Athletes from 10 sports aiming to compete for Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer will share £216,000 of National Lottery investment to cover additional training, competition and living expenses.
This latest group of athletes includes established stars such as Scotland’s most successful Commonwealth Games athlete, lawn bowler Alex Marshall, and Games debutants like Georgia Adderley in squash.
Director of High Performance at sportscotland, Mike Whittingham, said: “The last few years have been very difficult for everyone, including performance athletes with qualifying events postponed and training patterns disrupted.
''At the sportscotland institute of sport, our aim has always been to find ways to support Scotland’s athletes so that they can focus on their training and competition and SAPAs are a key part of that strategy.''
“This financial input is of course only part of the package of support. They also benefit from the wide range of specialist services provided by the sportscotland institute of sport, as well as the continued support of their clubs, coaches and governing bodies, and not forgetting their families.
“It’s a real team effort to ensure that Scotland’s athletes are ready to compete on the world stage and we are proud to play our part.”
Since the initiative was introduced for the Olympics and Paralympics in London in 2012, sportscotland has invested over £1.9million and supported over 280 high performance athletes and coaches aiming to make their mark in summer or winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the Commonwealth Games.
3X3 wheelchair basketball will make its Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham and Lynsey Speirs will be lining up for a Team Scotland. Lynsey, who is studying for a PhD at Loughborough University, is in no doubt that this additional funding has helped her in her qualifying campaign,
“Support from sportscotland athlete personal award (SAPA) has been incredibly valuable during my preparations for Birmingham.''
'Not only has the award has enabled me to travel to various training opportunities across the UK, it also helped cover some of the costs of purchasing a new bespoke wheelchair basketball chair. Thank you SAPA for helping me to train and perform at my best!”
Scottish governing bodies of sport nominate athletes they believe could benefit from additional financial support to help them qualify for the Games, or to increase their chances of winning a medal.
SAPAs are essentially about providing athletes with increased flexibility to optimise their preparations for Birmingham. The additional funding allows athletes to cut down their working hours to enable them to rest and recover properly after training and competition. Essentially it is about finding ways to make life easier for the athletes so that they can focus on their sport.
The project is supported with National Lottery investment and thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30million is raised every week for good causes including vital funding into the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The Commonwealth Games take place in Birmingham from 27 July to 8 August.
List of athletes receiving a SAPA
Aquatics
- Lucy Hope
- Keanna Macinnes
- Mark Szaranek
- Craig McNally
Athletics
- Chris Bennett
- Nick Percy
- Nikki Manson
- Steph Davis
- Kirsty Law
Badminton
- Kirsty Gilmour
Boxing
- Sam Hickey
- Reese Lynch
- Tyler Jolly
Cycling
- Mark Stewart
- John Archibald
- Aileen McGlynn
Gymnastics
- Frank Baines
- Cameron Lynn
- Euan McLellan
- David Weir
- Kelvin Cham
- Fraser Lynes
- Shannon Archer
Judo
- Josie Steele
- Sarah Adlington
- Chris Sherrington
- Alex Short
- Dylan Munro
Lawn Bowls
- Alex Marshall
- Darren Burnett
- Stewart Anderson
- Iain McLean
- Paul Foster
- Caroline Brown
- Dee Hoggan
- Lauren Baillie-Whyte
- Hannah Smith
- Claire Johnston
Squash
- Greg Lobban
- Lisa Aitken
- Alan Clyne
- Rory Stewart
3X3 Wheelchair Basketball
- Lynsey Speirs
- Nicola Terrell
