Phillip Dutton and Bobby Costello spoke on the Eventing Radio Show this week, along with Eventing Nation’s good friend and sponsor John Nunn. I don’t always have the time to listen to the ERS, but I made a special effort this week to hear what Phillip and Bobby had to say about their joint Chef/Technical Advisor application proposal. Not wanting to tip their hand before the application deadline, the pair didn’t delve into the specifics of their plan, but they did expand on several points from their press release last week.
1) Phillip reiterated that he would retire from international competition if he got the job, but he mentioned that he would continue to compete and hone his skills as a rider. One point that the Search Committee made at the USEA convention open forum was the importance of avoiding a conflict of interest between business and the team selection, particularly with respect to large commissions on horse purchases. Mark Phillips’ current agreement, to my knowledge, allows him to receive income from coaching lessons but not commissions on the sale of horses. Both Phillip and Bobby have successful businesses and their proposal will have to address how each business will change to avoid a conflict of interest, but it’s exciting that Phillip plans to continue to compete to some extent here in the US.
2) Phillip addressed another big question for the Search committee by saying:
“The scope of the job and what we have planned and what we have a vision for I think requires two people and could be done better with two people.”
Since Mark Phillip first announced that he would retire after 2012, one big issue has been defining the role of Mark’s replacement. I have only heard of one other dual application being considered (by a European pair), so the final hiring choice will depend heavily on whether those involved with the selection agree with Phillip’s viewpoint that the job could be best done with two people.
3) With respect to the final selection, Bobby said that “the Active Athletes will have the biggest say, as they should.” Remember that the path to becoming the next US coach looks something like this: the selection committee will reduce the list of applicants to a ‘short list’ that will be recommended to the USEF’s Active Athletes Committee, which will make a recommendation in turn to the High Performance Committee, which will make a recommendation to USEF CEO John Long. The list of applicants is shaping up to be quite short in the first place, so it looks like all of the initial applicants might make the ‘short list,’ and thus that the Active Athletes recommendation might have the biggest influence in the process.
Listen to the full episode for much more. Phillip’s interview starts about halfway through the hour long show [Eventing Radio Show]
Buckle your seatbelts Eventing Nation; this is just the beginning of what is shaping up to be a very interesting process to choose the direction of US eventing for many years to come. Go eventing.
