Selector likely to get out of the hot seat

Press, 5 July 1978, Page 22

Selector likely to get out of the hot seat

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ROD DEW

No man in New Zealand track and field athletics commands greater respect than Barry Hunt, who will manage the athletic section of the New Zealand team at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton next month. For a decade he has been a member of the New Zealand selection panel and for the last six years he has been its convener. This position can be described in no uncertain terms as the “hot seat” of national athletics. When things go wrong and athletes fail to perform up to expectations, the obvious scrapegoat is the leader of the selection panel. But Barn Hunt has such a profound knowledge of form and performances that only the most thoughtless of critics have been able to point the frfiger of scorn in his direction. It has been said that he is a walking encyclopaedia of track and field knowledge. Even if this is an exaggeration, it is obvious that very little of importance in the sport escapes him. It is difficult to imagine a man more fitted to managing New Zealand athletes because he not only has the knowledge in a statistical form but he also is a first-class coach. The athletic revival of Ashburton, where he is manager of the National Bank, has been remarkable since he moved there from Waitara in North Taranaki four years ago. He holds no executive position in the Ashburton club. He is simply a coach. But the amount of athletic talent he has unearthed in a short time leaves no doubt about his value However, Mr Hunt can see the day coming when he will be unable to continue as a national selector. He admits, somewhat reluctantly, that he became a little soured two years ago when the Olympic Games selectors trimmed back the athletic nomin..tions. At that time, he seriously considered resigning as a selector. It was not so much the fact that the Games selectors had treated the ath-

letic nominations so harshly but more because of reaction against him and his fellow-selectors by people within the athletic fraternity. Certain sections of the sport accused the selectors of not preparing their case properly when it was actually one of the best prepared. Others released confidential rankings. "When we wanted the backing of our own people to go back to the Games selectors to try and get those people who had missed out'/ back in the team it wasn’t there. One province moved a vote of no confidence in the selectors at the annual meeting of the New Zealand association.” He recalls with some satisfaction that the selection panel was returned to office on the first vote. Nevertheless, this unhappy period has driven a wedge between him and continued service as a selector. But there are other things to be taken into account. "The work load has been increasing. I enjoy working as a selector but the last four years have been pretty hectic. I am not sure how much longer I can continue to put in the amount of time which is now required.” Adding to his commitments last season was his appointment as convener of the Oceania selection panel for the World Cup contest. His present two-year term as a New Zealand selector ends in October. He will probably offer himself for re-election but it is likely to be for the last time. As manager of the athletes in Edmonton, it will be surprising if he is not an unqualified success. His ability as a coach will be of great assistance to the two official coaches, Les Mills and Arch Jelley. This is his second trip away with a New Zealand team. Five years ago he travelled to Toronto as an assistant coach for the team which competed at the Pacific Conference Games. Mr Hunt is very satisfied with the programme leading up to the Edmonton Games, which open on August 3. He left Auckland yesterday with 17 members of the team to make final preparations in the United States. The team will be based at the University of California in Santa Barbara, about 100 km north of Los Angeles. Its first meeting is scheduled for July 15 in Los Angeles and there is another at Seattle on July 22. “The 16 days in America should be of great benefit,” he said before leaving. “Everybody should be able to get in a fair amount of training and speed work.” The 17 athletes will be joined by the hurdler, Philip Mills, in Santa Barbara. Martin Couldwell, the Canterbury steeplechaser, and Alison Wright, the national 800 m champion, will join the group in Seattle. The others will make their own way direct to Edmonton. Among them will be the two New Zealand hopes for the 5000 m, Dick Quax and Rod Dixon. Mr Hunt believes that both runners have cause to- be pleased with their recent performances in Europe? However, he is the first to admit that they will have a hard time when they come up against the

remarkable Kenyan world rec o r d-breaker, Henry Rono. "He stands out above all others. At the moment, he is in a class of his own.” Mr Hunt is not prepared to make predictions for his athletes but he is disappointed that John Walker has been forced to withdraw. “The 1500 m has a weak field. He could have done well.” Walker’s withdrawal leaves the athletic section with 29 and Mr Hunt is satisfied with the fitness ot all of them. “All look as if they are capable of doing better than they have ever done before.” He agrees that they will have to if they are to succeed at Edmonton. Mr Hunt has always been an enthusiast for athletics, and he has always been a keen statistician. In his youth he lived in Reefton and was a fine sprinter. He held the West Coast 100 yd title for several years. He represented Canterbury as a junior before moving to Christchurch in 1954, and

was a member of the Technical club team which set a Canterbury 4 x 100 yd record. It was when he moved north to Papakura in Auckland in 1957 that he began coaching. His interest in this and statistics made him an obvious choice as a selector. This w'as recognised in 1968 when he was chosen for the national track and field selection panel. The efficiency and fairness with which he has done the job has earned him respect which few others in the same position could claim. His major problem over the years has undoubtedly been convincing the selectors for Olympic and Commonwealth Games of the worth of the athletes nominated. It has not been easy. But he is very happy with the present working arrangement with the Games selectors. “This year everything went magnificently. We worked well with Lance Cross and his panel. We were able to keep them fully informed. If this atmosphere of co-oper-ation is maintained there should be no further problems.”