Sport England’s Backing the Best initiative will help our national teams become more representative, according to the organisation’s director of sport. Backing the Best is a bursary scheme that will support the next generation of sporting talent across more than 30 sports, helping cover expensive costs like travel, accommodation, nutrition and medical bills.The programme is backed by £5.5 million of new National Lottery funding which aims to level the playing field in top-level sport. The awards are worth up to £5,000 per year. Jessica Hunter, a 100m hurdler with a personal best less than one second behind Jessica Ennis-Hill, is among the first batch of around 60 recipients that will benefit from a Backing the Best bursary.The 19-year-old has previously been unable to afford physiotherapy and specialist coaching and has even been forced to miss out on competitions due to a shortage of funds.It does make you feel annoyed because it makes you feel like youre not getting what you deserve, Hunter told Tuesdays Sportswomen show on Sky Sports News HQ.If you have that support and the financial stability behind you then it definitely has an impact. Jessica Hunter is within a second of Jess Ennis-Hills hurdles personal best Sport England director of sport, Phil Smith, said: Backing the Best has been designed to give a helping hand to those who need it - so that ability and attitude are the only criteria for success, and not money.Ultimately, we want our national teams to be truly representative of our country, rather than just those that can afford to reach the top.We are incredibly proud of our first group of athletes; they are an inspiring group of young people that deserve to be recognised for their talent and dedication.The four-year Backing the Best scheme was launched after a study, carried out by Leeds Beckett University, showed the rising cost of becoming a sports star has led to some of Englands best up-and-coming talent dropping out. Chief executive Tim Lawler with SportsAid patron HRH The Duchess of Cambridge Charity SportsAid - who have supported emerging British athletes for the last 40 years - are helping deliver the Backing the Best scheme.Tim Lawler, chief executive of SportsAid, said: Backing the Best is exciting. Its a new initiative never seen before in the environment of talent in sport, being targeted at those young sports people facing the toughest financial challenges.Without support through Backing the Best, there is a chance some talented young athletes will be lost to their sport; with Backing the Best, they have a chance to reach their full potential. Also See: SportsWomen Latest Show News Latest News SportsWomen Video Air Force 1 Cheap Near Me . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . 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MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings have their new kicker.The team announced on Wednesday it had signed Kai Forbath to replace Blair Walsh, whom the Vikings released Tuesday after his fourth missed extra point of the season.It was just something we felt like we needed to do, kind of move forward, coach Mike Zimmer said. Were all accountable for the things we have to get done, and I think we gave him a lot of opportunities. Although, Blairs a great kid, and it was hard to do.Forbath, who kicked for the Washington Redskins from 2012 to 2015 and spent part of the 2015 season with the New Orleans Saints, and was one of six kickers to try out for the Vikings last week, after Walsh missed an extra point and had a field goal attempt blocked against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 6.Forbath, who played with Vikings punter Jeff Locke and long snapper Kevin McDermott at UCLA from 2008 to 2010, made 60 of his 69 career field goal attempts with the Redskins but struggled in New Orleans last year, going 10-for-15 on field goal aattempts.dddddddddddd.It actually is pretty crazy, Forbath said Wednesday. We train together every offseason - me, Jeff, Blair and Kevin. Thats like our little group in the offseason. Its a tough business and Ive learned it. And its too bad (Walsh) is having to go through it now, too.Hell get a chance to turn things around with the Vikings after the team decided to release Walsh, whod struggled for stretches of the 2016 season after missing a 27-yard attempt in the teams NFC wild-card loss to the Seattle Seahawks in January.Walsh, who signed a four-year, $13 million contract extension with the Vikings in July 2015, is still owed $1.5 million on his signing bonus next spring. The Vikings will count Walsh for $1.78 million against their 2016 salary cap and had just more than $900,000 in cap space to start the week, before signing tackle Rashod Hill on Tuesday and Forbath on Wednesday. ' ' '