Council launches financial support program for junior athletes

Charters Towers Regional Council will help local junior athletes kick goals at state and national levels.

Local junior athletes representing Queensland or Australia will be able to access up to $2,000 in financial support from Council.

Councillor Kate Hastie, whose portfolio includes Sport and Recreation, said it can be expensive for some of our younger athletes and their families to compete at a representative level.

“The costs of travel and accommodation can be one of the biggest issues some of these athletes face,” she said.

“Because of factors like distance, it can often be more expensive for our local competitors to travel to these competitions compared to kids living in metropolitan areas.

“Council wants to help level the playing field and ensure they’re able to get to these competitions and just focus on being the best they can be,” Cr Hastie said.

Anyone wanting to apply for financial support will need to meet eligibility requirements.

They include being 18 years old or younger at the time of competition; living in the Region for at least 12 months; representing Queensland or Australia in an officially recognised event, and evidence of the costs to take part in the competition.

Cr Hastie said the level of funding available to individual junior athletes will be based on a progressive scale.

“It will start at $500 for anyone representing Queensland within Queensland right through to $2,000 for anyone representing Australia overseas.

“Our Region is not short for talented young athletes and Council often receives requests from junior athletes for financial support.

“We are excited to now have this program in place to help them out,” she said.

More information on the financial support can be found on the Charters Towers Regional Council’s website or by calling Council on 4761 5300 or emailing mail@charterstowers.qld.gov.au.