Supporting athletes in their swimming careers through various funding opportunities (like Yukon Lotteries TAP Program and Air North's travel program) play a crucial role in helping them achieve their goals. Here are some ways to explore and secure funding for your swimmer/s: along with other useful general information.
Confirming attendance to a Swim Meet | - Whitehorse Glacier Bears (WGB) will send out an email to members notifying them of an upcoming event.
- On the website, you will be asked to "attend or decline". There will be a registration deadline, please ensure compliance with these dates.
- If you are committing your swimmer to an outside meet where travel is “on your own”, please indicate if any parents will be going so when possible we can get all names down on a discounted Air North flight list (see Air North section below).
- Coaches will pick race events for your swimmers (unless they specifically asked you to do that yourself)
- Additional information about the event will be included on the meet page - ie: a meet package, hotel or travel information if we have any to share, qualifying times and which groups are invited to attend the meet.
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What team travel means | - Team travel means that all swimmers will travel together to a competition and be under the supervision of parents or a chaperone(s). All swimmers will stay in shared accommodation and figure out a meal plan and transportation logistics prior to leaving during a pre-trip meeting.
- Swim coaches will supervise swimmers at the pool and help support the chaperone(s) by providing clear communication and information at the event.
- The costs for the coach and chaperone will be shared amongst the swimmers attending.
- If you cancel less than 2 weeks before an event you will be responsible for paying ALL meet fees and your part of the shared expenses of the Coach and Chaperone(s).
- Flights are usually booked individually but coordinated with the rest of the group so that everyone arrives at the destination at the same time.
- If the meet qualifies for funding from WGB or Swim Yukon, that will be taken off the total before the bill is divided amongst the swimmers in attendance - and the amount outstanding will be charged to your WGB account.
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What "OYO" travel means | - OYO stands for "On Your Own" and implies just that - all athletes and families are on their own for coordinating travel and accommodation to and from the meet.
- Families can coordinate plans with another family to share responsibilities and costs but this is not facilitated by the the swim club.
- Families are responsible for ensuring the safe supervision of their child when they are not on deck at the meet and are responsible for all logistics including flights, local travel logistics and meal planning.
- The costs incurred by the coach will be divided up equally amongst the number of swimmers in attendance, minus any funding we receive from Whitehorse Glacier Bears (WGB) or Swim Yukon (SY).
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What WGB contributes | - Each September the Whitehorse Glacier Bears (WGB) Board of Directors votes on what we are able to support for the upcoming year based on funds available and events planned.
- Typically the board votes that they will pay the coaches expenses and meet fees for two away meets - usually something like the Dino Cup for our younger swimmers and the Xmas Cracker for our older swimmers. This means that the families who attend these two meets will not have to help cover the cost of the coaches who attended or their swimmers meet fees.
- For all other away meets, families would share the coaches' expenses (unless we had contributions from another source) and be responsible for their swimmers' meet fees.
- Finally, WGB pays the cost to cover substitute coaches so that training can continue for swimmers staying home when a coach leaves for a competition.
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What Swim Yukon (SY) contributes | - Swim Yukon's (SY) mandate is to support high performance swimming and fund a summer swimming program in the communities.
- Historically Swim Yukon covers the coaches expenses attending National Level events but there is some flexibility here depending on the level of our senior swimmers. Some years we didn’t send anyone to Nationals so they looked at the next level down and funded Provincial Level events.
- Whitehorse Glacier Bears (WGB) submits all meet & event info to SY at the beginning of the season to see what they are able to contribute - remembering that their focus is to cover coaches expenses for higher level competitions.
- In addition to high level away meets, Swim Yukon (SY) also contributes significantly to running our Christmas & Spring Break training camps, welcoming guest trainers & officials, funding training for our coaches and purchasing equipment for Whitehorse Glacier Bears (WGB). They also fund our local swim meets & time trials and depending on their budget, have assisted with coach & chaperone expenses in the past for training camps involving Whitehorse Glacier Bears (WGB) high performance swimmers.
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Air North
| - Air North offers a travel program for athletes and provides discounted flight rates for athletes, coaches, families (who are attending the meet) and officials.
- Whitehorse Gloacier bears (WGB) submits requests through Sport Yukon (SY) with ALL the names of athletes, coaches, officials and families who will be attending the meet. There is no code needed but your name must be on our list to book with the special rate so committing to an event on our WGB site with FULL names of all supporters who will attend with their swimmer is important.
- Air North Funding Opportunies:
Air North Travel Program Air North GOAL Fund Make It Happen Spirit in Action
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Sport Yukon (SY) funding | - Check out the Sport Yukon (SY) website sportyukon.com/ for a list of funding opportunities available to athletes and families.
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Lotteries Yukon Travel Association Program | - Lotteries Yukon TAP Program. WGB fills out an application and sends it to Sport Yukon (SY) so they can email Lotteries Yukon a minimum of 10 business days before a participant travels to a competition
- Swimmers are eligible for 3 trips / fiscal year - one trip to outside, and 2 trips in Yukon (one of the “in-Yukon” trips to be to Alaska, NWT or Nunavut)
- Each trip is eligible for up to $200, however please note that “in-Yukon” travel is based on the rate of so much/km up to $200.
- Coaches are considered 'support' under their program and can travel as many times as necessary to support their team and are eligible for $200 each time
- Final claim information needs to be submitted a minimum of 30 calendar days after the competition
To Apply (note: there is no longer an application form): A minimum of 10 business days before travel send an email to LotteriesYukon@yukon.ca that contains: - What the event is (include a website link if possible),
- When and where the event takes place,
- A list of the eligible participants and support persons, if any of your participants are traveling in from a community, and if any of the participants are special needs requiring an additional support person,
To Claim: Within one month of the end of the event send LotteriesYukon@yukon.ca an email that contains: - The results from the event,
- A photo of each participant at the event (this can be a group photo or a combination of photos but everyone needs to be captured), and
- A completed Submission Form (see attached).
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Swim BC | - Our high performance athletes are usually invited to certain performance camps and special swim events hosted by Swim BC
- Swim BC will sometimes contribute to the athletes expenses involved in attending these events and the remainder is the responsibility of the swimmer family.
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LOTTERIES YUKON - Travel Assistance Program (TAP)
The Travel Assistance Program (TAP) assists Yukon people with travel expenses to compete and/or participate in adjudicated events within and outside of Yukon. The objective of the program is to support development of amateur arts, sport, and recreation by improving opportunities for participation in sport/recreation competition and arts adjudication/performance.
Each participant and support person (see below) is eligible for up to:
$400 per trip towards their transportation expenses out of territory.
$200 per trip towards their transportation expenses in territory (includes NWT, Nunavut or Alaska).
Eligible recipients include:
the Sport Governing Body responsible for the sport;
non-profits where no Sport Governing Body exists;
arts non-profits; and
extra-curricular high school groups.
From April 1 to March 31, each participant is eligible for the following travel per discipline:
North – either (a) two trips within Yukon or (b) one trip within Yukon and one trip to either NWT, Nunavut or Alaska
Outside of Yukon - one trip outside of Yukon
Support persons include coaches and chaperones. The number of support persons eligible for funding is determined by the number of eligible participants and include:
What does the travel grant look like for WGB families?
For all out-of-territory events, such as Dino Cup, Wavemaker, Christmas Cracker, etc., a representative of WGB (usually a member of the Board) submits an application to Lotteries Yukon with the names of all athletes attending. Parents/families do not send in an application.
Once the application has been reviewed, and assuming it has been approved, Lotteries Yukon then provides SWIM YUKON (not WGB), which is our Sport Governing Body responsible for our sport, with funds that covers the amount owing in the application.
SWIM YUKON then provides this funding to WGB. From there, a credit is placed on all applicable accounts.
TAP funds/credits cannot be granted in advance of travel meets; we are at the mercy of the application process and the steps that follow. With that said, it is expected to see the Travel Bonus applied to WGB accounts at the end of the season (June – July of each year).
For more information about the Travel Assistance Program (TAP), please click here.
AIR NORTH - Sports Fare Program
For more information please visit the Sport Yukon website.
WGB PARENT/S IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
When you sign up for a swimming meet the Head Coach will include the following information:
This is a team travel event. Team Travel consists of support and supervision from the coach(es) and a designated chaperone (details to be determined).
Parents/families are welcome to attend this meet as a spectator only. This means that parents/families are not to stay in the same accommodations as the team or participate in activities with athletes.
- SPORTS FARE: WGB will submit for the Sport Fare Program with Sport Yukon and Air North.
- When declaring an athlete's attendance, please list the legal first and last name for each person traveling with the athlete in the 'note' section.
- Parents/families attending this meet as a spectator must have their names included on the submission, which will only be collected via the Note section, as described above. A confirmation email will be shared with families once the rate has been approved. Late submissions for this program will NOT be accepted after the registration date.
- Be reminded that the Sports Fare Rate is not guaranteed. Click here to be directed to the Air North Travel Program
- Tip: keep an eye out for Air North sales, as they tend to be a better price than the Sports Fare
The costs incurred by the coach and chaperone will be divided up equally amongst the number of swimmers in attendance.
Location of accommodation and travel details will be shared separately.