Festive Season
First of all, the National Board and the staff of the EFA National Office would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May you be successful with all of your endeavours. I am not planning to write a review for the year gone (the Annual Report is being drafted), but 2005 must have been one of the busiest ever for us. We can point to many achievements at the National level but these are clearly outranked by the many successes of our riders, drivers and vaulters. We in the National Office would have liked to have accomplisghed more but there is only so much you can do. It is simply amazing how often well-laid plans don't get a 'look in' simply because new bushfires break out around us: Suddenly, there is a crisis or a third party wants an answer or a report right now. A couple of years back, I wrote down a wish list (more like an 'In your dreams!' list) at Christmas, so I thought it would be good to go back to it and check what had in fact been achieved. Remember, the list was done in December 2002, five months after starting in this job, 8 months before the National Office moved to Sydney and 16 months before the new Board was appointed. Looking at the list I am pleased to say that progress has been good for virtually all items mentioned and a couple of wishes were actually fulfilled. Have a look at the list if you like. High Performance ManagerI regret to have to advise you that Peter Horne has resigned effective the end of January 2006, to start what he calls a 'dream job' with the International Rugby Board. Peter will move to Samoa and manage the High Performance side of the Manu Samoa team. He believes that the offer was just too good to refuse. We are very sorry to see Peter go. His departure will make life a little more 'interesting' for us in the lead-up to the 2006 World Equestrian Games. For those of you who are interested in being considered for the position of EFA High Performance Manager, go to the Employment Opportunities page. New Web Search FacilityAs from now you can search for horse names and look up results that have been recorded on our National Database. There is still a lot of 'tidying up' to do but Branch Offices are working together to arrive at common event naming conventions and other tools to make data entry more consistent. Unfortunately, we still do not have the Northern Territory Branch included in our records. The Queensland Branch has offered to take on the NT's member and horse administration while still enabling the NT and its riders to be represented as a Branch/Territory in competition and on relevant National Sport Committees. Qld. Branch would also be able to assist in NT's sport and Club development. We hope to find a solution to this in 2006. To try the new search facility, just go to 'Searches' on the left of the main menu bar and pick the search you would like to do. Australian Juniors win Endurance World ChampionshipsCongratulations to the Junior Endurance riders who were so successful at last weekend's Championships in Bahrain. According to an e-mail to which I was copied, the FEI Endurance Manager Ian Williams mentioned that the Australian Team were the talk of the town and asked the question that was on everybody's lips - what do you guys do to be so successful? He also mentioned that the whole team at this event were totally professional the horses looked absolutely magnificent and really stood out. Australia is regarded very highly on the endurance circuit and everyone was wanting the key to our success. Well done!!!! FEIAfter some rather lengthy delays caused by a variety of factors, we have now sent out the new 'FEI Official' pins to all listed FEI Officials who are financial members of the EFA. It appears that some officials still believe that they do not need to be members. Should we be the only sport where this happens? I mean how can anyone expect to be able to officiate in a sport of which they are not a member? Non-members making sport-related decisions affecting our members' success at competitions? I can't quite believe it. Further on the subject of FEI Officials, please be aware that a number of FEI rule changes come into effect 01 January 2006. Details of these including the revised versions of the rules can be downloaded from the FEI web. From 2006, all riders, drivers and horses participating in International Events ('CIs' like CSI, CDI, CAI, CEI, CVI etc.) must be registered with the FEI, as Eventing horses and riders have already been required to be for the last two years. There are special provisions for Vaulting teams. The registration form can be downloaded from our web. FEI Officiating CoursesWe will be conducting a number of FEI Officials' Courses next year with assistance from EFA Branch offices, EFA Event Organising Committees, EFA Sport Committees (State & National) and many EFA volunteers. A big THANKS to all these groups and to the EFA Members that are involved with the conduct of FEI Courses in Australia. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. At this point in time following FEI courses are scheduled for 2006:
More information is on our web and information packs will be available early 2006. In addition to these courses, the NZL Federation have invited EFA Members to participate in an FEI Stewards Course, 16-18 March, Hastings NZL in conjunction with the NZL Horse of the Year Show. Revised National SquadsSelectors are reviewing the composition of National Squads. The release of the lists happens after we have informed the riders concerned, especially those that have been 'demoted'. The revised Jumping Squads are out right now. We have also released the 2006 Australian Talent Search Squad for Eventing and are calling for applications for Eventing and Jumping Young Rider Squads. Interschool CompetitionLast week, Interschool coordinators from the various States met in Sydney to work on the establsihment of a National Interschool Competition. The first National Final is planned for 2007. Stay tuned for further developments and announcements. Young Jumping Riders head to IndiaThe National Jumping Selectors have selected a team of three young riders who will represent Australia in India. The competition will be held at Kolkata, West Bengal, 29-31 December. The Australian Team consists of NSW Twins Danielle and Greer Butcher along with fellow NSW rider Sidney Roberts. The riders will compete in both the team and individual competition. The team Chef d'Equipe will be Mr Jason Joyce. The EFA wishes the team the best of luck. We will publishing a report soon written by Nicole Tough who was the Chef d'Equipe during a recent Young Rider tour to Taipei. Riders' RepsThe method of electing riders' representatives is not quite consistent across our sports. The 'reps' for the three Olympic Disciplines were apointed earlier but nominations are still open for Show Horse and Vaulting. If you are interested, get a nomination form from Siobhan.
And once again, on behalf of the Board and Staff of the EFA, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are trying our best to acknowledge their support and exceed agreed conditions. Best wishes to Best wishes, Franz Venhaus Important NoticeThe National Office of the EFA will be CLOSED from noon, Wednesday, 21 December 2005, until 9.00am, Tuesday, 03 January 2006. Our answering service will be operating during this time, so it is possible to leave a message on 02 8762 7777, or send a fax on 02 9763 2466. We will attend to them when we come back to work. In urgent AND important cases, please e-mail Franz and he will try and get back to you ASAP. For urgent insurance-related problems that may arise during this time, please call Aon Risk Services on 1800 806 493. | ||
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| Officiating Information about programs and courses and other things useful for officials. | ||
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