THERE is a moment before every sporting contest of a sense anything could happen. Scores are zero, start lines are set and when you look into a player’s eyes you can gauge the determination, focus and ferocity.
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Anyone can win. It is a level playing field. Or is it?
Can competitive sport ever be truly fair?
The question was posed on Short & Curly an ethical podcast for children, pondering dreams of wanting to grow up and swim like Olympic legend Michael Phelps.
A man made for the pool, Phelps has long flipper-like feet, incredible arm span, strong torso and is scientific proven to produce less than half the lactic acid that his rivals do. This makes his physically superior and with a quick recovery.
As gifted as he may seemingly be, Phelps is renowned for his mental strength and determination. He gets up to train hard, sweat and strive to be his best and get better. When so many ‘naturally talented’ athletes fade from competition, Phelps has carved up a career with the all-time record for Olympic medals (18).
The Flying Fish wins a lot but he is beatable and everyone who dives into the pool will know this as they prepare to try and beat him in a quest to swim their best.
Sport is chance to admire athlete’s incredible skill and prowess. Once in a while, we have a chance to watch the truly legendary in action.
But the sporting landscape is also becoming a little too obsessed with trying to create level playing fields.
Where do we draw the line in defining fairness?
Ballarat District Bowls Division and its neighbouring Geelong association are locked in what the Geelong president terms a “Mexican stand-off” on a question of fairness.
Premier division bowls has long been a celebration of the top five clubs from each town facing off on the greens for the summer. The bottom-ranked Geelong team and bottom-ranked Ballarat team are bumped to make room for each association’s division one premier.
Now the traditionally dominant Geelong is claiming the system unfair because it allows its bottom club to be ranked possibly as high as fifth and still get bumped. Ballarat maintains fairness lies in five clubs each to prevent extra travel and a competition skewed toward one town. Even if Ballarat clubs struggle overall to measure up against Geelong.
Our grassroots football competition has clubs counting points in a bid to even-up talent pools. Lower teams can secure more points, which allows scope for recruiting either more players or a better quality player.
Just like the AFL draft picks system, adding that subjective flexibility makes standards for evenness not so clear anymore.
And that is without even considering football fixtures or finals systems.
Ballarat’s marquee sporting teams across codes are constantly battling the tyranny of distance and metropolitan money or contacts to secure star recruits.
Competitive sport will never be truly fair but this is what makes sport so exciting. There will always be variants in athletes and ability but with the right preparation and attitude you can land a big Flying Fish.
