Sport Northern Ireland Athlete Award
The High Performance Unit at Cycling Ireland would like to invite applications from Northern Irish athletes for the Sport Northern Ireland athlete awards 2026-27.
Last year aspiring cyclists from NI received £38750 in total funding to help with living and training costs, with grant aided athletes featuring at World and Continental Championships in a variety of disciplines.
The Award is designed to help reduce the financial burden of sustaining a professional lifestyle for riders that have the potential to achieve elite level success at Olympic, Paralympic, World or CWG level.
In the 2026-27 Athlete Award year Sport NI will prioritise funding athletes who are not on a current governing body funding scheme or professional contract that can deliver performances at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and/or are on a trajectory to LA 2028 Olympic/ Paralympic Games, or show potential for future Games. Further details are available on the Sport NI Website here Athlete Award Programme 2026-27 | Sport NI. Guidance notes are available here: Microsoft Word - SSI Guidance Document - DRAFT v2 please read carefully. Although these notes are intended for governing bodies, the athlete performance criteria alignment with funding levels on page 9 may be helpful.
Applications to this award are strictly via Cycling Ireland, and not direct to Sport NI. Athlete applications must come to Cycling Ireland using the form here. Please download and complete this form in it’s original format and send to selection@cyclingireland.ie e-mail address, copying in HPAdmin@cyclingireland.ie before midnight Wednesday 18th March. Late applications cannot be accepted. Cycling Ireland is subsequently required to prioritise and endorse where appropriate athletes’ applications and meet the SNI deadline of 1pm March 30th.
Any enquiries regarding the suitability of individual applications can be directed to selection@cyclingireland.ie