Friday 16 November 2012

Kids, Playing Games, the AGM & British?

ITEM: Lakeside speedway made a big announcement yesterday - they would be opening an academy, with its own training track, for the development of British youngsters. This is, of course, very good news.

Lakeside team manager Neil Vatcher had already made noises a few weeks ago about making team places for British youngsters mandatory, and claimed that the riders were already there to fill the roles. I don't think we're quite at that stage yet, but legislation will help us get there.

The academy - at least I think that's what it will be called - is backed by Hagon Shocks, who already heavily sponsor riders at both Eastbourne and Poole. They also back a scheme in the US, supported by Billy Hamill, to bring through youngsters in that shallow pool of talent, and so their commitment to the future shouldn't be underestimated.

It's only a start, though. There needs to be academies of this sort up and down the country, unearthing and developing talent to appear firstly in second halves, and then into the three-tier league system already in place.

Several promoters have suggested alternatives, or enhancements, to the plan, including track bikes for poorer youngsters to ride, and a youth league. It's good to see, after years of neglect, that the message - British is best - is getting through.

After all, there ain't no hero like a local hero...

ITEM: There's a lengthy piece in the Speedway Star this week about Cameron Woodward's participation - and eventual victory - in the grasstrack Masters.

The Masters is, to all intents and purposes, grasstrack's British Championship. I'm not the biggest grasstrack fan, but I seem to recall foreign riders riding AT the Masters before, in support races, but not in it. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Australians, like Woodward, don't usually ride much grasstrack. They may have a dabble at its bigger brother, longtrack, but tend to stay clear of the green stuff. Woodward, perhaps inspired by his friendship with Finnish ace Joonas Kylmakorpi, took to the grass a couple of years ago, with some success, culminating in his Masters triumph. He is unwilling/unable to do more grasstrack, which is held primarily on Sundays, because of his Polish speedway commitments.

And this is the problem for the ACU, who oversee track racing in the UK. They have a champion who is really of no use to them. While Andrew Appleton, Richard Hall, and Glen Phillips - all top British grasstrack boys - rarely appear on British grass, the ACU can argue that they represent their country in Europe, something which confirmed Australian Woodward definitely doesn't.

What does all this have to do with speedway, you ask? Let me give you some names: Marvyn Cox, Rune Holta, Matej Ferjan. All riders who chose to switch licenses, if not nationalities, to further their speedway careers.

Usually, from a British point of view, it happens that a British rider switches to a foreign license, as in the case of Cox (Germany) and Andy Smith (Poland). Currently the enfant terrible of British speedway, Robert Lambert, is riding on a German license, and thriving because of it.

Is it too much of a stretch to imagine it happening the other way? It's already happened, in a minor way, with Michal Rajkowski taking out an ACU license to ride in the Premier League, and it's easy to imagine someone becoming frustrated with a lack of opportunities and/or support from their national federation and seeking it elsewhere.

How would that be received? How would the British public - and the powers-that-be react to the site of, say, Niels-Kristian Iversen lifting the British title, and wearing the union jack on his racejacket in the SWC?

The world is getting smaller, politically and economically, and it's surely only a matter of time. Are we ready?

ITEM: There's a massive buzz amongst my friends for the new Football Manager game, out a couple of weeks ago and still breaking up marriages.

Sports management games, including the likes of EA's FIFA & John Madden series, have been a staple of the console and computer gaming world since the mid-1980s, yet speedway - perfect for the genre with its statistical base - has always struggled.

Perhaps this is because there isn't the money there for the big developers to bring such games to fruition, and the few games we've had have been the result of programmers. A few years ago, a small, homegrown studio - Meth Designz - announced 5-1, a Football Manager-style speedway management game, and initial screenshots were encouraging.

They hit something of a brick wall when they approached Go Speed International, Terry Russell's media rights "empire", who wanted a ridiculous amount for the rights to something no-one else was going to pay for.

Last I heard they were attempting to produce the game with fictional teams and riders, but with an editing feature, something which the first editions of Sensible Soccer did with aplomb.

A speedway management computer game is not going to make anyone rich. To encourage and assist a game developer would cost the BSPA nothing. But if it brought in a hundred - even ten! - new fans, is it not worth it?

I don't know if 5-1 is still in the pipeline. I hope so. If it is, I hope that the BSPA get in touch and offer them assistance with what would be a great marketing tool, and a good bit of fun for everyone.

ITEM:
Finally, the AGM gets underway today and it's a biggie. This week's Speedway Star featured a Q&A with every promoter (save Berwick, for some odd reason), and a good proportion of them seem to realise that something needs to be done to put us on the right path for the next five years, at least. Others, thankfully not many, claim there's nothing wrong with the sport, and it's to be hoped that these people are kept very quiet.

I don't want a revolution to come out of the AGM, although God knows the sport needs it. What I want is a structured plan, with short and long terms aims, all geared towards making the product fit for the 21st century, and fitting British speedway's unique needs.

With that in mind, here's a laundry list of what I'd like to see:

* No squad system, shared number one position, or fixed race night
* Protected places for young Brits in all three leagues
* A discount/bonus on team building for using homegrown riders
* All Brits allowed to double-up between EL and PL, and all young Brits to "triple" up if desirable
* A return to the old tactical substitute rule
* Fixtures arranged on a more local basis
* Rules to be clearly written, published, and adhered to
* All riders to be given a published applicable average for all leagues
* A central fund created for training young riders, and for marketing the sport

That's just a few things I'd like to see. It's difficult for me to tell the promoters how to do business because it's not my money at risk. But I've taken heart from reading their thoughts that there is a movement for sensible change amongst them, and I'd like to be able to place my trust in them to manage it.

Only time - and leaked e-mails and official press releases - will tell. Good luck, one and all!

2 comments:

  1. Everywhere in relation to riders specifically you've used the word "British" replace with "European", and then you have the actual situation that we would be allowed to develop. Vatcher and everyone else can bleat all they like about "Young, British riders" - but with the current set of legislation relating to employment that we have to work with, it's just that, bleating. Ending up in expensive legal challenges is not something speedway can afford right now. The idea of some form of academy is sensible though - that IS something that, with the aid of bursaries etc, could be tailored towards British youngsters who want to have a go. Your final point on your list has it spot on - hear hear to that.

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  2. They can either choose the route taken by Poland and Sweden - ie, screw the law! - or legislate on the basis of a license, available to all nationalities that meet the criteria (British residency etc). There are ways around it.

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