Local Sporting Champions Round 1 - 2025/26

The Local Sporting Champions program is designed to support young people participating in state, national and international sporting championships as an athlete, coach or match official.

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be turning 12 to 18 years of age in the same calendar year as the nominated championships.
• Be an Australian citizen or have been granted permanent resident status, residing in Australia.
• Be participating as an athlete, coach, or match official in:
  • an official state championship endorsed by the relevant ASC recognised national sporting organisation (NSO), national sporting organisation for people with disability (NSOD) or a School Sport Australia member body; or
  • an official national championship endorsed by the relevant ASC recognised NSO, NSOD or School Sport Australia; or
  • an international competition, as a member of an official Australian team representing an ASC recognised NSO, NSOD or School Sport Australia.

• Those attending a state championships must be living more than 250km from the championships venue, and travelling greater than 500km return to participate in the nominated championships*.
• May receive a maximum of one grant from an application submitted in the same allocation year (1 May 2025– 30 April 2026)
• Must incur out-of-pocket expenses for the nominated championship equal to, or greater than, the grant amount they are eligible to receive.

• Must not receive a Local Para Champions grant or a Local Sporting Champions grant in the same or a previous round to attend the same championship or competition.
• Applications must be submitted within timeframes indicated in the ‘When can I apply?’ section of this document.

Note:
* Those attending a national championships or international competition do not need to be travelling a minimum distance to be eligible.

When Can I apply?

Applications can be submitted at any time during the round opening and closing date for competitions that occur within the relevant timeframes below:

Applications for competitions held during the eligible competition dates can be submitted at any time during the round. 

Saved applications must be completed and submitted prior to the end of the round to be eligible.  Applications submitted in incorrect rounds will be ineligible.

Please add the email address "Smartygrants@ausport.gov.au" to your email safe sender list to ensure you receive communication regarding this application.