Travel award scheme continues to support talented Highland athletes

Talented athletes from across the Highlands are being supported through the latest round of the Highland Athlete Travel Award Scheme (ATAS) delivered through a partnership between sportscotland and High Life Highland.

Featured in the second round of funding for 2024 are 12 talented Highland athletes competing at regional, national, and international level in sports including basketball, judo, athletics and golf. As well as financial assistance to help with travel expenses, athletes get access to highlife facilities across the region to support them to progress in their sport.

The national scheme – which was set up in 2020 – is funded by sportscotland and administered by High Life Highland. It is designed to help performance level athletes living within the Highland area who face considerable travel costs for training and competitions, often out with the region.

Among the successful recipients of Highland ATAS funding this autumn is rower Heather Gordon, fresh from winning gold at the World Championships in Genoa, Italy. The Inverness Rowing Club member’s specialism is beach sprints and Heather is aiming for Olympic selection for 2028.

Also receiving support in this latest round of funding awards is golfer Summer Elliot – who has just made history by becoming the first woman to win the Nairnshire County Championships. Summer has been selected to represent Scotland nine times now and is looking to compete at the Women’s Amateur Championships in Nairn in 2025.

Mountain Runner Ross Gollan from Edderton who is travelling across Europe to compete in the Mountain Running World Cup Circuit and squash player Zach Paton from Nairn – who has represented Scotland on multiple occasions at squash and recently came 18^th out of 71 boys across Europe – are also being supported by the travel fund.

Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said: “Congratulations to all the athletes who have been selected for this latest round of ATAS funding.

“At sportscotland we recognise the difficulties faced by athletes in rural communities in accessing the best possible training and competition.  ATAS is a key programme in helping to support athletes with those specific challenges. We look forward to working with High Life Highland to support more athletes.”

High Life Highland’s Head of Sports Development Darren Reid said: “At High Life Highland we continue to support our talented athletes to ensure they are given the best opportunity to compete in their chosen sport at the highest level. They are all doing the region proud, putting the Highlands on the map, and we wish them every success.

“The travel award scheme plays a big part in allowing us to provide some level of help and we are grateful to sportscotland for this support.”

ATAS supports travel costs for talented athletes from the Outer Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and Highland to gain better access to competitive and developmental opportunities.

The full list of Highland ATAS recipients is below:

Image shows Heather Gordon – Benedict Tufnell; IG: @benedict_tufnell