Athlete Assistance Program 2005/2006 The Athlete Assistance Program or 'AAP' is a program funded by the Provincial Government, which provides a system of recognition and financial support for BC's high performance athletes. The intent of the program is to provide funding to individual athletes "based on their demonstrated commitment to high performance sport and excellence, and their potential to compete for British Columbia and Canada". How does it work? Each year, the Sport and Community Development Branch of the Provincial Government allocates a certain amount of AAP funding to each Provincial Sport Organization (PSO). Along with the funding are guidelines regarding minimum funding criteria that the PSO must follow when allocating funds to the athletes. These are included on the following pages. In addition to these guidelines, the PSO (BC Wheelchair Sports) is responsible for forming a Selection Committee that establishes criteria to further select athletes for the program. Once the athletes are selected, the funds are distributed in two installments. The second installment is dependent upon the submission of training reports by the athlete. How much funding is available? The government determines the amount each organization receives on a yearly basis. The total amount of funding received by BC Wheelchair Sports for the 2005/2006 Athlete Assistance Program is $5790.00. The government recommends that the minimum grant per athlete be no less than $500.00 each, which means that the maximum number of athletes funded this year would be eleven. This is roughly the same level of funding as in 2004/2005. How will the committee decide who receives funding? An application form is available to all athletes who meet the minimum funding criteria set out by the provincial government and BC Wheelchair Sports. Along with the form there is a questionnaire that the athlete must complete and submit for review by the committee. Each question is evaluated on a scale of 0 - 5 as to how well the athlete meets an 'ideal'. The questions are equally weighted so that for example, commitment and dedication to sport is equally as important as national ranking. Athletes may not meet the 'ideal' in each criterion, but their total points across all of the questions will rank them fairly with other athletes. Hopefully, this system will not only identify the appropriate athletes for funding, but also give athletes goals to strive for. Download Athlete Assistance Program documents Download a copy of the: Athlete Assistance Program Handbook (39k pdf) Athlete Code of Conduct (108k pdf) Athlete Assistance Program Form (68k pdf) Athletics Declaration of Qualifying Times (36k pdf) Memo to Athletes (164k pdf) 2005/2006 AAP Athlete Questionnaire (9k pdf) You will need a copy of Adobe's free Acrobat Reader in order to view it. For more information: Gail Hamamoto Phone: 604.333.3522 Email: gail@bcwheelchairsports.com