Friday, 14 November 2008
sportscotland today announced an investment of over £300,000 in basketballscotland, the largest annual investment ever awarded to the sport in Scotland.
The £315,480 will be used to support the development of the game in Scotland from participation to performance, capitalising on the significant interest in the sport at grassroots level and delivering players for the top level of international competition.
Louise Martin CBE, Chair, sportscotland said: “basketballscotland is a governing body which is delivering against our objectives of increasing participation and improving performances which is why we are today announcing an increase in the annual funding for the sport.
“Basketball is a very popular participation sport and this has been proven by the demand for the game in our Active Schools programme. What this investment is intended to do is to create more opportunities for young people to remain within the sport and to develop to their full potential.”
The additional funding announced today will also allow basketballscotland to significantly enhance the position of the 2012 Co-ordinator and their 2012 programme, which has the aim of increasing Scottish representation on the British teams aiming for Olympic selection. This will be a key position, linking in with the British Basketball set-up and tasked with identifying additional support for the athletes from providing additional technical coaching and sport science support to organising athlete placements in the USA and Europe.
Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell added: “It’s fantastic to see such a growing interest in this exciting sport in Scotland. One of our highest priorities is increasing participation in sport at all levels and particularly among those groups who would normally not take part. This boost in funding through sportscotland coupled with Cashback funding will make sure we continue to offer more opportunities to take part in basketball and increase participation rates.”
basketballscotland recently received significant new investment of £343,000 over three years from the Cashback for Communities fund to support the development of a regional infrastructure. This will complement the programmes supported by sportscotland’s funding.
Welcoming the investment announced today, Kevin Pringle, Chief Executive of basketballscotland said: “We are delighted to receive this continued and increased funding from sportscotland, which is key to the continued development of the sport in Scotland. The support will allow us to continue to focus on growing the game at all levels throughout the country and to build on the success of the Active Schools programme.”
- In 2007/08 sportscotland invested over £11.5 million in 41 sports governing bodies.
- The £315,480 investment in basketballscotland is made up of £132,480 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund and £183,000 sportscotland funding from the Scottish Government.
- CashBack For Communities was launched by Justice Minister Mr MacAskill in January 2008. This is a new flagship programme of young people's activity funded from assets seized through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.