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75 athletes to share £50,000 funding

Posted onPosted on 7th Jun

Athletes from Sutton and Newark are among 75 across Nottinghamshire to share £50,000 from The Talented Athletes Fund as part of the council’s Local Communities Fund.

This year the fund has more than doubled its current Talented Athletes pot to £50,000 to help more up-and-coming athletes recognise their potential in their chosen sport, particularly those competing in disability/parasports who may require expensive adapted equipment, clothing, or have higher transport costs.

The depth and diversity of sporting talent in the county is shown by the 30 different sports that funded athletes participate in. Successful applicants include 10 para-athletes and 29 aged 15 or under.

Successful applications were received from every district of the county and demonstrated a high level of sporting achievements.

The most successful applications (14) came from ice skating, with athletics (seven), gymnastics (five) and swimming (seven) also featuring prominently.

The successful recipients include Sutton swimmer Ethan Potter (13) and Newark Special Olympic ice skater Megan Mcfarlane (18).

Ethan’s father, Lee Potter, said: “This is the second year that Ethan has been successful in receiving Talented Athlete funding from Nottinghamshire County Council, which we are extremely thankful for. The funds go towards his coaching and travel costs.

“Although suffering with a serious ear infection, Ethan has been selected by Swim England to participate on Phase Four of their Talented Pathway Programme, where he is due to go to a swim camp based at the newly-built Sandwell Aquatics Centre where this year’s swimming events are to be held for the Commonwealth Games.”

Meg’s fatgher, Cory Mcfarlane, added: “We’d like to say a big thank you to Nottinghamshire County Council for Meg’s Talented Athlete funding this year. It’s been used to support her training, coaching and competition entries. Without this we would have struggled to maintain Meg’s involvement, through challenging circumstances over the past 12 months.”

Coun John Cottee, cabinet member for Communities, which awarded the Talented Athletes grants, said: “Looking forward to the Commonwealth Games 2022 and beyond, we are keen to support a wider range of local athletes, so we have increased this part of the budget from £21,000 to £50,000. We know that competing at a high level can be very expensive.”

Local sports stars to have also previously received this funding include gymnasts Sam Oldham, Becky Downie and Ellie Downie; swimmer Ollie Hynd; athletes Richard Whitehead and Sophie Hahn; and show jumper Sophie Wells.

To qualify for the funding, athletes must have had to compete in a Sport England recognised sport with a national governing body and represented their country within the last 24 months or be ranked in the top five of their age group.

In addition to their sporting achievements, many athletes who receive grant funding through the Talented Athletes Fund have given back to their communities through coaching, volunteering and acting as sports ambassadors for Nottinghamshire County Council in their community.

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