New goal for young footballers as Olympic opportunity beckons

UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport (EIS), together with the major football authorities, are offering over 1,000 released academy footballers the chance to take up the challenge and switch their talents to targeted Olympic sports.

The aim of the programme, called Pitch2Podium, is to provide young football players (aged 18-22 years), who have not yet secured a professional football contract, with a unique opportunity to succeed in an alternative Olympic sport.

Through the new programme, UK Sport, the EIS and the football authorities have invited over 1,000 young academy players recently released from Premier League and Football League clubs to attend one of two Olympic Talent Assessment Events in early July. If successful, they will progress through to further, more sport specific assessment events.

British Skeleton are one of a number of sports set to benefit from this new initiative and, as a sport which specialises in developing talent transfer athletes, is looking forward to tapping into the potential that exists in these young footballers and offering them an opportunity to turn their talent to the Olympic environment of skeleton.

For further information and the opportunity to sign up, eligible players should visit: www.uksport.gov.uk/pitch2podium