University announces new Sports Bursaries for rising elite student athletes

The University of Southampton officially announces new scheme for talented sporting students on Monday 2 February and members of the press are invited to attend the event.

The new Sports Bursary Scheme provides financial and training support for elite sports men and women studying at the University who are rising above the rest as the sports talent of the future.

The athletes, all of whom are registered students at the University of Southampton, represent a variety of sports: Athletics, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Orienteering and Sailing and include world champions, potential Olympians, international and national performers.

All students accepted into the scheme receive a grant of between £500 and £1,000 to assist their training costs. They also receive a free University SportsRec Card membership, free access to a sport mentor, personal training, fitness facilities, physiotherapy treatment, nutritional advice, physiological testing and Well Health GP Referral programme.

Dr Bill Harris Director of Sport and Recreation said: "The purpose of the sports bursary is to support individual students who show outstanding sporting ability. This will allow them to develop individual academic and sporting talent to full potential.

"There is a mistaken belief in many quarters that academic and sporting achievement is mutually exclusive. Examples from other societies, and recent examples in the UK itself, would deny this, and sports bursaries, like their counterparts in music, drama and fine arts, strengthen the case for combining intellectual and sporting talent," added Dr Harris.

The scholars will need to have represented one of the home countries or their country of origin at senior level in their sport, or show the potential to do so while at University. They will need to be nominated or endorsed by the relevant National Governing Bodies Sports Association (NGBs) and students must have the ability to manage the relationship between academic and sporting time and this will be an important dimension in the development of the scheme.

The University is working to secure corporate sponsorship for the scheme, and discussions with Sport England and several NGBs indicate that some financial support for athletes nominated by them could be covered by those bodies. In reference to attracting sponsors, Dr Harris believes that experience in the UK indicates that there are considerable public relations benefits available to sponsoring individuals or corporations. However, the scheme does not ultimately depend on financial support, since the immediate attraction to talented athletes is to secure degree place at a prestigious University.

The following is a full list of students selected to launch the scheme:

Christina Bassadone 470 Sailing Selected for Olympics
Katherine Hopson 470 Sailing Selected for Olympics
Chris Brittle Finn Sailing Aiming for Olympics 2008
Edward Greig Finn Sailing Aiming for Olympics 2008
Ozgur Inam Sailing Aiming for Uni World Championships
Paul Campbell James Match Racing Sailing National Champion
Robert Tobin Athletics (400m) Aiming for Olympics 2004
Charmaine Johnson Athletics (Pentathlon) Aiming for 2004 World Masters
Angus MacLean Athletics (1500m) Aiming for Olympics 2008
Charlotte Moore Athletics (800m) Aiming for Olympics 2004/08
Tim Dunford Cycling National Championships
Ross Adams Cycling Aiming for World Championships
Christine Currie Orienteering Aiming for World Championships
Sorrell Klatzko Equestrian Aiming for World Championships
Gary Hunt Diving Aiming for Senior National Championship

PRESS CALL: Members of the press are invited to attend the announcement of the Sports Bursary Scheme on Monday 2 February at 12.30pm in John Roberts Room, Staff Social Centre, Highfield Campus, University of Southampton. There will be opportunities for interviews and photographs with the 15 elite athletes and with representatives from the University's Sport and Recreation team.

Ends