Cricketer Bex Odgers hails new Boost Drinks funding

Rising cricket ace Bex Odgers admits she could not believe it when she first discovered about receiving vital funding from Boost Drinks and SportsAid.

The 19-year-old St Austell star is one of eight up and coming athletes to be supported by the innovative new partnership, providing crucial support as they progress their careers.

And with an array of top British sporting stars having previously been supported, Odgers counts herself lucky to be among the new cohort.

“It’s incredibly important – it’s amazing and was really unexpected,” said Odgers, who benefits from financial support from Boost Drinks – a company born over 20 years ago with a vision of energising everybody in every way and is committed to supporting its local communities, whether this be fuelling them with its range of Sports, Energy, Iced Coffee, and Protein Drinks, or by getting more involved to help them achieve their goal.

“When they sent the package through and you can see the other names on the sheet that were also sponsored by them, there are some big names on there. I was written next to those names, it was incredible - I was baffled!”

SportsAid supports over 1,000 athletes each year – in the early stages of their career – by providing them with a financial award to help towards training and competition costs.

This acts as a real motivational boost as it is often the first recognition they receive outside of their support network, with most of them relying heavily on their parents as they have no other funding.

These athletes are Great Britain's brightest sporting prospects, nominated to SportsAid by the national governing bodies of more than 60 sports based on set criteria from each.

The typical value of a SportsAid award is £1,000 with money generated through a combination of commercial partnerships, trust and charitable funds, and fundraising activities.

The sponsorship is a fairly new concept for Odgers, who has only been supported by SportsAid and Boost Drinks for a handful of months.

But she believes the financial backing she’s received will prove instrumental in the coming months, adding: “It’s a pretty new thing.

“Over the summer I got involved in SportsAid and from there, they got in touch and said they were keen to get involved. They’ve sent a welcome package and a lovely, amazing grant. It’s really promising.

“I’ve bought a bit of kit, I needed a bit of wicketkeeping kit for the winter so I’ve bought that. That wasn’t much but over the winter I’m pretty much going to use it for travel because I’ve got to be in Bristol and Cardiff all the time, and that’s a good couple of hours away.

“That’s going to be once a week so travel is going to be the main thing the funding will benefit me with.”

Boost Drinks provides young athletes with financial support, recognition, and personal development opportunities through its partnership with SportsAid. Each athlete receives a £1,000 award which contributes towards costs such as travel, accommodation, and equipment – for more information visit www.boostdrinks.com