News / Eight young athletes win travel funding
EIGHT Shetland athletes will receive up to £1,500 this year towards the costs of attending training and competition on the Scottish mainland.
Volleyball player Bobby Laurenson, footballer Finn Regan, track athletes Katie Dinwoodie and Shay Regan, as well as swimmers Freya Masson, Adam Millar, Tom Nicolson and Lauren Sandison, have just been announced as the recipients of this year’s allocation under the Islands Athlete Travel Scheme.
Twenty four athletes from across Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles will be supported through the three year pilot scheme, which is now in its second year.
Sportscotland has provided £10,000 funding, with each of the three councils providing an additional £2,000, plus the equivalent of £3,000 of management and administrative time.
The eight successful applicants were chosen by panel of representatives from Shetland Islands Council, Shetland Recreational Trust and sportscotland.
Chairman of the council’s education and families committee, George Smith, said: “It is great to see these talented Shetland athletes from a variety of sports receive this funding to assist them with the significant cost of travelling off island for training and competition.
“I hope this financial assistance will allow them to develop further and achieve at a high level whilst representing Shetland at sporting competitions on the mainland.”
Garry Reid of sportscotland added: “We recognise that athletes from island communities have additional challenges when training, competing and progressing in their chosen sports. That’s why we continue to invest in the Island Athlete Travel Award Scheme, giving talented athletes from Shetland the support they need to reach their potential.”
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