1/11/03: Will the British Team lose its Lottery Funding?
The news that Jamie Stevenson is to lose his personal funding as of March 2004 brings the future of Lottery Funding for elite British orienteering into doubt. It is not the first time that the outlook has been bleak. In 2002 and 2003 the funding was cut dramatically. However after a summer of unprecedented results including an individual WOC gold for Jamie himself and a bronze for the mens relay team, there were hopes that the situation would finally stabablize.

The British Team has achieved a lot since the dawn of Lottery funding back in 1999. Starting with Yvette Baker's short race gold in WOC 99, the personal grants and program funding have allowed many athletes to become semi-professional in their approach to orienteering. This has seen a new generation of athletes come through to fulfill their potential and achieve the fantastic results of 2003.

So what will the future hold if the golden years do finally come to an end? It is hard to predict how the squad will deal with the changes. The outlook is not entirely bleak as the Lottery funding would be partially replaced with exchequer funding. It's a good bet that the British Team will still be fully represented at all major internationals, and that the athletes will continue to do everything they can to perform. Perhaps the main obstacle will be that Lottery Funding has fundamentally altered our approach to the sport. With this Pandoras Box opened, can we go back to the old ways of doing things? Lets hope so, but only time will tell.