Elite Athlete Support Programme
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Medway's premier young sports men and women are supported through the Elite Athlete Support Programme as they strive to achieve their London 2012 ambitions. |
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Medway Council and the University of Kent at Medway assist the cream of Medway's athletes with access to facilities, sports science and therapy support and financial backing to give young elite sportsmen and women in Medway the best possible chance of challenging for gold at London 2012.
The programme gives each athlete free unlimited access to all Medway Leisure sports centres at peak and off-peak times.
The University of Kent at Medway's Centre for Sports Studies (www.kent.ac.uk/sports-studies) provides each athlete on the programme with sports science support comprising:
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Each athlete on the programme can also claim up to £250 towards the cost of competing at national championships, attending national training camps or international events.
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Cllr Howard Doe, Medway Council's Portfolio Holder for Community Services, added: "We are delighted to be working with the university to deliver this package of support to Medway's young stars. "It demonstrates how the whole community is coming together to help local athletes reach the pinnacle of their sport and get Medway to the top of the medal rostrum at London 2012." Several athletes benefiting from the Elite Athlete Support Programme also receive grants from the national charity SportsAid, which is working with Medway Council to develop sporting talent in the area. |
To qualify for Medway 2012's Elite Athlete Support Programme, an athlete must:
live in Medway or be a Medway athlete studying at university whose parents still live in Medway;
be over 16 years old on 1 April 2009;
be under 30 years old on 1 April 2009;
have represented Great Britain or one of the home countries in the last 12 months or have a top ten national ranking;
not be paid to compete in their chosen sport;
compete in an Olympic, Commonwealth or major world sport.
Cases where athletes do not fulfil these criteria will be examined individually for mitigating circumstances that might allow them to be included.
Athletes who have benefited from the programme include discus thrower Shaunagh Brown who won bronze at the Youth Commonwealth Games in India in October 2008; James Lewis, who became British Schools Judo Champion in March 2008, 400m hurdler Michael Baker, who was GB team captain at the 2007 World Youth Games and Rachael Burford, part of the England women’s rugby team that claimed three successive Six Nations grand slams.
If you know of an athlete who would meet the criteria complete the application form:
Elite Athlete Support Programme application form (Word 472KB)
Elite Athlete Support Programme application form (pdf 193KB)
More information is available in the Elite Athlete Support Programme terms and conditions (pdf 159KB)
To use the pdf files on this page, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have it on your computer, please use our advice page.
Completed forms can be sent to:
Mike Evans
Medway 2012
Gun Wharf
Dock Road
Chatham
ME4 4TR
Alternatively, they can be emailed to mike.evans@medway.gov.uk.