Endurance GB has unveiled a new international management team to help British competitors return to the forefront of international endurance competitions, following disappointing results at last year’s Europeans.
The team, which is led by Endurance GB vice-chairman Maggie Maguire, will implement a rolling five-year international competition performance plan to ensure riders are offered the training and support required to produce world class results.
The main points of the world class performance plan are:
- New senior and young rider squads will have access to ongoing assessment and training to increase the numbers of riders and horses available for selection for international competitions
- Improved support for riders through a team-based approach for squad chefs d’equipe and vets
- Better arrangements for competition logistics, co-ordinated by international management team member Des Payton
- Plans to appoint a specialist to improve management of communications and sponsorship
Liz Finney will join the international management team to lead the chefs d’equipe, while FEI and EGB vet Len Beach will co-ordinate veterinarian arrangements. Rod Fisher will be providing input into training, selection and competition back-up.
Maggie Maguire told HHO: “The new international management team plans to offer a consistent approach to training and selection across all the squads. We are currently focusing all our efforts into getting an effective support system up and running.
“The team is structuring its efforts around a ‘world class performance plan’, similar to those used by the Olympic equestrian sports. We hope that we may gain Sports Council funding in the future to help cover the costs of running the European Championships at Alfred’s Tower, Wiltshire in 2005.”
Although there are no international endurance championships this year, 2005 sees the senior world championships in Dubai and young rider world championships in Bahrain, prior to the European Championships on home ground in August.
Maggie continues: “Having these three events taking place in one year will place huge demands on Endurance GB so we are focusing on ensuring we have 12 top class combinations to represent Britain at the European Championships. We are not going to decide whether to send riders to Dubai and Bahrain until closer to the time.”
