SportsAid Celebrates Young Snowsport England Athletes
Five young, aspiring snowsport athletes have each been awarded £5,000 to help progress their sporting talents through Snowsport England’s talent pathway.
Backing the Best is an initiative managed by SportsAid for Sport England and supports athletes who would otherwise face difficulties progressing through their sporting talent development system without financial help.
Backing the Best is supported by £5.5 million of new National Lottery funding which aims to level the playing field among England’s brightest sporting prospects. The four-year scheme was launched in 2016 after a study, carried out by Leeds Beckett University, showed the rising cost of becoming a sports star had led to certain athletes having to drop out.
Each year Snowsport England can nominate up to 20 athletes for SportsAid awards. This year five of the country’s talented snowsports athletes – Koby Cook, Bradley Fry, Mia Brookes, Thea Fenwick and Justin Taylor-Tipton – have all been awarded the funding.
Tim Fawke, CEO at Snowsport England, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that five of our athletes have been recognised with individual awards as part of the Backing the Best initiative. Each award equates to the sum of £5,000 and will go towards helping to cover expenses such as travel costs, accommodation and medical bills.
“We’ve been working with SportsAid for three years now and we’re excited to be able to play a part in supporting the next generation of promising young British athletes during the early stages of their sporting careers.”
Among the young talents to be awarded a bursary is 14-year-old Bradley Fry. He said: “Backing the Best has supported two of my seasons in LAAX, Switzerland and has contributed towards the travel and accommodation costs associated with the competitions. It's also supported a pre-season coaching camp at Banger Park in Austria with JT Freeski Academy.
“In the UK, Backing the Best is used to support travel and slope fees at the Snozone in Milton Keynes and Tamworth Snowdome, as well as annual membership fees. Without the support of SportsAid it would be very difficult to continue at this level.”
Backing the Best has already produced world, European and national age-group level champions with gymnast Taeja James, taekwondo athlete Bradly Sinden and tennis players Jay Clarke and Freya Christie among the programme’s alumni.
To find out more about the Backing the Best initiative, visit: https://www.sportengland.org/our-work/talent/backing-the-best/.
