It has been confirmed that snowsports athletes will continue to be supported by the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS), a long valued partner to skiing and snowboarding. ...Â
TASS provides valuable support to talented athletes who are in education, and although at present is run by UK Sport, from 1 October this year the scheme will be run by Sport England meaning the management of TASS funding changes from British Ski and Snowboard to Snowsport England.
The news is welcomed that snowsports athletes will continue to be funded by TASS, but with the change of governance, there has also been some changes regarding the eligibility criteria which impacts snowsports.
Sports are only eligible for TASS support if they are a sport that receives Sport England Talent funding. In addition if a sport only receives talent funding in a particular discipline then only athletes in that discipline will be eligible for TASS support. This means Snowsport England has only been able to apply for TASS funding for athletes in the Park & Pipe disciplines, which this week has been confirmed has been successful.
Tim Fawke, Chief Executive of Snowsport England said of the announcement: “TASS has for many years brought in valuable money to snowsports and we are glad that they will continue to support snowsports athletes. The money will be invaluable for the Park & Pipe athletes that get selected for the funding, but for our athletes in other disciplines, we are going to continue to work closely with TASS to identify other areas of support and to build towards the future, working hard to establish a platform where all snowsports athletes can be eligible for TASS.”
The athletes who will benefit from the TASS funding are still to be confirmed, but all will be in the Park & Pipe programme.
Snowsport England Press Release