Introduction

The Army Elite Sport Programme (AESP) was established in 2014 launched using a £1.4m donation from private security company G4S following the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Background

The British Army has joined with UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport and respective sporting National Governing Bodies to identify Army athletes who have the potential to finish on the podium at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and beyond.

The Minister for Sport, Helen Grant MP, gave her firm backing to the initiative in wishing it every success. She said “The Army has traditionally been a great source of top sporting talent but the new Army Elite Sport Programme will take this up a level and help unearth more Olympic stars of the future. The chance to represent Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Games is a fantastic opportunity for our Army personnel and I am sure that this partnership between UK Sport, the English Institute of Sport and the British Army will be a great success”.

The AESP strategic partnerships with UK Sport offers exciting opportunities which could potentially open pathways that were previously unavailable for the identification and development of the Army’s most talented athletes. Investment will be specifically targeted to those sports where there is evidence of existing gaps in GB Olympic and WCD programmes – particularly in areas where the Army has the potential and track record to deliver high performance athletes via a range of Talent Identification (TID), Talent Transfer (TT) and Talent Confirmation (TC) campaigns and strategic partnerships.

Tiers

• Tier 1:
  • These are athletes that have been identified by their sport’s National Governing Body (NGB) as having the ability to achieve podium status at the Olympic or Commonwealth Games.
  • As such, they have been selected to sit on the REM to enable their full time training with their NGB.
• Tier 2:
  • These athletes have been identified by their NGB as having the potential to achieve podium status in their sport but require further time to develop.
  • Tier 2 athletes would normally therefore be considered for the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS).
• Tier 3:
  • This incorporates those athletes on a professional contract with a civilian club or association and those athletes who are on the BAe Scholarship Scheme.