ACT Sports Minister Andrew Barr thinks Australia should wait until the Olympic Games are over before it starts analysing the lack of gold medals in the national trophy chest.
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It was not his place ''as a humble territory sports minister'' to express disappointment in Australia's performance, but he could vouch that in terms of promoting sport at the grassroots level in school, the ACT was leading the nation.
ACT school students complete the greatest amount of organised sport and physical education of any state or territory.
And the ACT had also been the first jurisdiction to implement physical activity as part of the national curriculum this year ahead of the other states and territories who were still in the planning stages. Mr Barr said the ACT exceeded national benchmarks mandating at least two hours of physical activity each week for students.
ACT kindergarten to year 2 students undertake 30 minutes of activity each day aimed at developing gross motor skills. Students between years 3 and 10 undertake 150 minutes each week of activity, ranging from moderate to vigorous.
In 2007, the ACT government issued its Get a Move On policy paper, which elevated the importance of sport across all ACT schools - not in the hopes of producing future Olympians but because ''there is very clear evidence that academic outcomes are improved when students participate in quality physical education programs, and while there are strong results for girls, physical activity is particularly relevant for boys and especially for boys at risk of disengaging from school,'' Mr Barr said.
While he acknowledged concern regarding competing demands on the national curriculum, Mr Barr said ACT schools had made the space to fit sport into the day.
The ACT government's Active Kids Challenge saw 70 primary schools participating in organised sports involving nearly 20,000 children and increasing their physical activity from half an hour a day to one hour a day. Mr Barr said it was inevitable and appropriate that Australia analyse its strengths and weaknesses following the team's return from London.
But many events were still to be held and gold medals could still be won.
''We always anticipated these Games would be challenging. But it's a bit too early to be drawing conclusions on the team's performance overall,'' he said.
