The 2024 cohort of 14 new Tania Dalton FoundationScholarship Programme recipients includes athletes from across six different regions and thirteen sports codes including the first Triathlete.
Launched in 2018 the Scholarship Programme provides a unique three-year financial scholarship to young sports women to assist them in their high-performance journey. From next year87 young women will be participating in or have graduated from the programme.
‘Our scholarship recipients shine in their chosen sport but getting to and remaining at the high-performance level for some can come with additional challenges due to family, education or work commitments,” said TDF Chair Duane Dalton. The bespoke 4-pillar programme is based around financial support, mentoring, personal development and paying it forward.
Dalton said the foundation was delighted to welcome Rebel Sport into the scholarship sponsor family which has enabled the cohort to increase from the original 12 to 14 next year. Rebel Sport currently partners with TDF and Silver Fern in the Pass It Forward programme donating sports equipment which is distributed to worthy schools and sports clubs by TDF scholarship recipients in their third and final programme year.
Now entering its seventh year the Scholarship Programme attracts strong support from a range of corporate sponsors, individuals and family trusts looking to transform the lives of young women and their whanau/families.
“Ten sponsors from the graduating 2021 cohort are back to continue their support and many are entering their third round of three-year sponsorships with TDF which is outstanding,” said Dalton. New sponsors have also come onboard impressed with the impact of the programme.
Next year long-standing sponsor CBRE will become a Wellbeing Partner enabling the introduction of dedicated workshops on nutrition which will be facilitated by industry experts.
Our thanks to Abbey Charitable Trust, Natasja Barclay and Martyn Reesby, Vero Liability, The Blackwell Family, RCP, Atlas Concrete, Colliers and the Michael Synnott Memorial Trust, Burton Partners, Prospect Group, Goodman Property and the Bayley's Foundation for their continued support as 2024 cohort sponsors.
The new scholarship recipients were inducted into the programme at a special ceremony at Mediaworks in Auckland on the 5th of December where they were welcomed into the foundation by the graduating 2021 cohort year. They also heard about the power of the sisterhood of the programme from Black Fern and 2019 Alumni and past Trustees Award recipient Amy Rule.
