Developing The New Generation Of Figure Skaters With ISU Junior Skater Scholarship Program
Developing The New Generation Of Figure Skaters With ISU Junior Skater Scholarship Program. 214 skaters hailing from 32 countries saw their dream of competing at the Olympic Winter Games come true last February in Beijing, China. It must be noted that not all Skaters and the Federations they belong to may have the resources enough to invest in the sport due to which, becoming an Olympian takes immense effort. Fortunately, ISU Junior Skater Scholarship has stepped in to remove this obstacle being successful in their generous endeavor over the years. 17 skaters from the Figure Skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games held in Beijing have already benefited in the past from the ISU Scholarship.
Offering Wings For Success
Several well-known athletes including Korea’s Young You – the 2020 ISU Four Continents silver medalist, Italy’s Daniel Grassl – 2022 European silver medalist, Latvia’s Deniss Vasilijevs – 2022 European bronze medalist, Italy’s Matteo Rizzo – 2019 European bronze medalist, Canada’s Majorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha – 2019 ISU World Junior Ice Dance Champions, Austrian Champion Olga Mikutim, and the first Dutch Figure Skater, Lindsay van Zundert, to compete at the Olympic Games since 1976 have witnessed benefits from the said scholarship.
Grassl was selected in 2019 for the funding and this is what he had to say about it, “It meant a lot to me to receive the ISU Scholarship. It gave me a lot of motivation”, said Grassl (ITA), who was selected for the funding in 2019. “I felt honored to be one of these athletes that got the scholarship.”
Italy’s Rizzo received the scholarship in 2017 and added, “Rizzo (ITA), who benefitted from the Program in 2017, agreed. “It was important for me and my family. And it helped me not only in sport but in my school career.” Austria’s Olga Mikutinia too has some positive things to say about the scholarship and stated, “For sure it contributed to my further progress and led to the result that we see now.”
This scholarship applies only to Junior Skaters and the Federations can either apply directly or skaters can be suggested by the ISU Development Commission or Technical Committees for funding. As per the ISU Council, there is a limit to the number of ISU Scholarship Awards and the amount may vary between US$ 500 and US$ 6’000 for each skater and US$ 2’000 and US$ 7’200 for skaters in pairs.
Mikutina expressed that Figure Skating falls on the expensive side of sports and any kind of financial support is always welcome. She received the scholarship in 2019 and 2020 which helped her pursue her dreams more effectively. It gave her more motivation for her career stating, “was an additional motivation for me to train and to improve, to reach new heights.”
The benefits of the scholarship aren’t limited to sports as Daniel Grassl was able to receive some technical and mental development through it as well. He stated, “I used this money for my training, some private lessons, and camps. With the help of private lessons and more training, I was able to improve. It helped me a lot also mentally and in my development to be able to work more.”
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