GrantRadar

SportsAid

SportsAid Award

Awards of up to £1,000 to talented young athletes who are not yet receiving World Class funding, to offset the cost of competing. Athletes cannot apply: they are nominated by their sport's national governing body, and SportsAid only covers sports that receive Sport England Talent or UK Sport funding. SportsAid also delivers Backing The Best for Sport England, worth up to £5,000 a year to athletes in England facing severe financial hardship. Everyone nominated gets free access to SportsAid's personal development workshops whether or not money follows.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
Up to £1,000
Deadline
Not published
no closing date given
Effort
Light
short form, little evidence needed

Who can apply

  • Individual athletes only, and only by nomination from their sport's national governing body — there is no route for an athlete, parent or club to apply directly
  • SportsAid aligns its support to sports and disciplines receiving Sport England Talent and/or UK Sport funding; if a sport is not on SportsAid's 'Sports We Support' list, the charity cannot help
  • Athletes must be unfunded
  • For Backing The Best specifically, the nominee must be facing severe financial hardship and unable to meet the costs of competing, have a gross household income below £55,000 (regional variations are taken into account), be primarily living and training in England, be eligible to compete for England and/or Great Britain including those with leave to remain, and be typically aged 12 to 18 for non-disability sports or up to 35 for disability sports
  • They must be deemed talented with potential by their governing body, and typically already highly ranked in their national age group, or a member of or with significant potential for a GB or England age group team
  • Athletes receiving individual World Class funding as Podium or Podium Potential are not eligible; those holding a SportsAid, TASS or DiSE award may still be
  • Meeting the nomination criteria does not guarantee money, because SportsAid can only distribute what it has fundraised

What it funds

  • The SportsAid Award is an unrestricted award to alleviate the financial challenges that can be a barrier to progressing in sport
  • Backing The Best awards are spent against a quarterly award spend plan on:
  • Essential equipment and kit
  • Training camps
  • Competition entry fees
  • Transport to training and competitions
  • Specialist coaching recommended by the governing body
  • Strength and conditioning coaching
  • Physiotherapy
  • Sports nutrition
  • Medical expenses arising from injury

Both awards carry free places on SportsAid's in-person workshops and online sessions covering performance lifestyle, nutrition, sports psychology and media, with separate sessions for parents.

How to apply

  1. Check the 'Sports We Support' section of the SportsAid website to see whether your sport is listed
  2. If it is, read the nomination criteria for that sport and find the named governing body contact on the page
  3. Approach that governing body representative, who is responsible for the sport's talent pathway, and ask to be considered
  4. The governing body submits the nomination through SportsAid's Online Nomination System, typically between November and December each year

athletes cannot nominate themselves and there is no application form — everything runs through the national governing body

if your sport is not listed, SportsAid cannot assist at present

support runs in 12-month cycles from the autumn nomination round; continuing beyond a year is at the governing body's discretion

Have ready

  • For Backing The Best, a four-quarter award spend plan completed with the athlete's governing body, coach and parent or guardian

the athlete supplies nothing at nomination stage — the governing body submits the nomination

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