Funding helps Scottish Cycling pedal to success

Thursday 10 March 2005

sportscotland is delighted to announce funding totalling £242,860 to Scottish Cycling, to support key areas of the sport’s development plan.

The money will benefit all areas of the sport from club development to elite athlete support and is a combination of £163,650 from the Lottery and £79,210 of sportscotland Exchequer funding from the Scottish Executive.

This year’s funding has been increased to help the governing body recruit a permanent performance co-ordinator who will plan and manage the training, competition and preparation schedules for elite cyclists. The post will be a welcome addition to the team and will hopefully be filled in the spring.

Chris Hoy’s Olympic gold medal last year headlines a strong performance record for Scottish cyclists in recent years. Scottish Cycling’s performance plan aims to build on this success as well as providing elite Scots with a pathway onto the World Class Performance Plan for cycling.

The money will benefit all areas of the sport from club development to elite athlete support and is a combination of £163,650 from the Lottery and £79,210 of sportscotland Exchequer funding from the Scottish Executive.

£142,900 is from the Athlete Support programme, which is largely managed by the governing body on behalf of the athletes, towards coaching, training and competition costs. The focus for the cyclists this year is to qualify for the Scottish Commonwealth Games team which will be announced by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland in November.

One team hopeful is East of Scotland Area Institute athlete Kate Cullen. The 2004 quadruple silver medallist at the British Track Championships will again be aiming for gold in this year’s event from 3 – 7 October in Manchester. Kate also represented Great Britain in the Moscow round of the Track World Cup where she placed fifth in the women’s scratch race. If selected this will be Kate’s first Commonwealth Games.

Graeme Herd, National Coach, Scottish Cycling, said: "The increase in funding for our programmes is a welcome boost at a time when Scottish athletes like Chris (Hoy) and Craig (Maclean) are achieving at the highest levels of the sport.

"The employment of a Performance Co-ordinator will allow me to focus more on developing coaching programmes for athletes and coaches rather than concerning myself with operational issues related to the whole programme. We hope to demonstrate that our younger developing athletes have the potential to achieve at the highest levels of the sport."

Alastair Dempster, Chairman, sportscotland, said: "sportscotland is delighted to award £242,860 to Scottish Cycling through our integrated investment process. This new funding approach is driven by our commitment to enhancing partnerships with governing bodies.

"By looking at the complete development plan for sports, we aim to encourage people to become more active at a recreational level, and also to nurture and develop those who demonstrate the potential to achieve on the world stage."

• A list of the athletes benefiting from the athlete support is detailed below. Athlete Support funding is now is now largely administered through the governing body.
• Integrated investment aims to streamline our support by combining Lottery and Exchequer funding streams enabling governing bodies to submit one development or business plan to be considered across all three sportscotland visions (Achieving Excellence, Developing Potential and Widening Opportunities).
• Athlete Support is a new funding programme which merges and replaces the former Junior Groups and Talented Athlete programmes and provides a seamless, integrated pathway for the development of emerging talent.
• This new programme supports the training and preparation of for elite athletes who have demonstrated the potential to win medals or equivalent, in significant international competitions and events such as the Olympics and Paralympics, now, and in the next four years.
• All athletes who receive Athlete Support will also be supported by the sportscotland medical scheme.

Cycling

James Ochterlony, ARBROATH, DD11
Katrina Hair, BARRHEAD, G78
Sean Michael Newington, St BOSWELLS, TD6
David Smith, BRIGHTON, BN1
Marco Librizzi, BURNTISLAND
Aileen McGlynn, CARDONALD, G52
Russell Anderson, CLARENCEFIELD, DG1
Shane Charlton, CUPAR, KY15
Robert Wardell, DUNFERMLINE, KY12
Ruth McGavigan, EDINBURGH, EH11
Kate Cullen, EDINBURGH, EH6
Kevin Barclay, GLENROTHES, KY6
Stuart McManus, MILANGAVIE, G62
Ross Creber, KIRKLISTON
Gary Hand, LIVINGSTON