SPORT ENGLAND SUPPORTS ENGLISH GOLF
Sport England has agreed to support English Golf through
the Sport England Lottery Fund with up to nearly £1
million of funding over the next 12 months.
The English Ladies Golf Association (ELGA) and the English
Golf Union (EGU) will receive funding towards their respective
World Class Programmes, both designed to identify and train
talented golfers to a standard capable of becoming world champions.
The grants which were recently announced are a continuation
of support which ELGA have been receiving for the past four
years and EGU the past two and will cover the period 1st October
2003 – 30th September 2004.
Sport England Chief Executive, Roger Draper, said: “We
are pleased to confirm Sport England’s commitment and
support to the development of golf in England. Having recently
seen fantastic performances at professional level in both
the men’s Ryder Cup and the women’s Solheim Cup
we need to ensure that our up and coming talented amateurs
have the opportunities to reach the same levels of performance.
“ Lottery funding for the World Class Programmes will
enable amateur golfers to access support services and quality
coaching resulting in more English players making their mark
at the top in the amateur and professional game. “
Sport England provides the strategic lead for sport in England
and is a distributor of lottery funds to sport.
The English Ladies Golf Association will receive up to £513,000
and EGU up to £450,000 towards their respective training
programmes making a total commitment from Sport England of
£ 963 000.
Linda Bayman, Performance Director for ELGA explained “The
continuation of funding for a fourth year is welcome news
for ELGA and we are delighted that the EGU is now part of
World Class Programmes. I look forward to close co-operation
on various aspects of the two World Class plans. The Start
programme has achieved a marked improvement in the standard
of the 13-18 age group. ELGA’s World Class Programme
allows the adult players to develop to a higher level before
embarking on a professional career. The funding also makes
it possible to remain in amateur golf if the player so chooses.
Above all the transition from ‘lady golfer’ to
‘World Class athlete’ has transformed the commitment
and expectation of our best players.”
The funding will help support talented English golfers with
their training and preparation for international competition.
The players selected for the programmes will receive access
to services through structured training programmes which will
include expert Technical advice along with detailed Sports
Science & Sports Medicine support.
Delighted with the news EGU Performance Director, Nigel Furniss
explained “We have made great strides over the past
two years in developing our training programmes through the
support of the Sport England Lottery Fund and introduction
of a World Class Performance Programme. We have raised the
level of performance of English golfers and the results confirm
this. It was crucial that Sport England supported our application
to implement a long term strategic development plan to mould
the EGU National Coaching Programme into the best in the world”.
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