Elite athletes to get scholarship

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Elite athletes studying at Scottish universities are to be offered funding to help them reach the top of their sports and win more medals.

The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) will provide £1m to create the scholarship.

The money will also be used to establish a University for Sporting Excellence body at Stirling University.

The scheme will fund about 30 athletes, with hockey, swimming and women's football among the first to benefit.

The SFC said the scholarship would be open to those with the greatest potential to win medals in national and international events.

The funding will be channelled through the University of Stirling to colleges and universities across Scotland. A Winning Students network will eventually be formed.

'Early stage'

Mark Batho, chief executive of SFC, said: "In the same vein that lottery funding helped cycling become a successful sport for Britain at the Olympics, we were keen to make this strategic investment to help make a difference to student athletes who have a very strong chance of excelling in their sport and winning medals, whether it be at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, or World Championship competitions.

"This investment at the early stage of a student's education will ensure they have access to the dedicated facilities and support required to combine sport and education, as they attempt to fulfil their potential as top athletes in their chosen field."

The scheme will be open to UK nationals studying at Scottish universities or colleges which are part of the Winning Students network.

The cash will fund the programme throughout the current academic year until 2010.

First Minister Alex Salmond announced in May 2008 that Stirling was to become a centre of sporting excellence in Scotland.

The university is already home to the Scottish Institute of Sport, the Central Scotland Institute of Sport, the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland and Scottish Swimming, as well as hosting national coaches for tennis, disability swimming and triathlon.