Lottery boost for young talent

sportscotland Lottery Fund today announced further funding to help create sporting successes of the future, with awards to three more groups of talented young athletes.

Awards totalling over £38,000 are to be made through the Lottery Fund’s Junior Groups Programme, which aims to help young people to progress to senior, national and ultimately, international level, through participation in comprehensive training and competition programmes.

The Scottish Amateur Rowing Association will use its award of £21,000 to help twelve talented young athletes progress to UK level by taking part in a series of high performance training weekends at Strathclyde Park, the site set to house the new, Lottery Funded National Training Centre for rowing.  High quality coaching will be available with input from visiting international coaches and the group will also participate in some overseas events as well as major domestic youth events.

Members of the junior national basketball squads will be exposed to international level basketball for the first time with the assistance of Lottery awards of £6,939 and £10,360 to the Scottish Basketball Association.  The money will be used to help the male and female under 16 squads prepare to compete in the European Promotions Cup.  Both teams will benefit from structured and progressive training programmes which will include training sessions led by qualified coaches and participation in a number of national tournaments.

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said:  “Since the Junior Groups Programme began in 1997, awards totalling over £1.2m have been made to  groups of talented young people from various sports, in order to support them in their efforts to develop to the furthest reaches of their sporting potential.

“It is vital that we continue to provide this support in order to create not only sports men and women capable of achieving at the highest level but also the role models who will encourage all young people to take part in and achieve in sport.”

• The Junior Groups Programme makes awards either to governing bodies of sport or to local authorities to assist the development of junior groups performing either nationally or regionally.  The funding is to help the groups participate in co-ordinated programmes of coaching and competitive events lasting for a minimum period of six months, and costs covered can include facility hire, coaching fees, accommodation, travel, equipment and competition entry fees.