Travelex Launches ANZ Winter Sport Athlete Alliance Initiative To Drive Positive Change In Athletes’ Lives

Travelex, the market leading foreign exchange brand, has launched the Travelex Athlete Alliance, a social initiative designed to comprehensively support both elite athletes and emerging athletic talent from Australia and New Zealand.

Many leading athletes face financial hardships due to the training commitments and costs of international travel required to compete at the highest level, Travelex will work directly with these athletes to support via three key means: travel finance support, financial education and skills mentoring.

Travelex will be helping select athletes by financially assisting them with their ongoing travel expenses. The educational programme will see Travelex volunteers directly working with the athletes to better educate them around responsible financial decision making, including helping them to better plan overseas spending. The mentoring initiative will see Travelex staff will work directly with the athletes to share knowledge and broaden their skillsets beyond their current sporting career.

Travelex has partnered with two-time Australian Olympic freestyle skier Sami Kennedy-Sim to help design the Athlete Alliance and ensure it provides the specific support that athletes need.

Kennedy-Sim is a professional athlete in the sport of Ski Cross. With two Olympic Winter Games (Sochi & PyeongChang) under her belt, Sami continues to impress on the world scale with her skill and willingness to succeed.

In 2013 just 10 months before the Games in Sochi, Sami suffered a stroke. Going against all odds she still competed and represented her country with pride at her debut Olympics and then four years later, she finished 8th in the World at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. A wonderful personality off the course and a fierce competitor on it, Sami is a true role model to Australian sport.

Sami is passionate about supporting the community and nurturing talent of the next generation and as a qualified fitness professional, Sami is just as passionate about health and wellbeing.

"I am really excited to have partnered with Travelex and to be launching the Athlete Alliance. The program aims to equip athletes with the financial support, education, and mentorship to travel the globe whilst pursuing their sports. Travel and elite sport go hand in hand and the support Travelex is providing these athletes makes all the difference." stated Sami.

“We are thrilled to launch the inaugural Travelex Athlete Alliance with Sami and six other winter athletes in Australia and New Zealand. We hope to make a positive difference for these elite athletes by supporting them with their expenses,  ;empowering them to make confident financial decisions, and helping them develop skills outside of their careers.” stated Darren Brown, Managing Director, Travelex Australia and New Zealand.

“Most people think about the rewards of being an elite winter athlete and remember the rare few that have a prosperous career. The reality is that many elite athletes are delving into the entrepreneurial world to fund their dream and they are faced with difficult financial decisions that can impact their future in the sport. Winter athletes spend most of their year travelling overseas to train and complete, and of course spending money. We believe this program will make a real difference to these winter athletes’ lives. For Travelex staff it offers a truly unique opportunity to volunteer for coaching and mentoring and to be an integral part of an athlete's sporting dream.” Darren continued.

In addition to benefiting those athletes involved, the programme has also been designed to empower the Travelex staff involved, who will be provided with a mentoring experience, and the opportunity to build a direct relationship with world-class athletes.

Travelex is now calling out to athletes who are interested in the Athlete Alliance to apply. ; The program is open to abled and adaptive winter sports athletes aiming to compete at the World Championships or World Cup tour.

The ambition of the programme is to help elevate current elite athletes in their quest for international success, while also looking forward at the future generation of athletes to foster new emerging talent. Travelex encourage all athletes who are on a National Team in Australia or New Zealand to apply, as well as any junior athletes working towards Junior World Championships.

The current program is open to seven winter athletes, with the vision to grow athlete numbers and include summer sports in the future. If you think you meet the criteria and are interested in finding out more, please visit www.travelex.com.au/promotions/athlete-alliance

Founded in 1976 Travelex has grown to become one of the market leading specialist providers of foreign exchange products, solutions, and services, operating across the entire value chain of the foreign exchange industry in more than 20 countries. We have developed a growing network of ATMs and stores in some of the world’s top international airports, major transport hubs, premium shopping malls and city centres.

Travelex has built a growing online and mobile foreign exchange platform, and we also process and deliver foreign currency orders for major banks, travel agencies and hotels worldwide. In addition, we source and distribute sizeable quantities of foreign currency banknotes for customers on a wholesale basis - including central banks and international financial institutions. We also offer a range of remittance and international money transfer products around the world.