A survey of Britain’s most promising young athletes has found they value financial support and access to coaching above all in their pursuit of Olympic or Paralympic glory.
The 675 athletes surveyed are all supported by the charity SportsAid, have an average age of 18 and are among the best in the country in their sport for their age. Sixty-eight per cent of them compete in Olympic disciplines, 19% in Paralympic disciplines, and they say their greatest challenges are rising travel costs and learning to juggle sport with education. Most (63%) train for more than 15 hours a week and last year average expenditure rose 15% to more than £6,400.
“This is the fifth year of our annual athlete survey and it gives a fascinating insight into the life of a rising sports star,” saidTim Lawler, Chief Executive of SportsAid, which finds and funds sports talent throughout theUK. “Despite unprecedented levels of investment into British sport in recent years the next generation is still looking to SportsAid for help.
“That we continue to encourage and support these athletes is crucial because from experience we know they are our Olympic or Paralympic heroes of the future. They are the living legacy of London 2012 for whom SportsAid plays a leading, national role.”
In addition to the funding that SportsAid provides to 2,000 ofBritain’s best young athletes every year the survey’s respondents said they also value the recognition the charity gives them.
“Without the help [from SportsAid] I wouldn’t have been able to progress in my sport,” said a 13-year-old athlete who took part in the survey[1]. “It also makes me very proud and motivated to be a SportsAid athlete along with so many famous sportsmen and women.”
Previous beneficiaries of SportsAid’s work include Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Kelly Holmes, Baroness Tanni Grey Thomson, Sir Steve Redgrave, Tom Daley, Rebecca Adlington OBE and Jessica Ennis MBE – all of whom received SportsAid awards early in their careers.
At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, 18 of Team GB’s 19 gold medals went to SportsAid athletes or alumni.
SportsAid Annual Athlete Survey 2012 (conducted by IFM Sports Marketing Surveys) findings
- Sample: 675 (34% of the 1,964 athletes funded by SportsAid in 2011).
- Average age: 18.
- 68% compete in Olympic sports; 19% compete in Paralympic sports.
- Financial support and access to coaching have been ranked as the most important factors to success for the last three years running.
- Travel, equipment and accommodation have been the biggest costs for four years running.
- Average annual expenditure rose from £5,576 in 2010 to £6,438 in 2011 (an increase of more than 15%).
- Other than SportsAid, parents are consistently cited as athletes’ main source of income (74% saying so in 2011 and 74% saying so again in 2012).
- 89% say their parents have a good understanding of their sport but that they could benefit from more advice on nutrition and how to balance school and sport commitments.
- 43% were inspired by their family to take up their sport; 60% carry on because they enjoy it.
- 31% train for 15-19 hours a week, 19% for 20-24 hours and 13% for more than 25 hours.
- 74% plan to continue their education alongside their sports career.
- 84% say their school/college/university is supportive of their sports career.
End.
Editor’s notes
More information
- For more information call Simon Worsfold at SportsAid on 020 7273 1978 or email [email protected].
About the survey
- SportsAid’s annual athlete survey is conducted by IFM Sports Marketing Surveys.
- The data is collected anonymously.
- The respondents are all supported by SportsAid and every athlete the charity supports has been nominated by their sport’s governing body in recognition of their talent and potential.
- The sample of 675 athletes represents 34% of the athletes SportsAid supported in 2011.
- Significance testing by IFM SMS gives this year’s survey data a 95% confidence rating.
Background on SportsAid
- SportsAid helps talented disabled and non-disabled athletes to achieve their ambitions. Since it was established in 1976, the charity has distributed around £50 million to aspiring sportsmen and women throughoutBritain.
- In 2011 alone SportsAid helped 2,000 of these athletes by providing them with SportsAid Awards (which are funded by the charity’s donors, partners and supporters) to recognise their achievements and to help them meet the cost of training and competing during the critical formative years of their careers – when individual sponsorship deals can be hard to find.
- Many of the athletes supported by SportsAid go on to achieve international success. For example, 18 of the 19 gold medals won by Team GB at the 2008 Olympic Games went to SportsAid athletes, and more than a third of the Paralympics GB team’s 42 gold medals at the 2008 Paralympic Games were won by SportsAid athletes.
- By working with the governing bodies of 75 sports inBritainto identify and support athletes who show the greatest potential, SportsAid ensures the right people are helped at the right time.
- On behalf of UK Sport, SportsAid manages the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), which supports aspiring British sportsmen and women in higher or further education (HE/FE). Since 2004, the charity has distributed more than £25 million of TASS funding to talented athletes in HE/FE.
- SportsAid is a registered charity (1111612). For more information visit www.sportsaid.org.uk, follow @TeamSportsAid on Twitter, or sign up to receive SportsAid’s monthly e-newsletter.
