AW promotion: SportsAid has a profound effect on the growth of athletics, not just by helping athletes to overcome financial barriers but also to inspire the following generation of athletes

SportsAid is one of the most established and successful charities helping talented athletes to overcome financial barriers in their early development. Uncover the key details about SportsAid and its role in the growth of professional athletics here.

What is SportsAid?

SportsAid is an established charity that supports young talented athletes who need financial support to continue training to a high standard, such as covering the cost of coaches, transport, equipment etc. By supporting them, it is hoped they can reach their full potential and become Olympic or Paralympic athletes in the future, representing Great Britain.

Who are SportsAid’s investment partners?

SportsAid cannot provide exceptional levels of funding to each generation of promising athletes without support from individuals and companies. Some of the latest and biggest contributors to SportsAid’s pot are the parent company of bwin’s sportsbook, which just increased its donation by £150,000, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge (through her fundraising events), the GLL Sports Foundation, Canterbury and the Royal Bank of Canada – among others.

What does SportsAid achieve?

The primary aim of SportsAid is to give young talented sporting athletes a chance at success and a professional athletic career. But this overarching goal is only made possible by achieving smaller goals along the way, such as providing equipment, covering the cost of travel, and in more cases than ever, allowing the athlete to choose training over stopping the sport to concentrate on other aspects of life. SportsAid can also provide additional support to prepare athletes for a professional career, such as nutritional advice, sports psychology and even media training.

Altogether, it has been proven to get results and contribute to the success of real Olympic and Paralympic champions. Since SportsAid has been operating in the 1970s, it has helped scores of athletes to succeed by donating over £50 million to their development. Some of the high-profile athletes that have benefited from the support of SportsAid includes Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Sir Mo Farah and Sir Steve Redgrave. Some of these champions may not have made it as far as they did without the financial contributions available through SportsAid.

Why is SportsAid essential for athletics growth?

SportsAid is so crucial for the growth of athletics because without it many promising young athletes would choose to stop training and competing due to financial barriers. This is most often seen when these athletes continue their education at university and need to start covering their own costs away from the family home.

At university, it can be unaffordable to juggle education costs, living costs and the cost associated with high-performance training. This can be even more problematic for some athletic disciplines than others, especially when equipment and training facilities are expensive.

Those who do succeed after receiving SportsAid funding can inspire younger generations to stay engaged with athletics and dream of becoming champions themselves.