Horse Flu in Australia

Horse flu outbreak costs Australian racing millions
Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Monday August 27, 2007

Guardian

Australia's multibillion-dollar horseracing industry has been plunged into turmoil by an outbreak of equine influenza, with race meetings and other events cancelled across the country in an effort to contain the spread of the virulent disease.

An unprecedented nationwide ban on the movement of most horses, ponies and mules has also been put in place with owners facing a A$44,000 (£18,000) fine or up to 12 months' imprisonment if they try to move animals from their properties.

The ban will remain in place at least until tomorrow until the extent of the outbreak becomes clearer but the government has warned that it may be extended. There are fears that the crisis, which comes as the spring racing season is about to start, could lead to a delay in the start of the popular Victorian Spring Racing Carnival, including the highly lucrative Melbourne Cup. There is also concern that the thoroughbred breeding season due to start on September 1 will be affected.

The agriculture minister, Peter McGauran, said the outbreak - the first of its kind in Australia - was the biggest crisis the industry had ever faced. "We must leave no stone unturned at containing the outbreak," he said.

Equine influenza, or horse flu, is highly contagious and can put horses out of action for weeks. It can be fatal for foals. There is no risk to humans.

The first case was found in a stallion at Sydney's Eastern Creek quarantine station last Thursday, one of several animals which had been in Japan for the breeding season. Japanese racing has just restarted following a three-week shutdown after an outbreak of the virus.

Suspected cases have now been found in Sydney, in other parts of New South Wales and in south-east Queensland.

So far, no thoroughbred has shown signs of sickness but a delay to the start of the breeding season would have a serious impact on racing for the next two to three years, according to one of Australia's top studmasters, John Messara.

It was the first time since the second world war that Australia has seen such a widespread racing blackout. The cost of the cancellations has been put at A$40m.

Press and Communications Officer - English Table Tennis Association

Press and Communications Officer

Organisation: English Table Tennis Association

Salary: 18,000 PA

Location: Hastings

Type of contract: Full time / permanent

Job Description

The English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) require a Press and Communications Officer to pro-actively promote the activities of table tennis and respond to media enquiries in order to enhance the standing and influence of the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) within its field, nationally, regionally and internationally.

The roles responsibilities include to;

• Edit national publications using both traditional and new media processes
• Produce press releases, articles and statements to pro-actively promote the work of the ETTA and respond appropriately to a constantly changing news agenda to gain maximum press and broadcast coverage for table tennis.
• Respond quickly and appropriately to news stories
• Possess the ability to liaise across the organisation at all levels to generate interesting and informative content
• Work with the Communications Manager to develop PR strategies and contact database
• Produce support material for external publications and proactively search for new communication channels
• Secure reviews/editorials across all our target media
• Thrive on working within a fast paced environment

Knowledge and Experience Required

• Experience of writing and editing
• Excellent working knowledge of MS Office and Adobe Indesign
• Web savvy with the ability to adapt and learn quickly with new technologies
• Experience of working in a membership organisation, charity, national governing body or similar organisation is desirable

Skills required:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work authoritatively, knowledgably and confidently with journalists, volunteers, external organisations and colleagues at all levels
• Excellent news sense and ability to identify pro-active stories
• Ability to use own initiative, manage competing demands, prioritise workload and meet deadlines
  Creative and imaginative

This role is intended for a graduate wishing to gain experience within the sports media environment.

How to apply

Download applications pack via the English Table Tennis Associations Website:- www.etta.co.uk

Closing date: 03/09/2007

Interview dates: TBC

The English Institute of Sport

Services Manager

Organisation: The English Institute of Sport

Salary: £29,514 - £39,031 p.a.

Location: EIS Yorkshire, Coleridge Road, Sheffield

Type of contract: Permanent

Job Description

Your role

• Facilitating and co-ordinating the delivery and access to support services for World Class
• Programme athletes in the Region and across the EIS network including sports medicine, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, physiological testing and performance lifestyle, performance nutrition, performance analysis and psychology
• Working with the Yorkshire team and other regional network points to create a world class high performance training environment
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team delivering services to athletes and coaches.

You should have

• A qualification at degree level or equivalent in Sports Management, Sports Science or Sports Medicine or relevant discipline
• Extensive, demonstrable experience working in a high performance sports environment with athletes and coaches to improve performance. This experience should include extensive work with national teams and their athletes
• Demonstrated experience of strategic planning, implementation and monitoring of support services to high performance athletes

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THESE AND ALL CURRENT VACANCIES PLEASE
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.eis2win.co.uk/jobs

How to apply

Please send your CV, a covering letter, details of current remuneration and relevant contact details by 1pm (GMT) on the closing date to:

Email: jobs.yorkshire@eis2win.co.uk Post: The Business Administrator, English Institute of Sport, Coleridge Road, Sheffield, S9 5DA.
Please quote job ref: YOE87/07EIS

Closing date: 04/09/2007

Interview dates: 12/13 September 2007

All England Netball Association

Regional Manager - East Midlands

Organisation: All England Netball Association

Salary: £24,500 with a review at the end of the probationary period

Location: The Netball Centre, Loughborough University

Type of contract: Full time - Permanent

Job Description

England Netball has a vision for the future – to be a top 10 participant sport; the 1st choice sport for women and girls; the number 1 ranked team in the world.

If you share that vision and have the energy/work ethic/passion to deliver increased participation in the East Midlands year on year then we have an excellent opportunity for you. We are seeking to appoint a full time Regional Manager for our East Midlands Region, responsible for the delivery of the game through:

• Management of projects to achieve specific targets
  
• Building partnerships which widen the accessibility of Netball in the regions
• Strategically managing the implementation of England Netball programmes to meet key targets
• Maintaining a strong interface with internal and external partners
• Expertise, confidence, personality and the ability to influence

With a track record of achievement in sport management the successful candidate will also have excellent written and verbal communication skills and be a well-organised, highly motivated and influential team player. Knowledge of regional sports development and funding initiatives would also be advantageous.

How to apply

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Paul Clark, our Interim CEO, on 01462 428328 or 07738696362.

For a full information pack and an application form, please email recruit@englandnetball.co.uk quoting reference RMEM.

Closing date: 05/09/2007

Interview dates: Tuesday, 25th September 2007

ESPN and interest in non-US Sports

ESPN has acquired Scrum.com, the rugby union news, scores and information portal, from privately-owned Scrum Limited, boosting ESPN’s online presence into another top non-US sport.

ESPN already owns leading soccer/cricket news and information sites ESPNsoccernet.com and Cricinfo.

Other rugby rights held by ESPN include the IRB U21 and U19 World Championships and Women’s Rugby World Cup in Latin America. It also holds rights to the Argentine URBA Championships until 2011 and all Argentina’s national team matches in Latin America until the end of next year. Scrum.com’s three markets are the UK, USA and Australia.

X-Games and Viewing Increases in the US

The X Games in Los Angeles earlier this month, delivered record television ratings for ESPN and a record online audience for EXPN.com.

Peak-time television ratings were up 35% from last year, while EXPN.com, ESPN.com’s action sport hub, recorded its most overall traffic ever for an X Games. Almost 38 million fans watched television coverage of the games, a 13% increase, while coverage averaged a rating of nearly 1.0, a 19% increase on last year.

The site was accessed by more than 500,000 unique users and generated more than 3.2 million page views over the course of the games.

X Games video footage was also viewed on EXPN.com and ESPN.com more than 1.6 million times during the four days of the competition.

Mobile Rights Value

PL banked GBP 200m on internet and mobile rights

Ever wonder how much some sports can secure for clips of matches and content for mobile phones?

This artcile highlights (Click title) the figures and the potential battle to secure these rights, in the competitive market for sport broadcasting this is a developing frontier...

News from Londonmet: Events Management Knowledge

Events Management Knowledge

Visitors to the blog may not know that we have recently established a business partnership platform, Events Management Knowledege which will be working with organisations is the sport, tourism, hospitality, events management and creative industries sectors. You can find out more by visiting the EMK web pages (basically still a bit primitive - a page on how our students and graduates assist businesses in the sector is in preparation). A click on the title above should get you there.

Bob

Executive Certificate in Event Management

Hi all,

We are launching the followng executive programme in November. It is aimed at managers in the commercial sport, not-for-profit, general events who are wishihg to furtehr their careers in event management.

News: Gain your Executive Certificate in Event Management

The first London Executive Certificate in Event Management course will take place on November 6-9th 2007 at London Metropolitan University's training facilities at Canary Wharf.

The course was originated by the Australian Centre for Event Management (ACEM) and the London course will be jointly designed and delivered by ACEM and EMK. Read more...or click on the title above to download the course brochure and application form (PDF).

Suggestions for developing the site

Hi,

the blog has been going for a few months now and appears to be an useful source of news and job postings. Nevertheless I would like your feedback as to how to make the site better.

Please feel free to email me on p.kitchin@londonmet.ac.uk (you might have to copy and paste this address) if you have some suggestions.

Some ideas could include;

on job postings - are these what you are looking for, are they an appropriate level for you skills and qualifications, are they relevant to your region - should we widen the scope to cover Europe rather than UK?

on news postings - are these interesting or otherwise, do you have time to read them, are you interested in reading them, are there sports I have ignored and should focus on more, what are your concernsa bout posting items yourselves?

on London Met - do you feel there is enough news relating to LonMet activities, would you be interested in new developments, sizes of new cohorts, publications the university is producing, abstracts of dissertations. Would you feel housign this site under thge official London Met Blog Site would be a good move - this way all relevant information to Alumni would be in one area.

So as you can see there is lots here to think about - please reply to my email address that way I can ensure that your thoughts and comments remain between you and I.

Cheers

Paul