Success comes in different ways for different people.
Ensuring athletes are not restricted in their ability to prepare the way that works best for them was important, University of Otago physical education Associate Professor Tania Cassidy said.
Canoe Racing New Zealand opened a $2.3 million training facility at Lake Karapiro last year.
However, the facility is not being used by Lisa Carrington — whose performances helped generate the funding to build it — or any of the elite women’s crew.
They had not wanted to uproot their lives in Auckland and move.
It was something Cassidy said was a key to consider when looking to centralise sports.
The centralised system was one that has been used by Rowing New Zealand for a long time.
Sport New Zealand chief executive Peter Miskimmin told Stuff last year, when the canoe racing centre opened, the results of that system had shown what it was hoped canoe racing could do.
However, Cassidy pointed to examples when it had not worked and questioned whether they were being ignored.
A study by Laura Purdy in the early-mid 2000s highlighted one of the country’s best rowers in that period did not wish to relocate to Karapiro.
He was able to maintain his performance levels.
Likewise, Swimming New Zealand has moved away from a centralised system.
While there were merits to it, Cassidy felt it was important to consider the athletes’ needs.
Not all would flourish in a centralised environment.
However, only the ones with enough ‘"clout" — such as Carrington — were able to stand up against that system.
The fact Carrington and coach Gordon Walker had been so successful without being at a centralised training base posed the question as to whether it was necessary.
"If the New Zealand sporting system is going to be athlete-centred, even if it is centralised in some sports for some period of times, you have to think about what it is that the athletes need to be doing to be successful," Cassidy said.
"So I think we just have to be cautious.
"It’s not a case of centralised versus non-centralised, it’s a case of what’s needed for what athletes in what area.
"That can be tricky and it probably can be quite costly.
"But there’s no point in having a centralised system if no-one wants to be there."
She said many of New Zealand’s top athletes had come from the regions or rural areas.
While being around the best players and coaches had its advantages, it was not the only thing important in an athlete-centred approach.
"If we’re raising youngsters in the regions to perform well and then put them into a centralised programme, you’re potentially taking them away from their support networks.
"Maybe it’s a question to be asked, if we’re raising good athletes in the regions, why are we then taking them away from the regions?
"Are there other ways of supporting the high performance sport in New Zealand other than centralised systems?"
