The Victorian Government has awarded pathway grants to rising sports stars and teams enabling them to compete at the top level.

Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence announced 119 grants worth more than $280,000 to assist our athletes, teams, coaches and officials thrive in competition mode.

The Government’s Athlete Pathway Grants Program provides grants of up to $6,000 to help athletes realise their potential by removing the often-significant barrier of athlete development costs, travel and accommodation.

This round of the program also provided funding 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.

The grants announced today will benefit athletes and teams from a wide range of sport and recreation activities – from baseball to equestrian.

Grant recipients include Softball Victoria’s U23 Women’s team so it can attend the National Championships in Adelaide and the Mordialloc Life Saving Club for its participation in the Australian Surf Life Saving Titles in Queensland.

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 achieve their goals.

The Athlete Pathway Grants Program is part of the 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.

For further information on the Athlete Pathway Grants Program, visit www.sport.vic.gov.au/grants-and-funding.