Eight Paralympians to receive Suncor’s FACE funding

The 2014 ‘Fuelling Athletes and Coaching Excellence’ programme has pledged CAD 500,000 (EUR 352,546) to benefit 50 athlete and coach pairings. 10 Sep 2014
Imagen
Canadian men celebrating with their medals

Canada's wheelchair rugby team won silver at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

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By IPC

For 2014, Suncor, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), and the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) increased the funding amount for each athlete and coach pairing from CAD 8,000 to 10,000.

Eight Paralympic athletes and their coaches have been named amongst the 50 recipients of an increase in funding from the Suncor Energy’s ‘Fuelling Athletes and Coaching Excellence’ (FACE) programme, which has pledged a further CAD 500,000 (EUR 352,546) to help Canadian athletes.

Para-alpine skier Alex Cairns (and coach Nick Brush), swimmer Alexander Elliot, wheelchair rugby stars Britt Mayer (Kevin Kirkup) and Martin Duif (Garett Hickling), wheelchair basketball’s Jack Kosterman (Marni Abbott-Peter) and Liam Hickey (Todd Hickey), as well as athletics’ Marissa Papaconstantinou (Bill Stephens) and para-triathlon’s Ryan Van Praet (Carolyn Murray), are all set to benefit from the programme.

For 2014, Suncor, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), and the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) increased the funding amount for each athlete and coach pairing from CAD 8,000 to 10,000. In total, this increases Suncor's annual financial commitment to the programme from CAD 400,000 to 500,000.

"The FACE programme is the cornerstone of our Olympic and Paralympic legacy and we are excited to increase the funding for both coaches and athletes, fuelling their dreams to compete on the international stage," said Louis Cote, Director, loyalty and strategic partnerships, Suncor.

"The drive and discipline of the athletes and coaches chosen is astounding. Congratulations on becoming this year's FACE recipients."

The COC, CPC, and their National Sport partners work together each year to run the FACE programme, which provides developing, pre-carded Canadian athlete and coach pairings with funding to help fuel their dreams.

Beginning with the Petro-Canada Torch Scholarship Fund in 1988 and continuing through its re-launch as the FACE programme in 2007, it has provided more than 2,600 Canadian athletes and coaches with almost CAD 9,000,000 in direct financial support.

For more information on the FACE programme, visit the official Facebook page.