UK Sport
"Innovation and creativity are absolutely essential if Team GB is going to reach its targets at all major European, World and Olympic / Paralympic Games.
Time is short, impact is essential and these types of initiatives are an excellent way of harnessing those passionate and creative individuals who can contribute to medal success."
Scott Drawer, Head of Innovation & Research, UK Sport
About UK Sport
Established by Royal Charter in 1996, UK Sport works in partnership with the home country sports councils and other agencies to lead sport in the UK to world-class success. UK Sport is responsible for managing and distributing public investment and is a statutory distributor of funds raised by the National Lottery. Accountable to Parliament through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, UK Sport's work is directed by the Board, which meets every two months.
UK Sport's support of athletes goes far beyond simple financial investment. It is recognised that for athletes to succeed at the highest level, a range of world-class support mechanisms need to be in place around them. With this in mind, UK Sport works closely with partner organisations to ensure that our athletes benefit from the best possible coaching and sports science & medicine support. Having recognised the need to harness the level of knowledge and talent already existing in sports science and medicine in the United Kingdom, UK Sport has embarked on a number of initiatives that will encourage the highest level of skill integration and knowledge sharing available. The programme has been developed with the following aims:
System development - To create service delivery that satisfies the demands of World Class Performance through:
- Creating a system for the sharing of best practice between providers;
- Monitoring and evaluating delivery of Sports Medicine and Sports Science services;
- Working in partnership with the relevant professional bodies to deliver programmes and systems that better reflect the needs of practitioners and employers within the World Class Performance System
People development - To create a sustainable population of practitioners with the required competencies to service the World Class Performance System through:
- Challenging high performance practitioners to deliver innovative high quality integrated services to athletes within UK High Performance System;
- Creating a succession programme to develop future practitioners who will work within the UK High Performance System;
- Encouraging dissemination of knowledge and best practice between World Class Performance Programmes and other Partner Organisations
The performance advantage of an innovative approach to training, technique and equipment is well illustrated. The history of sporting triumphs is full of examples where one new idea or adjustment has projected an event onto a different plane of achievement.
Website: www.uksport.gov.uk
