Dressage Canada has NOT renewed Robert Dover's contract!

Barbara F · Grand Prix

Dressage Canada has NOT renewed Robert Dover's contract!

dbliron · Advanced

Since when did our High Performance Committee (Dressage) stick with what works? This is par for the course....unfortunately.

Gary Stuart · Well Schooled

That is astonishing. It must have come down to money. Now they have to start from scratch and who are they going to find that the riders can all agree to work with?

dbliron · Advanced

Hi, Gary:

It's not about money, it's about dressage divas telling Robert Dover how to do things. He doesn't need us, we need him, but our HPC just doesn't get that message...

I'm not a big fan of Robert's on a personal level, but he pulled our riders together as a team and fought like a lion to have them properly recognized by the FEI judges in Europe.

Barbara F · Grand Prix

"he pulled our riders together as a team and fought like a lion to have them properly recognized by the FEI judges in Europe"

I totally agree with the above, dbliron, but I do think it's about the money.

I think that's what it came down to, because Robert was able to navigate the political waters quite well this past year. I think he would have been able to continue to do so, but with even more of a position of strength after the team's excellent results.

-- Edited by Barbara F on Sunday 31st of October 2010 11:21:45 PM

dbliron · Advanced

Hi, Barbara:

Robert is well able to navigate dangerous political waters, but he doesn't need to. He doesn't need the money, and the hassles far outweigh the benefit to him.

He did a great job, and we've spent a year teaching him to be a National Coach. Even if it were about the money, I think DC needed to find it. They're still talking about using him as a consultant, and of course, if he's a consultant, he's in control, which is, I think the big issue. He can't do his job without control, and historically, our HPC's interfere too often, and usually without knowledge behind the interference. It's incredibly frustrating working with High Performance Committees which do not/will not stay within their administrative boundaries, and I think Robert came to the conclusion that it just wasn't worth the effort.

In this game things are often not what they seem...

KatyM · Well Schooled

Robert said on his radio show that it was about the money - they couldn't come up with funding for both his salary and the programs that he felt were essential to achieve further success. He also has said he is heading back out on the clinic road, or the 'farewell tour' as he called it before the Canadian coach position took up his time and attention.

Of course, these are public statements and I would suspect there could always more going on behind the scenes. wink