Costs Rising For Young Athletes

Talented young athletes spend, on average, more than £7,000 a year on their sporting endeavours, new research shows. The figures come from a survey of SportsAid athletes and coincides with the charity’s major fundraising week. Information from the 650 respondents shows that investment from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ has risen from £5,022 to £7,089 a year over the last decade.

SportsAid provides both financial and non-financial support to talented young athletes, with their alumni going on to win 69% of Team GB’s medals and 71% of ParalympicsGB’s medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

As part of Sport England’s Backing the Best programme that's delivered through SportsAid, they provide financial support to more than 100 young athletes. The survey shows the importance of investment into talented athletes via programmes like this.