Lottery funding announced as wheelchair curling takes to the ice

Monday 17 January 2005

sportscotland today announced investment totalling £89,848 to support the high performance programmes for eleven sports from archery to wheelchair curling. These awards support the high performance programmes for each governing body, focusing on athlete support and high quality coaching with the ultimate aim to increase the number of medallists on the world stage.

One governing body to receive an award is Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) who has received £38,133 as an interim award to continue the support for elite athletes in their training, weekend coaching camps and competition programmes in athletics, boccia, bowls, swimming and wheelchair curling.

Today marks the start World Wheelchair Curling Championships at Braehead (17 – 22 January), where 16 countries across three continents will be competing. The Scottish team of skip Frank Duffy Michael McCreadie, Tom Killin, Angie Malone and Ken Dickson will be looking to defend the world title won last year in Switzerland.

This competition is extremely important for the team as it is the final event which counts towards qualification for the Paralympic Games in Torino, Italy in 2006 where curling will be a medal sport for the first time.

This investment supports the wheelchair curlers on the national training programme which includes training weekends, competition and travel costs sports science and technical analysis.

Gavin Macleod, Chief Executive Officer, SDS, said: "The funding invested by sportscotland is already making a significant difference to sport for people with a disability in Scotland. This investment has enabled us to co-ordinate quality coaching and competition programmes for our emerging athletes and players."

Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said: "sportscotland is committed to developing and supporting our athletes performing at elite level to reach their full potential and achieve on the world stage. I am certain that the funding from the Athlete Support programme to these eleven sports will make a significant contribution to this aim."

• A list of the athletes benefiting from the Athlete Support programme is detailed below.
• The interim award has been made to align sportscotland funding to SDS’s financial year. A fully integrated award will be made from April.
• Athlete Support is a new Lottery 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 programmes 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 new sportscotland medical scheme.

Identified athletes by Governing Bodies receiving athlete support Jannuary 2005

SCOTTISH DISABILITY SPORT

ATHLETICS
Alan Stuart, GLASGOW, G21
Kenny Herriot, ABERDEEN, AB24
Laura Kinder, PAISLEY, PA2
Allan Sneddon, MOTHERWELL, ML1
Further names to be finalised