South West Academy of Sport receives $750,000 over three years in State Government $2.6m regional sports fund

The South West Academy of Sport will receive $750,000 over the next three years after new regional sports funding was announced by the State Government. A total of $2.63 million was announced by Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman as part of the Regional Athlete Support Program. The idea behind the funding is to allow high performing regional athletes to be able to train in their home regions rather than travel to Perth. Funding will go towards supporting athletes’ welfare through sessions on nutrition, recovery and mindset. Support staff will also be included with funds designed to help coaches up-skill and reach higher accreditation levels. SWAS chief executive officer Bernice Butlion said the funding gave certainty and the opportunity for South West athletes to get the edge. “We can put on another two programs, which we’re excited about,” she said. “Even for our business and for the athletes it gives us the stability that we need in business for the next three years so that we can continue offering great programs and continue offering the type of support that we do in the daily training environment and can even be better hopefully going forward. “We’re always looking for the edge so we can get better so this funding enables us to run our programs really effectively for the next three years.” Ms Butlion said reducing the amount of travel for training by athletes would help performance and their wallets. “Typically, coming from the regions, our athletes have to travel quite a lot, obviously we have no control over competitions, but in terms of their preparation from a day to day basis, this environment is probably the best environment to obtain support,” she said. “In their home environment they don’t actually have to travel around WA, they’ve actually got the support in their home environment and it actually reduces the burden on family’s finances.” Mr Templeman said the funding would provide better pathways for regional athletes. “It’s important for regional athletes to be able to train close to home and have access to quality training for their physical and mental bodies,” he said. “The four sporting academies around the regions play a vital role in nurturing and developing our next generation of State, national and international athletes. “This funding gives them the support — whether it’s for training, development or in areas like nutrition and mindset — in order to perform at their best and advance along their chosen sporting pathways. “This funding helps support the dreams of regional athletes in reaching their goals whilst still residing in their hometowns.”