Scottish Cycling is pleased to reveal details of a new youth development initiative, aimed at strengthening the pathway of up-and-coming riders who are aiming for the world stage.
Whilst Scotland has been able to celebrate the success of our riders on the world stage over recent years, the nature of performance sport requires continuous work to strengthen our performance development pathway, improving the quantity and quality of riders progressing towards their goals. With that in mind, Scottish Cycling is committed to promoting development opportunities for young cyclists that maximise rider development.
Titled the Youth Development Fund, the support will aim to strengthen early-stage performance development environments. This will involve Scottish Cycling working in partnership with clubs or clusters of clubs, to create new, or improve existing, youth development opportunities at a local level.
Scottish Cycling recognises that offering comprehensive development opportunities for youth riders can be challenging for clubs, typically limited by access to suitable facilities or the ability to bring together a critical mass of riders at different ages and stages, however the Youth Development Fund aims to remove some of the barriers that prevent riders progressing towards national level racing.
Speaking on the initiative, Scottish Cycling’s Head of Performance and Coaching, David Somerville, said:
“Youth development is at the core of a healthy and successful performance pathway, so we must nurture this if we are to see continued success at the highest levels. Clubs and race teams are fundamental in this space, but we appreciate they can’t do everything, so we have created this fund to try and support them as best we can, and remove some of the barriers to pathway activity.
“Hopefully the fund will have the desired effect, in increasing the number of race entries across disciplines, and see more riders bettered prepared for racing.”
For clubs to be successful in securing financial support, we are looking for demonstration of how they would:
• Increase the frequency of development opportunities
• Increase the progressiveness of development opportunities
• Increase participation numbers of youth riders in grass roots to national level racing
• Demonstrate the sustainability of their approach
Scottish Cycling welcomes proposals that promote collaboration and/or access to facilities that support progression of rider development toward Scottish and British National Performance Programmes. All applications should make explicit the additionality that their proposals will offer to riders.
We recognise that all outcomes may not be relevant to your club, so please get in touch with any questions you have.
Funding Information
Applicants can apply for up to £3000. Funds can be used for the following purposes:
• Facility costs (e.g. venue hire, expenses)
• Contribution towards staffing costs – coordination or coaching
• Staff training costs
• New equipment costs
Funding awards will not be considered for individual riders. If you are unsure if what you are interested in applying for would be eligible, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss further via performance@scottishcycling.org.uk
Next Steps
• Reach out to our performance team to discuss further, bringing forward any questions, or simply requesting an invitation to the below meeting: performance@scottishcycling.org.uk
• Attend information session on 23rd March 7pm
• Complete the application form document by 21st April 2023
