The Andrews Labor Government is supporting the development of Victoria’s rising sports stars with grants to offset the cost of travelling and fees associated with events includung selection trials and national championships.

Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence today announced that applications have opened for the 2020/21 Athlete Pathway Grant Program.

The Program, previously known as the Athlete Pathway Travel Grants Program, provides grants to help with travel costs for recipients to attend state representative events, training or compete at events that contribute to their sporting pathways.

This round of the program will also provide funding for athlete development beyond travel costs, to address the impact of coronavirus on many of our athletes’ progress. This includes competition entry and registration fees, online training and development programs and state representation fees for training camps and competitions.

Grants of up to $6,000 are available for state sporting associations, regional academies of sport and state sport and recreation bodies for travel to training camps, selection trials, national championships events and athlete development, plus non-travel costs.

Victorian sport and recreation clubs can apply for grants of up to $2,000 towards travel for teams, coaches, athletes and officials to train or compete at events that contribute to their development within their sporting pathway.

Since being introduced by the Labor Government in 2015, the Athlete Pathway Program has provided more than 1,500 grants worth more than $2.6 million to help teams and individual athletes reach their goals.

The Athlete Pathway Grants Program is part of the Labor Government’s work to make sport more inclusive, increase local participation and accessibility of sport, stimulate local economies and create new jobs and volunteer opportunities.

Applications for the current round of the Athlete Pathway Grants Program will close on 6 April 2021. For further information, visit sport.vic.gov.au/grants-and-funding.