Teaser

Introduction

Eric Mackenzie on the Athlete Advisory Group

Coach accountability for a positve test

Sign-off

Outro

Former West Coast Eagles captain Eric Mackenzie has been announced as the latest member of Sport Integrity Australia’s Athlete Advisory Group. 

In this episode of On Side, join Tim Gavel as he chats to Eric Mackenzie and Petria Thomas to talk about joining the Athlete Advisory Group, and how the group can be used to make meaningful strides in athlete education. 

The 2014 John Worsfold Medallist says that his experiences as an athlete, as well as an ambassador to the International Testing Agency, have highlighted challenges in educating athletes.  

“Once you’re on an AFL list, trying to schedule in any time to for these education sessions is next to impossible,” Mackenzie says. “There are so many things that they have to do and when they finally get [an education session] in it’s more of a box ticking exercise. 

“There’s no real engagement by the players. Everyone thinks they know or thinks ‘oh well that’s not going to impact me’, so they tune out. Often, it’s done after a main training session or something all you want to do is go somewhere and go to sleep. So, you don’t actually take anything in.” 

Mackenzie acknowledges that there are improvements to be made and says he believes that a focus on education is crucial in preventing integrity threats from occurring.  

“That’s definitely where it can be improved and how it’s delivered is huge, especially to the young guys. You want to be proactive not reactive. You’re better off educating and preventing these things from happening. 

“You look at a couple of instances lately, there’s a lot of great learnings from it, but they need to be used going forward to stop things like this happening again.”  

Former AAG member and now Sport Integrity Australia’s Assistant Director, Petria Thomas, agrees that engaging the athlete in education is the key. 

“At the end of the day, we want to prevent things from happening and education is the best way to achieve that,” she says. 

The agency is working hard to roll out more informative and innovative education, she says. 

“You’ve got to have buy in,” Thomas agrees. “You can produce all the online courses in the world but unless people are buying into it, it doesn’t achieve what we want it to achieve. 

“It’s about finding innovative ways to get the message out to both the organisations that run sport and the member and participants in sport as well.” 

Former West Coast Eagles captain Eric Mackenzie has been announced as the latest member of Sport Integrity Australia&rsquo;s Athlete Advisory Group.&nbsp;
In this episode of On Side, join Tim Gavel as he chats to Eric Mackenzie and Petria Thomas to talk about joining the Athlete Advisory Group, and how the group can be used to make meaningful strides in athlete education.&nbsp;
The 2014 John Worsfold Medallist says that his experiences as an athlete, as well as an ambassador to the International Testing Agency, have highlighted challenges in educating athletes.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Once you&rsquo;re on an AFL list, trying to schedule in any time to for these education sessions is next to impossible,&rdquo; Mackenzie says.&nbsp;&ldquo;There are so many things that they have to do and when they finally get [an education session] in it&rsquo;s more of a box ticking exercise.&nbsp;
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no real engagement by the players. Everyone thinks they know or thinks &lsquo;oh well that&rsquo;s not going to impact me&rsquo;, so they tune out. Often, it&rsquo;s done after a main training session or something all you want to do is go somewhere and go to sleep. So, you don&rsquo;t actually take anything in.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Mackenzie acknowledges that there are improvements to be made and says he believes that a focus on education is crucial in preventing integrity threats from occurring.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s definitely where it can be improved and how it&rsquo;s delivered is huge, especially to the young guys. You want to be proactive not reactive. You&rsquo;re better off educating and preventing these things from happening.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You look at a couple of instances lately, there&rsquo;s a lot of great learnings from it, but they need to be used going forward to stop things like this happening again.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Former AAG member and now Sport Integrity Australia&rsquo;s Assistant Director, Petria Thomas, agrees that engaging the athlete in education is the key.&nbsp;
&ldquo;At the end of the day, we want to prevent things from happening and education is the best way to achieve that,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;
The agency is working hard to roll out more informative and innovative education, she says.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to have buy in,&rdquo; Thomas agrees. &ldquo;You can produce all the online courses in the world but unless people are buying into it, it doesn&rsquo;t achieve what we want it to achieve.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about finding innovative ways to get the message out to both the organisations that run sport and the member and participants in sport as well.&rdquo;&nbsp;

The official podcast of Sport Integrity Australia. Our mission is to protect the integrity of sport and the health and welfare of those who participate in Australian sport. Hosted by Tim Gavel, this podcast provides listeners with an opportunity to learn about integrity issues through athletes, coaches and administrators talking about contemporary and historical moments.

The official podcast of Sport Integrity Australia. Our mission is to protect the integrity of sport and the health and welfare of those who participate in Australian sport. Hosted by Tim Gavel, this podcast provides listeners with an opportunity to learn about integrity issues through athletes, coaches and administrators talking about contemporary and historical moments.

The official podcast of Sport Integrity Australia.

On Side

On Side is Sport Integrity Australia's official podcast hosted by sports broadcaster, Tim Gavel. Episodes are released monthly and explore the topic of integrity in sport through conversations with current and former professional athletes, coaches, sport executives, administrators, sport scientists and other expert guests.

On Side is Sport Integrity Australia's official podcast hosted by sports broadcaster, Tim Gavel. Episodes are released monthly and explore the topic of integrity in sport through conversations with current and former professional athletes, coaches, sport executives, administrators, sport scientists and other expert guests.

Former West Coast Eagles captain Eric Mackenzie has been announced as the latest member of Sport Integrity Australia’s Athlete Advisory Group.

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