A lot has been said recently about Lewis Bridger, about his decision to go to Coventry, and the controversy that then followed it. A lot of this talk has centred around Eastbourne wanting him back, which is an understandable standpoint from them. Unfortunately, they appear to be going about it in completely the wrong way. It comes as no great surprise that they wanted Lewis back, he would have proven potent from reserve, especially around Arlington, but what would the cost be? Not only financially, but also to Lewis. His standpoint at the start of the season was always that he wanted to go away to become a better rider (In much the same way Edward Kennett did a few years ago), and settling back into his Arlington safety net would obviously have been a backwards step.
As far as I see it, Eastbourne, and speedway in general, is so concerned with short term success, that teams forget that riders are actually doing this as both a business and a tool to gain success. Clubs are only concerned with how this success can benefit them. Unfortunately, this has lead to clubs wanting to just sign whoever can come in and give instant success, without thinking about the next batch of British riders come through, and hopefully go on to have success. Why would a team want to take a rider on at 13 or 14, to have to invest 3 or 4 years in them before they can see the results, when they can just pick up a rider from Europe who can come in and do a job pretty instantly. A quick glance at the National League shows that the top riders there are riders who never really made the grade for one reason or another, and are quite happy to take their pay home, without ever really pushing themselves.
So, I then look at Australia. This is a country with no discernible league system, yet the production line of young riders seems to be in full swing. Recent riders including Taylor Poole, Sam Masters, Ty Proctor and Nick Morris amongst others. What makes them so standout when British riders of the same age can't find teams. It's only when you delve a little deeper do you realise that during the British winter, these riders get tuition from the more experienced Australians. Jason Crump was at Stoke only a couple of weeks ago helping (And doing a bit of spannering for) Taylor Poole. This is the current world champion, spending a Saturday night in gloomy Stoke to help a fellow countryman. He also provides him with his old bikes and general advice. I have yet to see Scott Nicholls help out younger riders in the NL, and I've not yet seen Chris Harris go to Buxton on a cold Sunday afternoon to help out Craig Cook, a young brit with obvious talent. I think here lies the difference. Australians are taught to be competitors from an early age, and they are quite happy to help the next generation, like they want to give something back, whereas the majority of British riders are happy to take a living from the sport, but not to give anything back to the next generation.
Obviously there will be exceptions to this rule, and there are riders helping out youngsters, but until there is an incentive for promoters to bring through younger riders, I fear for the next generation. Riders seem to stagnate in the NL, and the wages there often make it so that they don't need to move up.
I appreciate I divulged from the original topic, and for that I apologise. I am glad to see that it came to a resolution, even if this isn't one that pleases everyone. There was never going to be a resolution where everyone is happy. I just fear that it could be a long long time before we see a GB team challenging for a World Cup, and soon we could have problems even making it!
