Sportsaid

SportsAid is the charity for sports people, raising funds from institutional and commercial sectors, to help the next generation of young British sportsmen and women to succeed. SportsAid supports more than a thousand athletes from over 60 sports every year.

The SportsAid nomination process is an online “by nomination only” system. Athletes will be nominated by British Athletics and invited to submit an online application form via an email. However, due to the unpredictability of email addresses, British Athletics accepts no responsibility for those who do not receive an invitation – the onus remains with the athlete to request a nomination/invitation if they believe they meet the criteria and have not been contacted by 5th December.

Please note that nomination is the first stage of the process and is in no way a guarantee of an award – SportsAid will work with partners and sponsors to source funding to nominated athletes.

 

Important Dates:

November – Invitations to apply will be sent via email to nominated athletes.

Athletes who believe they meet the criteria but who have not received an invitation should contact Sharon Morris via email at smorris@britishathletics.org.uk

December – Deadline for all athletes to finalise and submit their online application.

There is no exception to this deadline or nomination process.

 

Who is eligible?

  • As SportsAid nominations form part of British Athletics’ performance pathway for athletes, consideration is given to events which feature in Olympic and World Championships and Mountain Running.
  • Unfunded athletes selected in individual events for the World Junior, European Junior and Under 23 Championships.
  • Where possible* relay athletes who medal at the above championships.
  • UK athletes in the Under 23 or Under 20 age group this year and who are not already funded through the World Class Athletes should be ranked in the top two* non-funded in their age group (this year), U23 rankings are included here.
  • Dependant on numbers* U17 athletes ranked top one* non-funded in their age group (this year) will be considered.
  • Wind assisted performances shall not be accepted and hand timed performances in 100m, 200m, 400m 100m/110m hurdles, 400m hurdles shall not be accepted.
  • Only one* athlete from Women’s U20 1500m steeplechase and one* from Women’s U20 2000m SC may be selected and only one* athlete from Men’s U20 2000m SC and one* from Men’s U20 3000m SC may be selected.
  • Walks and marathon events – where there is no Power of 10 line – will be looked at on a case by case basis and in discussion with the National Event staff but athletes would still need to feature highly in their event group.

*All the numbers listed above will depend on the number of nomination places awarded by SportsAid to Athletics.

 

Performance and Progression Criteria

  • Performance level and top ranking per event group will be key criteria in deciding nominations and in prioritising the nominees.
  • Consistency, development and performances especially at the major age group championships will be taken into consideration, as may performances and progression in previous years.

 

Commitment Criteria

The athlete will be expected to show how they envisage spending any funding awarded to them. It is expected that any grant would be used to benefit to their athletics development and/or their essential athletics costs.

The Coach should demonstrate a desire for continued professional development.

The athlete may be expected to make some appearances or to communicate regularly with SportsAid and its sponsors and this would be discussed and arranged at a convenient time.

Prioritising of grants

  • Under 23 and Under 20 athletes, will be prioritised over Under 17 athletes.

ONLY those athletes who meet the criteria and have received a notification from Sportsaid should apply via this process.

Additionally ‘extra’ awards may be made available later in the year and SportsAid will contact athletes directly should ‘extra’ opportunities arrive after this first wave of nominations.

Backing the Best

The Backing The Best programme, managed by SportsAid for Sport England, supports athletes who would face difficulties progressing through their sport’s talent development system without critical financial help. The award is in recognition of an athlete’s sporting talent and potential. Equally, we recognise the increasing cost of high-performance sport and the Backing The Best award should enable an athlete to thrive in their sport, regardless of their socio-economic background.

Eligibility:

  • Be currently facing severe financial hardship and not able to meet the costs of competing in their sport
  • Have a gross household income less than £55,000
  • Primarily living and training in England
  • Be deemed as talented with potential by their NGB
  • Already highly ranked in their national age group rankings
  • A member of a GB/England age group team or have significant potential to be selected
  • Not be receiving individual World Class funding as a Podium or Podium Potential athlete

FAQs | SportsAid

NB: Information above is relevant for athletes from throughout the UK but athletes from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should additionally contact their Home Country Athletics Associations (Welsh Athletics, Scottish Athletics, and Athletics Northern Ireland details below) for more information and especially if they do not fit the criteria above, for possible Home Country nomination:

Wales: SportsAid Cymru/Wales – Linda Chamberlain-Jones – sportsaidwales@gmail.com

Scotland: Scottish SportsAid Scotland – Roddy Mackenzie – sportsaidscotland@gmail.com

Northern Ireland: Mary Peters Trust (MPT) Awards. – info@marypeterstrust.org 028 9068 6730

 

All queries should be directed by email to Sharon Morris at British Athletics smorris@britishathletics.org.uk