AMATEUR SPORT WINS BIG WITH NEW SPORTSFUNDER LOTTERY

To help strengthen British Columbia’s amateur sport system, and in celebration of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the B.C. government has approved a new suite of SportsFunder lottery products, which will directly benefit amateur sport in B.C. The new lottery is expected to generate about $20 million for amateur sport in B.C. over the next six years. This new money for amateur sport will be in addition to funds available through the Direct Access Grant Program.

SportsFunder is the first cause-specific lottery in the BC Lottery Corporation’s history, and will support four key areas of sport development:

KidSport: For many British Columbian kids, the costs for registration, tournaments and equipment are a barrier to sport participation. Since 1993, KidSport has provided over $1.6 million to more than 16,000 kids between the ages of 6 and 18 all over the province. SportsFunder will help expand the KidSport program so that even more kids can compete. Up to 2,000 more kids from low-income families will benefit from SportsFunder every year.

Travel Program: As transportation costs continue to rise, British Columbians in geographically remote communities face disproportionately higher costs to get from one competition to another compared with those living in the Lower Mainland. A parent quoted recently in a Vancouver newspaper said she paid about $800 a year in travel costs for one child to participate in one sport. SportsFunder will help level the playing field and provide travel subsidies for major regional and provincial competitions, increasing opportunities to develop athletes throughout B.C.

Coaching: In British Columbia, every athlete at every level deserves a competent, qualified coach. Whether an athlete participates for fun or for medals, his or her experience is shaped by the men and women who coach them. About 98 per cent of the 5,000 coaches registered with the Coaches Association of BC are volunteers. While the sport system may not ever have the resources to appropriately compensate every coach, providing resources to the men and women responsible for developing provincial athletes and helping to promote certification for community and regional coaches will go a long way in recruiting, training and retaining coaches in B.C. SportsFunder will provide coaching grants to about 500 coaches a year and will subsidize National Coaching Certification Programs throughout B.C.

Game Plan/Team BC: Research shows that it can take eight to 12 years to develop elite athletes who can achieve consistent peak performances. The difference between winning a medal and not can often come down to milliseconds or millimetres – or the aerodynamics of a particular piece of clothing or equipment. As B.C.’s athletic performance gets better, so does the competition. SportsFunder will provide additional resources to the Province’s strategy to put more British Columbians on national teams and international podiums. This funding will allow the strategy to be expanded to include summer sports as well as winter sports. Providing additional resources for leading-edge sport technology, high-quality coaching, athlete development programs and better equipment will give B.C. athletes a better shot at the medals.

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Media contact:	Shawn Robins Communications Director Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts 250 356-9869 250 812-3259 (cell)

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