Lottery support for tug of war champions

Wednesday 23 January 2002

The Scottish Tug of War Association (STOWA) successful men's team are today celebrating the announcement of a sportscotland Lottery Award from the Talented Athlete Programme (TAP). Although Tug of War can be a surprisingly complex sport requiring skill, training, talent and tactics which TAP funding will enable them to focus on developing even further.

"...sportscotland Lottery funding has enabled our top athletes to fulfil their potential on the world stage."

The award of over £7,000 will be initially be used for their defence of their World Indoor Championship 640kg title in Cork next month. This is a very keenly contested competition and success is by no means assured. However the Scots have an excellent track record, at the last World Championships Scotland was the only nation to win a medal in each weight category. Scotland will also be hosting the 2004 World Championships in Glasgow and STOWA want to ensure they will be fielding competitive teams in all categories.

"The Lottery funding is immensely important to the Scottish Tug of War Association," said Robert Farmer, Chairman of STOWA, "It enabled a small association like ours to successfully make the transition from a club-based set up to an elite squad system for international indoor events. Since making this change the Association has enjoyed unprecedented success, winning two World Championships in successive years and a silver medal at last years' World Games in Japan.

"In short, the sportscotland Lottery funding has enabled our top athletes to fulfil their potential on the world stage."

Since the first TAP awards were made in 1997, over £10m has been allocated to athletes through the programme in a long-term commitment by the sportscotland Lottery Fund to develop world-class competitors by providing financial support to top performers and athletes with potential to perform at the highest level.
STOWA use their TAP awards to finance international squad training sessions, travelling and accommodation expenses for international competitions and for sport science elements, such as consulting a sports nutritionist and a physiotherapist.

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said, "TAP awards are specifically designed to ensure that our top athletes are given support as they strive to represent us successfully on the world stage.

"STOWA are an excellent example of a group who are using the TAP funding to continually improve and this is demonstrated by their international performance record. We look forward to seeing them continuing to triumph in 2002."

• This month, the TAP programme also made awards to athletes representing archery, athletics, boxing, equestrian, motor cycling, motor sports, orienteering, sailing, shooting and aquatics. A full list of the recipients and their awards is below.
• Athletes eligible to apply for funding under this programme must be able to represent Scotland and the UK at junior or senior level, be committed to a specific sport and have met the appropriate standards of performance.
• All applications are assessed on the following criteria: eligibility; performance record; targets; future potential; value for money; quantity and quality of proposed programme; current performance standard; relevance to existing national strategies; and financial need.

sportscotland Lottery Fund Talented Athlete Programme Awards

12 applications totalling: £7,296.00

Archery

4 applications totalling: £15,700.00

Athletics

3 applications totalling: £22,350.00

Boxing

1 application totalling: £2,000.00

Equestrian

5 applications totalling: £15,000.00

Motor Cycling

5 applications totalling: £29,400.00

Motor Sports

4 applications totalling: £23,560.00

Orienteering

7 applications totalling: £18,265.00

Sailing

7 applications totalling: £39,000.00

Shooting

8 applications totalling: £44,276.00

Aquatics

1 application totalling: £3,000.00

Wrestling

1 application totalling: £6,130.00

Total awards announced: £225,977.00