Developing Grassroots Sports Movement the Most Rewarding Olympic Experience -- OpEd

(ATR) Olympic expert Terrence Burns says he got a firsthand experience of the real Olympic Movement.

Guardar
Fireworks explode around the Fisht Olympic Stadium at the end of the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 23, 2014 at the Olympic Park in Sochi.  AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND        (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)
Fireworks explode around the Fisht Olympic Stadium at the end of the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 23, 2014 at the Olympic Park in Sochi. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)

(ATR) Last weekend in beautiful Lake Placid, New York (Host City of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games) I attended my first USA Luge Association Board Meeting as a newly minted volunteer Independent Board Member.

I’ve had the pleasure and honor to work within virtually every level of the Olympic Movement these past 20-plus years. So when offered, I leapt at the chance to work at the National Governing Body (National Federations for my non-USA friends) level of sport, as this is the one area in which I have little-to-no experience. I realized quite quickly that this is where I should have started my Olympic journey many years ago.

Here is the most important lesson reinforced from the weekend: the Olympic Movement is a fragile, elegant and eternal dream knitted together by thousands of people who will never see the limelight, whose names will never be mentioned in a press release and who may never even attend a Games, who toil countless hours with very little resources, who will never sit in a T-3 car or complain about "important things" such receiving the desired Games Accreditation or gaining access to the IOC hotel (or lounge). No, these are the people who constantly wage an exhausting, invisible, seemingly never-ending battle to keep the lights on and train the athletes at the local level.

This is the real Olympic Movement.

The Olympic mantra states that "Athletes are the heart of the Games"; that is correct, they truly are, and forever will be. But it is the organizations and the people working within them at the bottom rung of the Olympic pyramid, the National Federation level, who are the Olympic Movement’s soul.

As I sat through a day of meetings focused on the long-term survival of Luge in the United States (remember, Olympic sport in the USA receives no government funding), I was surrounded by no fewer than four Olympic medalists and World Cup champions.

Each of these people were giving their time, energy and yes their hearts and souls to the cause of the sport they loved and that changed their lives. Was there a "prima donna" among them? No. Were they living or relying on past accomplishments or success? No. Was anyone taking credit for anyone else’s work or accomplishments, deluding themselves or others of their own importance, exaggerating their experience or skills? No. Was I moved? Yes – beyond words, actually.

Admittedly, my own Olympic experience has been a charmed one and I am very thankful for it. But this past weekend in tiny, humble yet magnificent Lake Placid did more to open my eyes to the beauty and magnificence of the Olympic ideal than any gold medal finish or Opening or Closing Ceremony I’ve ever witnessed. Why? Because I saw sacrifice, desire, honor, persistence and that grandest English verb of all – hope – manifest right before my eyes.

I have no idea where my volunteer Luge odyssey will end or what it will accomplish, but I can tell you this: working alongside these good, honest people who view their sport through the lens of love instead of personal gain is exactly what I needed to see, hear and feel.

So, the next time you receive that inevitable call or email request to donate a few dollars to grass-roots sports, dig deep my friends, dig very deep; for without a solid financial foundation at its core (and you would be very surprised at how much impact just a few dollars can make), future Olympic podiums will be absent of the young men and women who inspire us with wonder, who make us cry with pride and who challenge us all to be better than we really are.

This OpEd was originally posted here (link to: http://www.terrencehburnsblog.com/heart-matter/). It has been edited for length and clarity.

Terrence Burns is a Managing Director of Teneo Strategy. He served on the winning Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 bids, the Russia 2018 World Cup bid, the bids for Golf and Wrestling’s return to the Olympic Games Program, the 2013 Kazan Universiade Games bid and many other bids. Burns is also the former president and founder of Helios Partners, where he began and managed the firm’s bid advisory practice for ten years.

He can be reached at terrence.burns@teneostrategy.com.

Op Ed is a column of opinion and ideas from Around the Rings. Comments, as well as guest columns are welcomed: comment@aroundtherings.com

Guardar

Últimas Noticias

Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore

Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation chief of sport development Luke Bodensteiner says there is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030”. He discusses the mission of the non-profit organization, the legacy from the 2002 Winter Games and future ambitions.
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore

IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing

Thomas Bach, in an open letter on Friday, also thanked stakeholders for their “unprecedented” efforts to make Tokyo 2020 a success despite the pandemic.
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing

Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts

The IOC says issues concerning governance, finance, and refereeing and judging must be sorted out to its satisfaction. AIBA says it’s confident that will happen and the federation will be reinstated.
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts

IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power

Thomas Bach says the Afghanistan NOC remains under IOC recognition, noting that the current leadership was democratically elected in 2019. But he says the IOC will be monitoring what happens in the future. The story had been revealed on August 31 in an article by Miguel Hernandez in Around the Rings
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power

North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022

Playbooks for Beijing 2022 will ”most likely” be released in October, according to IOC President Thomas Bach.
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022