England Athletics announces further funding to English Schools’ AA
The English Schools’ Athletic Association (ESAA) will continue to receive financial support from England Athletics this year, taking our total funding for the ESAA to over £1.8million since 2009.
The ESAA is made up of volunteers who promote athletic activity and competitive opportunities for schools and affiliated County Schools’ Associations. Formed in 1925, the ESAA is also responsible for the organisation of multi-disciplinary athletic events, allowing schools and athletes to compete at regional, national, and international level.
The grant of £100,000 for 2023/24 from England Athletics to the ESAA will ensure thousands of school-age athletes across the country can again access vital competitive opportunities this year.
Chris Jones, CEO of England Athletics, said: “Our ability to work in partnership with organisations to ensure that they are providing athletes, particularly those at a younger age, with relevant competition which helps their development is vitally important.
Continuing our funding support for the English Schools’ Athletic Association for another year, as we’ll also be doing for other organisations like the county associations, the area competition providers, the National Athletics League, and the Youth Development League, is about making sure we have strong foundations in place at every level and across all athletics and running events so that we are giving as many athletes and their coaches the best opportunity of developing their skills and realising their full potential into adulthood.
Making sure we get more youngsters enjoying our sport at school level and then hopefully feeding into club activity and onto senior success sits at the very heart of our work at England Athletics.”
Ian Roberts, Chair of the English Schools’ Athletic Association, said: “The level of ongoing support from England Athletics enables the ESAA to continue to provide the infrastructure to schools across the country as they provide athletics experiences for young people. This journey starts with our awards schemes, and takes young people through school, district, and county level events, culminating for many with the unique experience of representing their county schools’ association at our major Track and Field, Combined-Events and Cross-Country championships. For some, it leads to their first experience of international representation too.
“In a climate where increasing outgoings are providing a challenge for the ESAA to sustain all its events, we continue to seek further support from commercial organisations to ensure our events and activities remain vibrant and appealing to a diverse range of young people.”
A strategic priority for England Athletics, as the governing body of athletics in England, is to work in collaboration with competition providers to ensure their provision of track and field, cross country, road, and multi-terrain events offers an inclusive and sustainable athlete-centred pathway featuring innovative, appropriate, and supportive experiences which engage, excite, and inspire not just those taking part but the athletes’ own support network and spectators.
Awards Programme for teachers: webinar
Meanwhile, we are pleased to provide details of a webinar on an Awards Programme we are hosting with the ESAA for school teachers. School teachers can register for this webinar to find out more about the English Schools’ Awards programme.
- Date: 3 May 2023
- Time: 4:30pm
- Webinar Zoom link