At the time of writing this article 16 year old tennis sensation Jelena Dokic had just completed her fairytale run at the Wimbledon tennis championship where she came through qualifying to defeat world number one Martina Hingis and former Australian Open winner Mary Pierce on her way to the quarter finals.  Whilst she was beaten in the "quarters", she received the biggest pay-day in her short career, reported to be $125,000.

But prize-money is only part of the story.  Sports agents believe that with Dokic's looks, youth and the way she handles the media she is a multi-million dollar package.  The world would seem to be at her feet.

At the same tournament Mark Philippoussis progressed very impressively through the rounds, reaching the quarter finals where he tackled world number one, Pete Sampras.  In superb form, Philppoussis had Sampras on the ropes, winning the first set in convincing fashion.  Then in the second set disaster struck - a knee injury forced Philippoussis to withdraw, his 1999 Wimbledon hopes dashed.

Fortunately it seems Philippoussis' injury is not particularly serious - surgery on his knee and hopefully he will be back on court as good as ever.  He sure would have been handy in Australia's Davis Cup match with the USA.

There are many athletes in all manner of sports who are full-time professionals.  They rely on their performance on the court, field, pools, course, track etc. for financial survival.  And not only survival during their relatively short playing careers, but also for the years when their playing days are over.  Such is the demands on a professional athlete's time that there is little opportunity to develop a career outside the playing arena.

So what happens to an athlete who is cut down by an injury in the prime of his or her career - or in some ways even worse, before they have reached their prime? Being out of action for a short period can have devastating financial consequences, let alone an injury which prevents the athlete from continuing

The wise athletes choose sound risk management principles and protect themselves via insurance.  Generally speaking, an insurance policy can be tailored to meet the individual requirements of the athlete.  This includes cover for loss of earnings from short term injuries as well as lump sum compensation for the disastrous career ending injury.

Another type of protection we are finding to be in more and more demand relates to the situation where an athlete is participating for a representative team, a club  other than his/her normal club, or is involved in special promotional activities.  An individual athlete may require this protection, but it often involves the "home" club of the player.  The athlete's club obviously wants to protect their investment and will not allow him/her to compete unless they are compensated appropriately in the event that their player is injured and the club is disadvantaged.

The incidents involving Bradley Clyde of the Canterbury Bulldogs and Robbie Kearns of the Melbourne Storm, who were injured whilst in training for the New South Wales State of Origin team, are examples of the risk to which we refer.

Again insurance can be arranged to provide financial protection to all parties.  Experience has shown that the likelihood of litigation from such incidents is reduced if insurance protection is put in place, which is an obvious positive side benefit.

Whilst professional sport has it's superstars earning multi-million dollar annual salaries, there are many times more who are battling for survival in quest of their "big Break".  Risk management principles are required for the protection of both categories of athletes, and insurance should be a safety net in the total program.

Fur further advice or assistance call the IEA office nearest you.

By Rod Hughes Joint Chief Executive Officer

                                                                          July 1999

IEA has offices in every state.  National freecall number 1800 SPORT 1 
           (1800  77678  1)
Email:info@ieasport.com.au

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