An Olympic gold medallist has announced a new funding scheme this week to help young Australian athletes keep their sporting dreams alive.
Five-time Olympian Natalie Cook was "emotional" as she unveiled her new Green & Gold Athletes program while speaking to ABC Radio Brisbane's Craig and Loretta on Wednesday.
Cook said she had seen too many young athletes denied their Olympic and Paralympic dreams because they or their families could not afford to fund them.
"They struggle on the pitch, they train hard, they struggle physically, mentally, and emotionally to win the right to wear an Australian tracksuit," she said.
"And then they get a tracksuit in a letter that says your kid's won the right to represent Australia, [and] it's going to cost you $8,000 for the privilege to go to Paris or Europe.
"And they just can't do it."
The Green & Gold Athletes program will offset the costs of competing for eligible athletes through a matched funding arrangement.
For example, if an athlete raises $5,000 through their own fundraising efforts, the program will give them an additional $5,000.
Cook said the program would also teach young athletes and families how to raise funds for themselves.
"We're gonna have events, we're gonna have golf days, we're gonna have breakfasts, we're gonna dress up … we're just gonna raise as much money as we can," Cook said.
Any athletes selected to represent Australia at an Olympic or Paralympic level will be eligible for the program.
Car washing and pie drives
Cook is no stranger to fundraising for high-level sports competitions.
Her early fundraising efforts included going door-to-door to sell Yatala pies, as well as washing cars at her local Corinda supermarket.
Now the Olympian has raised millions to fund her own campaign as an elite beach volleyball player, which includes five Olympic Games.
"You work out your travel costs, your coaching costs, your training costs, and then as we got better we would want … a strength and conditioning coach, a mental coach — a success coach we called them," she said.
"And of course, as a winner in Sydney, you had to stay ahead of the game, you had to invest in technology, you had to invest in cameras.
"And that's what we were funding ourselves."
Cook began fundraising as a 15-year-old when her parents told her they could not afford to cover the cost of sending her to a national competition in Tasmania.
"I sat on the letterbox out the front [of my house] for hours, crying," she said.
"[But] I just had to find a way to keep the dream alive."
Cook said her own experience meant she was passionate about giving young athletes a "leg-up" that equipped them with skills to support their sporting dreams long term.
"I retired $300,000 in debt, no superannuation, but that's what you do to represent your country," she said.
"I just don't want the next generation struggling alone, so Green & Gold Athletes was born to help them along the way.
"One athlete at a time, we'll get out there and we'll rattle the tin."
Athletes 'shockingly' underfunded
Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) CEO Patrick Walker said the program was good news for Australian athletes who were underfunded compared with their international counterparts.
"We did a survey back in 2021 and the stats show around half of all our national and international athletes are earning less than $23,000 a year, which is way below the international average," he said.
"That includes stacking shelves at Coles and Woolies, as well as anything they earn from their sporting endeavours.
"And they [Australians] are competing against better-resourced nations who do provide better funding and support to those athletes."
Mr Walker said many athletes also needed "help on the way up" to the top.
"The ASF role is to try and connect the philanthropic sector and the communities that want to support those athletes to help fill some of that gap," he said.
"Everybody's got a part to contribute, there's a role for governments, there's a role for corporates to provide for the talented athletes.
"We don't think it's one person who needs to wave a magic wand."
The ASF will partner with Green & Gold Athletes to facilitate tax-deductable donations through the ASF's fundraising website.
