Fechner to 'revolutionise' cycling as AusCycling looks to secure sport's future

It’s a competitive world for sports funding, audience eyeballs and relevance within Australian society with sports not called AFL, Rugby League and Cricket. Cycling is game player, not a rule-maker in this regard and AusCycling is looking to find where the different branches of cycling fit in the sporting landscape.

Source: AusCycling

AusCycling CEO Marne Fechner conducted an extensive interview with SBS Cycling Central’s Jamie Finch-Penninger in the lead-up to the Olympic Games. Topics addressed in Part 1 included future directions for AusCycling, the balance between elite sport and participation, the Olympic cycle and the Wollongong 2022 road world championships. For Part 1, click through here.

This second part deals more with where AusCycling is as an entity and where it moves from here to best promote cycling in the future.

In the last Cycling Australia annual report, it was stated that just over 65 per cent of all revenue came from Sport Australia funding ($9.55 million for high performance, $1.85 million for participation). Such a high proportion of funding coming from the one source, dependent on political will, is a precarious situation for a sport, but one that Fechner was positive about.  

“There’s no question that the federal – and now AusCycling is a unitary body - state governments are key partners for the sport and I don’t see a reason why that won’t continue,” said Fechner. “The impact in the community of getting people active and addressing a whole range of health outcomes and also being a trailblazer in governance reform, while that not might be exciting for some.

“We are a role model for governance reform and moving an organisation forward better to serve the sport and the community and we hope that government at all levels sees that and appreciates that.

“At the same time, I’ve got a passion for ensuring that the organization has diversified revenue streams, shifting our mindset so that were not so reliant and dedicated on one revenue stream over the next decade is something we have to knuckle down on.

“It’s not something that we’ll always get right, there will be a lot of test and learn on this but I’m not here to think small, I’m here to revolutionise and make the most of this opportunity that is AusCycling and that’s going to require a diversified approach to our revenue streams.”

A huge potential of untapped revenue is through memberships, Cycling Australia had just under 30,000 members last year, a reduction on previous periods, with the pandemic no doubt having an effect with many events which people take up memberships to enter, cancelled.There are an estimated 3.3 million Australians who cycle according to Sport Australia, so an obvious challenge for AusCycling is to see if they can engage the wider population of cyclists and not just the competition-focused side.

Part of that is ensuring that there is a safe space for cyclists on our roads, and that there are spaces and infrastructure for mountain biking, BMX, etc. to be featured and capture the public’s attention.

“I think we’re seeing a very strong commitment across all levels of government to cycling infrastructure, safety, precincts and facilities,” said Fechner. “That’s a key role that we can play with government to ensure that is delivered in the right way.

“Around the Amy Gillett foundation (rider safety organisation), how do we build environments for people to enjoy riding a bike. We’re seeing things emerge from each state and territory about where cycling is positioned within their state. That goes hand in hand with major event companies, we can’t host great events unless we have great infrastructure.

“We’re seeing that emerge across the disciplines and it’s something that will ensure that we’re well-placed to either bring UCI international events or attracting other major events that haven’t been here before.”

A key report on sport in Australia, Sport 2030, was published in 2018 with the backing of the health department, the broad thrust of which was that sport funding should be aimed at making communities healthier and more active. With the Brisbane 2032 Olympics announced, it seems likely that there will be a continuing focus on elite sport, rather than embracing the key points of the Sport 2030 plan, but Fechner sees a plan forward that encompasses both approaches.

“If you’re not relevant in communities, thriving clubs, then you’re not driving your athletes towards elites,” said Fechner. “Sport 2030 was about a more active Australia, it was about sporting excellence and integrity and really strengthening Australia’s sporting industry so that we’re a thriving industry within this country.

“I don’t think it’s a binary view, you do need both. That’s one of the great challenges of sport, both are quite different in the way that we approach them and you need to find a balance of that if you want to be a successful national sporting organisation and a brand that’s relevant. “

Relevancy in the sporting landscape is increasingly tied to how progressive sporting bodies are in promoting policies that encourage diversity and encouraging an environment within the sport where lots of cultures and genders feel free to be themselves. It’s an area that Fechner is keen to get to work on.

“Diversity and inclusion needs to be something that we tackle head-on, not only for equality but pathways,” said Fechner. “It’s not just athletes, it’s coaches, commissaires, staff… the old adage ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ rings true. We’re identifying at the moment who our champions of change are going to be and engaging the system to drive that change. We’ve got fantastic groups like ‘Male Champions of Change’. There’s good work that’s happening, but there needs to be a focus on it.

“It’s something that’s a passion of mine, there needs to be a focus on women and other groups that are underrepresented in cycling in terms of diversity. We’ll have a commitment to being better practised at that.”

It may be one of the hardest jobs in Australian sport, trying to marry up the bodies of the different disciplines in cycling while simultaneously defining and acting on a vision for the future of the sport that sees it flourish in the future. Fechner appears to have the scope of the where improvement needs to be made in mind at present, it will now be a case of how effective AusCycling can be in growing the sport for all Australians.