Athletics Ontario is pleased to announce the launch of it’s Adopt-an-Athlete program in partnership with Pursu.it. Pursu.it is a volunteer-run, nonprofit crowdfunding website for amateur athletes. As the first and only crowdfunding platform devoted to helping amateur athletes craft their story and focus on success, Pursu.it has raised over $310,000 to date and has helped eight athletes from various sports make it to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

In 2013-14, 14 athletes were selected by AO to take part in the “Adopt-An-Athlete” program, which helped these athletes raise over $20,000 to help support their training and competition expenses.

Athletics Ontario looks to launch it’s first wave of the campaign on December 8. Applications must be completed in full and submitted by November 3 in order to be considered by our selection committee. Incomplete applications will not be accepted or processed. Successful candidates will be required to take part in a webinar on November 23.

The application and full details can be found at the following link:

• 2014-adopt-an-athlete

Your application must be mailed to:

Athletics Ontario
3 Concorde Gate, Suite 211
Toronto, Ontario, M3C 3N7

2014 Application Deadline is November 3^rd 2014

Eligibility:

• Applications will only be accepted from full year members of Athletics Ontario.
• Applications will only be accepted from athletes of Junior age or older.
• Applications will only be accepted from athletes competing in events normally contested at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships

Selection Process:

• All applications will be reviewed subject to the criterion established by Athletics Ontario’s Adopt-an-Athlete Committee and as approved by the Athletics Ontario Board of Directors. These criterion include, but are not limited to:
• Applicant’s current World, Canadian and Ontario rankings
• Performance of the athlete based on the D carding standard
• Applicant’s age and need

The amount of funds released per application period is dependent on funds raised through public donations and corporate and other sponsors. Athletics Ontario does not guarantee funding amounts.

In committing to the Program the athlete accepts the following breakdown of generated funds:

• Pursu.it  (fundraising platform)    5.0% (all funds Canadian)
• Credit card fee                                   2.9% +.$0.30 (charge for each transaction)
• Athletics Ontario                               1.5%
• Athlete                                                90.5% (approximately)

All transactions will be in Canadian funds and cheques will be sent from Pursu.it directly to the athlete.

There will be no tax receipts available to donors.