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Who is eligible?

The Local Sporting Champions program is designed to support young people participating in state and national level sporting competitions as either an athlete, coach, umpire or referee.

In order to be eligible to apply for a Local Sporting Champions grant, young people must meet the following criteria:

• Be between 12 and 18 years of age (inclusive) at the time of the nominated sporting competition.
• Be participating as an athlete, coach, umpire or referee in an official state or national level sporting competition, endorsed by the relevant Australian Sports Commission recognised national sporting organisation (NSO) or national school sport competition endorsed by School Sport Australia. 
• Be required to travel greater than 250km return to participate in the nominated NSO endorsed state or national sporting competitions, or national school sport competition.
• Be an Australian citizen.
• Must not have been the recipient of a Local Sporting Champions grant, whether as an individual or a member of a team, during the current financial year.
• Must not have received funding from other government sources for the nominated national school sport competition or NSO recognised state or national sporting competition.
• Must not be participating in a professional competition that involves prize money.
• Applications must be submitted to the Australian Sports Commission prior to the competition commencing.

Frequently asked questions

• How are the grants distributed throughout Australia?
  The grants will be distributed by the Australian Sports Commission on behalf of Federal Members of Parliament.

• When should I apply?
  Applications must be received before the commencement date of the competition. Applications will not be considered if lodged after the commencement of competition.

• What is the value of the individual and team grants?
  Grants of $500 will be available for successful individual applicants, and $3000 for successful team applications.

• What are the grants intended for?
  Grants can contribute towards the cost of travel, accommodation, uniforms or equipment for the nominated national sporting organisation endorsed state or national sporting competition, or national school sport competition.

• What type of competition can the grants contribute towards?
  Applications for participation in endorsed state and national level sporting competitions of ASC recognised national sporting organisations (NSO) and national sporting organisations for people with disability (NSOD) will be considered, as will applications for national school sport competitions endorsed by School Sport Australia. 

• What type of competition is ineligible for a grant?

  Applicants participating in the following competitions will not be considered for a grant:

  • international competitions or tours - any event held outside of Australia for example the ISAF Youth World Championships in Istanbul or any international event held in Australia for example the International Under 16 Cricket Test Series vs West Indies

  • development or training squads and camps - for example Australian U19 Womens Lacrosse Training Camp

  • ongoing seasonal competitions - for example WA Basketball League or FNSW Premier League

  • state school sport competitions - any primary or secondary school sport state championships, for example the Queensland Secondary Schools Touch Championships

  • local and regional competitions - for example BMX NSW Regionals

  • indigenous only sport competitions - for example the NATSIBA (National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Basketball Association) Championships

  • competitions run by organisations not affiliated with the ASC recognised National Sporting Organisation or State Sporting Organisation 

  • friendship or invitational events - for example East Coast Slam or Southern Skies Tournament

   Note: Only competitions that are conducted during the 2010-11 financial year are eligible for consideration during the 2010-11 funding cycle. Applications received for competitions during the 2011-12 financial year will be considered in round 1 of the 2011-12 funding cycle. 

• How long until I know if my application has been successful?
  The 2010 funding cycle is broken into 3 rounds.  Grants will be assessed 3 times each year. It may therefore take up to five months before you are notified of the outcome of your application.

Round 1: 1 July 2010 - 31 October 2010. Assessment of applications received during this period will occur in November 2010.

Round 2: 1 November 2010 - 28 February 2011. Assessment of applications received during this period will occur in March 2011.

Round 3: 1 March 2011 - 30 June 2011. Assessment of applications received during this period will occur in July 2011.

• How long until I receive my grant?
  Up to 2 weeks after you have been notified of the successful outcome of your application.

• Does submitting an application form guarantee that I will receive a grant?
  No.  Unfortunately there are a limited number of grants available in each electorate and in most cases there are more eligible applications than grants available.  Applications are assessed every four months.  They are assessed locally against criteria that reflect the needs of that electorate.  From Round 1 2010-11 starting in July 2010, there will be 24 individual grants and 2 team grants available in each Metropolitan electorate per financial year, while in Non-Metropolitan electorates there will be 26 individual and 4 team grants available in the 2010-11 financial year.  For information on whether your electorate is a metropolitan or non-metropolitan please visit the Australian Electoral Commission website 

Did you know?

Australia is one of only two nations to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games.

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