highly paid sportsmen breaking the rules.

How could I ever explain that to a child?



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MasterAthlete

August 19, 2016
by Rodney Olsen
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MasterAthlete

When did the Olympics start? I think it was a few weeks back but it’s starting to feel like months.

I have to admit that I watched a fair bit of the opening ceremony but since then I’ve just seen updates in my news feeds or on telly. I’ve never been a big Olympic Games watcher but I think I’ve seen less than ever this time around and I think I know why.

The format is tired.

Yes, there have been new sports added over the years and some older, less interesting sports removed, but it’s essentially been the same for such a long time.

The ancient Olympic Games were held from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. After that the idea was pretty much rested until Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. Sure, there were a few attempts at reviving some sort of games related to an Olympic theme along the way but they didn’t really come to much.

I reckon it’s time to freshen things up. Let’s create a mashup of the Olympics and MasterChef.

MasterAthlete. I think it’s got a great ring to it and the possibilities are endless.

We’d start with three judges including two professional athletes and an acclaimed sports writer. Then hundreds of amateur athletes would battle it out for the honour of becoming MasterAthlete 2016. The MasterAthlete would win $250 000 and the opportunity to train alongside some of the greatest professional athletes in the world. They’d also be given a monthly column in Muscle & Fitness Magazine.

Contestants would talk endlessly about their ‘sports dream’ and about ‘doing this for their family’ (even though the competition would mean they’d have to be away from their family for several months). They’d talk about the pressure and just how far they’d come on their personal ‘athlete journey’.

Week by week the black active wear would come out as contestants fought to stay in the competition during the elimination rounds. The very best would be dressed in white active wear and compete against a professional athlete for an immunity pin which would entitle them to a generous head start in their next race.

The mystery box would bring added excitement as the athletes would have no idea what sport they’d have to compete in until the box is lifted. “When the lid came off and I saw the speedos, I was terrified. My specialty is weight lifting, so to know that I’d have to go up against the others in the pool really set my heart racing.”

We’d shed a few tears as our favourites left the competition because they’d left an element out of the triathlon. “It wasn’t until we got to the finish line that I looked around at the other contestants in their clip cloppy shoes and realised …… I’d forgotten to do the cycle leg”.

Imagine contestants arriving in the Master Athlete stadium to hear the judges tell them that they had to go from one side of the city to the other. “You’ve got an open sports locker. Get there any way you like. You can combine swimming, cycling, jogging or canoeing, but remember that in today’s challenge, running must be the hero of the event. Your time starts …… now”.

So there’s the basic concept but I think we need to push it just a little further. What other ways can you think of to create MasterAthlete? Let me know in the comments section of this post. I think we’re onto a real winner.



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Hopman Cup Revisited

January 7, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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Around 21 years after my first trip to the Hopman Cup I made a return visit this week. Pauline and I spent Wednesday watching some fantastic tennis amongst great company.

The first time I went to the Burswood Dome to see a Hopman Cup session was in late December 1990 and I watched the Italian team of Paolo Canè and Raffaella Reggi beaten by the Yugosalvian duo of Goran Prpic and Monica Seles, who then went on to conquer the US team for the 1991 title. To cut a long story short I was seated in the Italian team’s private box enjoying some generous hospitality and the company of the Italian players when they weren’t on court.

All these years later, Pauline and I were invited to share a court-side box to watch Bulgaria’s team of Grigor Dimitrov and Tsvetana Pironkova defeat Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen and Caroline Wozniacki.

The Hopman Cup is a mixed competition where male and female players are together on combined teams and represent their country. Players are invited to attend.

Eight nations are selected annually to compete in the Hopman Cup. Each team consists of one male player and one female player. Each match-up between two teams at the championships consists of:

One women’s singles match
One men’s singles match
One mixed doubles match

Each year the eight competing teams are separated into two groups of four (with two teams being seeded) and face-off against each of the other three teams in their group in a round-robin format. These seedings ensure that each group has approximately similar strength. The top team in each group then meet in a final to decide the champions. – Wiki

Caroline Wozniacki is the current women’s world number one player so we were assured of some great tennis right from the start. The women’s match went for around two and a half hours, the longest match of the cup. Wozniacki won the match for Denmark but Bulgaria won both the men’s and nixed doubles matches. The program told us that sessions could last for around five hours. This Session lasted seven hours with a lot of hard fought games throughout a rather warm day.

I’m hoping that it won’t be another 21 years before I get to enjoy the Hopman Cup again.



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India Celebrates

April 3, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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There aren’t too many experiences that compare with sharing celebrations with good friends. If I had the money I’d book a plane right now and head to India to party with the nation that captured my heart when I first visited back in February 2003. I’m not a huge cricket fan but knowing how much the game means to millions of Indians, I know that the joy of beating Sri Lanka in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup will be the cause of huge celebrations.

The six wicket win has placed the cup in Indian hands for the first time since 1983 and it was the first time a team has won the tournament on home soil.

Wherever I travelled in India I saw children playing cricket. From the green fields around India Gate to dusty, sand covered patches of land, wherever there is enough room to swing a bat, you’ll see children imitating their cricketing heroes. Some have shiny cricket sets, others use rough pieces of wood as they imagine themselves hitting the winning runs to clinch the game. Cricket is everywhere in India.

It’s been over six years since I was last in that amazing country but I still think about India every day. One of my very favourite memories is being in the country during the 2003 World Cup. The Massey family had invited my good friend Mark and me to their home for some home hospitality. After we were served a truly incredible meal we sat in front of an old colour television to see Australia and India battling it out on the cricket field. There was a lot of good-natured banter as we barracked for our respective home countries. As I said, I’m not a massive cricket fan but watching that game with some amazing Indian friends will remain a treasured memory for life.

India, enjoy your win. I wish I was there with you today.



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Swans Grab the Flag for 2010

September 20, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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I need to apologise to my radio listeners for sounding a little croaky on air today and to the people in the rows in front of me at Subiaco Oval yesterday who may now be coming to terms with some kind of permanent hearing loss. I yelled myself hoarse as I experienced an absolutely thrilling game of Australian Rules Football.

It took them 20 years, but Swan Districts Football Club finally grabbed another premiership. The last one was back in 1990.

The Swans played an amazing game to overcome Claremont, the most dominant side of 2010. Despite only losing two games this season, having an extra week’s break before the big game, and being red hot favourites for the win, the Tigers fell just short of taking the 2010 flag.

In a game that saw the lead change six times in the final quarter, Andrew Krakouer was a standout player with 40 possessions and four goals that saw him be the clear winner of the Simpson Medal. It was Krakouer who kicked the final score of the match, a goal, to win the game for the black and whites by just one point.

There was a crowd of almost 25 000 at Subiaco yesterday afternoon and by the sheer volume of noise coming from the crowd it would seem that the majority were backing the Swans. There was certainly a roar from the crowd whenever Claremont hit the front, but whenever the Swans got the better of them, it was almost deafening.

I cannot describe the feeling of elation as the siren blew and the Swans theme song started playing across the ground. I do wish that it hadn’t been such a long time between flags but I guess that just made the victory a little sweeter.

Swan Districts 14.16 (100) – Claremont 14.15 (99)



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