KEY POINTS:
New Zealand sports funding agency Sparc has been given the thumbs-up in an independent review of its performance over the past four years.
Conducted by Deloitte, the report praises Sparc for lifting the bar across the board in terms of performance and delivery, and for laying the foundation for further improvement in the field of sport and recreation.
Sparc chairman John Wells yesterday hailed the review as a triumph and predicted an even more successful future.
"It is a very positive report and naturally we're very pleased with it, while still accepting there are areas for improvement.
"It's good to have confirmation that we're moving in the right direction.
"The things we need to probably brush up on have to be seen in context; we're a relatively young organisation, we inherited processes and systems from our three founding agencies [the Hillary Commission, the New Zealand Sports Foundation and the Office of Tourism and Sport], and we have a very broad mandate."
Sparc is not only charged with funding and assisting the development of New Zealand's elite sportsmen and women, but also with encouraging sport and recreation throughout the country.
Wells said it was an enormously wide brief and many changes had been deemed necessary since the amalgamation four years previous.
Chief among those was the philosophical difference between funding based on output (raw results) and outcomes - whether athletes had measured up to agreed targets.
He said that initial process had encouraged a "grant-driven" mentality rather than a performance-based motivation among funding recipients, something that had to be altered.
Another major drive had been aimed at improving the administration of sporting organisations to increase capability and efficiency and to make the most of the country's budding young talent.
"It's important to have effective programmes for encouraging people, particularly young people, to embrace sport and recreation, and corresponding elite programmes to maximise the potential of those who make it to the top level," he said.
"Then you have a sustainable cycle and are giving yourself every chance of success."
The report listed as Sparc's key achievements:
* The development, delivery and success of a business improvement package.
* A shift in mindset regarding funding processes and decisions.
* Building credibility through robust systems and processes.
* Delivery across an extremely broad mandate.
* Assembling a policy group that is respected by government ministers and senior officials.
* Development of a contracts and investment IT system.
* The continued strength of the Push Play brand.
It even praised Sparc for its part in New Zealand's exceptional sporting success across the board in 2005.
But the report noted there were some areas that still required attention, although these were mainly confined to specific tasks such as delays in carrying out a sport and physical activity survey, delays in the formation of national coaching strategy and an apparently uncoordinated research programme. It also attacked the agency for being dominated by too many people with sporting backgrounds and for its failure to ensure that medal targets were met at this year's Commonwealth Games.
Wells was bemused by the latter suggestion, saying he found it extraordinary that some people believed a third-party organisation could be held responsible for the actual performance of sportsmen and women.
"We can do as much as possible, but in the end we're not there in the race ourselves; we're not the ones pumping our arms and legs, we're not the ones making the tactical decisions.
"We can only do so much; it isn't an exact science and, in sport, there are never any guarantees."
SPARC
Established: 2002
Formerly: Hillary Commission, New Zealand Sports Foundation, Tourism and Sport.
Function: To encourage sport and recreation; to promote success at elite level
Budget: $90m
