These athletes will get money so that they can take up full time athletics (not a wage) and also be able to use the multi-million pound indoor facility network, in Manchester which is a 200m indoor facility. In the next two or three years, there will be further 200m indoor facilities at Picketts Lock and Sheffield with the addition of extensive other indoor facilities at Birmingham, Loughborough, Bath and north west London. This injection of elite facilities will be a tremendous boost to all levels of athletes in the country and will revolutionise winter competition.
With the increase in popularity of the sport came various rivalries as to who should organise the sport. In 1879 the Clubs in the North of England got together to form the Northern Counties AA and this was followed in 1880 by the formation of the Midland Counties AA.
Today there are 3 main governing bodies;
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Following the well-chronicled financial demise of BAF ('British Athletic Federation'), a new body - UK Athletics was formed and officially launched in January 1999.
The UK Athletics organisation represents a new era for the sport and will focus on three key elements:
- A dedicated performance structure
- A new framework for development work
- A competition structure that truly meets the needs of all levels of athlete
The current funding and support for UK Athletics is provided by the following sources:
- Norwich Union
- BBC Sport
- UK Sport
- Reebok
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The Association has run the AAA's Championships for over one hundred years, the oldest of all such meetings.In England the AAA:
- Secures a uniform policy for the administration and development of athletics.
- Promotes and develops athletics through a team of full-time development officers.
- Selects representative teams thus providing competitive opportunities for English athletes on a regular basis as well as at the Commonwealth Games.
- Promotes and organises national championships at Under 17, Under 20, Under 23 and Senior levels.
3.) -Established in 1925, the ESAA is dedicated Promoting the enjoyment of athletics in schools, thus enhancing the moral and physical welfare of children, by providing the right environment so that hidden talent can be discovered and visible talent can be encouraged. It achieves this aim by organising some of the premier events in the Country, and by running an award scheme for pupils of all ages.
In a recent interview Max Jones (overseer of the World Class Programme for athletics) comments on grassroots development, he says ‘There is never enough money going into grassroots athletics and the demise of BAF in 1997 meant that UK Athletics had to build up the resources to help develop the sport from a baseline of nothing.’
At the moment grassroots athletics is getting a major boost from funding from the national lottery having strict conditions and regulations almost completely stop the national lottery funding grassroots athletics) and Sport England by releasing £5million and are refurbishing track all over the country.
Athletic clubs find it very hard to raise money as they rarely get sponsorships, probably because they don’t have a ‘weekly fixture’ like football or rugby.
If a competitors has a certain talent in athletics Sport England will help the athlete become as good as they can possibly achieve.
The Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) is a government-funded programme that represents a unique partnership between sport, higher and further education.
TASS bridges the gap in sport’s talent development pathway between junior representative sport and world-class levels for the most talented 16 to 25 year old sportspeople.
At the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Great Britain finished second overall behind the host nation Australia in the medal table and also second in the athletics table behind Australia. In both cases this was Great Britain’s highest ever placing in the Paralympics.
The status of athletes on the World Class Performance Plan (WCCP) is reviewed twice a year; in April and October. It is also at this time that National Disability Sports Organisations’ (NDSOs) nominations of new athletes for inclusion in the WCCP is considered by UK Athletics. The current WCPP supports 37 track and field athletes from a range of disability groups.
Athletes supported through the WCPP currently come from the following organisations:
-British Amputee and Les Autres Sports Association
-British Blind Sport
-British Wheelchair Racing Association
-British Wheelchair Athletics Association
-Cerebral Palsy Sport
-Dwarf Athletics Association (UK)
-Scottish Disability Sport
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