12 May 2011

UKA, the National Governing Body for Athletics in the UK, won the coveted Sport Governing Body of the Year award last night at the 2011 Sports Industry Awards against a highly competitive shortlist.

Beating fierce competition from The Football League, The Rugby Football League and British Amateur Boxing Association, UKA scooped the award with a submission celebrating its transition, delivery and successes across all levels of the sport to become the nation’s favourite Olympic sport.

Continued assessments on, and improvements to areas of the sport such as Anti-Doping, competition structure and scheduling and the recruitment and retention of officials were highlighted within the submission document.

While the attention to participation and inclusion – from grass roots through schools, clubs and national representation – was also included with a focus on a decade of sponsorship and support from Aviva.

The Aviva Series domestic competitions were celebrated, with the London Grand Prix and British Grand Prix meeting enjoying Diamond League status- and UKA’s efforts to introduce new and exciting features such as Extreme High Jump at the Birmingham Grand Prix in 2010.  Positive upward patterns in TV audience and ticket sales were noted, along with sponsor activity and engagement.

The success of the performance and coaching department,- throughout a transition which included the appointments of Charles van Commenee, Peter Eriksson and Kevin Tyler and included the restructure of both teams,  was used as an example of positive change which aided the best ever medal tally for the Aviva GB&NI team at the European Championships in Barcelona and one of the best ever performances at the IPC World Championships in New Zealand.