If looks counted anything towards championship points then Bendigos' Jessica Berry would be a dual gold medallist. The stunning Aussie cyclist is in the process of accelerating her career with outstanding performances over the past 12 months and now she adds her name to the Future Champions Program to provide support to other young athletes.

The petite blonde beauty has achieved some outstanding performances over the past 12 months in the inaugural Open Womens Scratch at Invercargill and the Australian squad at the Oceania Track Cycling Championships, leading to well deserves awards and accolades, none less than being named the winner of the ACF Endurance Star Series and now she has put her name to a great cause, by joining fellow Australian track & field legend, Kyle Vander Kuyp, as an ambassador for the Elmore Oil Future Champions Program.

The Elmore Oil Future Champions Program financially assists young athletes to gain their goals in sporting life. Funded by royalties from the sale of Australia's Fastest selling topical pain relief and injury recovery product (Elmore Oil Sports) the fund issues grants 4 times a year to aspiring young Aussie athletes from any sporting code.

Australian Olympic hurdler and sporting legend, Kyle Vander Kuyp, has long been a promoter of the Future Champions Program and says the programs benefits are far reaching.

"Young athletes in this country are expected to train and compete at the highest level if they are to advance in their chosen field, often requiring them to travel great distances, at considerable expense to both them and their parents," said Vander Kuyp.

"The Future Champions Program provides young Australians with the opportunity to benefit financially and it may very well be the difference for some of our budding champions of the future, in their bid for sporting success."

Cycling Star, Jessica Berry is also quick to sing the praise of the program. "All sports are expensive to be involved in if you want to be the best. There is equipment to buy, competitions to travel to, both interstate and overseas, and if you want to succeed in your chosen field you need the best in coaching as well. I only wish the Future Champions Program had been around when I started out, but I urge all young Australians to get involved and apply and I also commend the work that the Elmore Oil Company is doing to support Australian sport at the grass roots level and I urge all Australians to support the product (Elmore Oil Sports) that in turn supports their children, who are the future for Australia."

So far a total of 14 athletes have been awarded financial support from the first 3 rounds of funding, including athletes from Track & Field (Joel Stevenson), Basketball (Kerryn Harrington), Cycling (Imogen Jelbart & Harriet Kossman), Tennis (John Patrick-Smith), Swimming (Kacey O'Conell).

Application for the Future Champions Program can be made on-line by going to the Elmore Oil website at www.elmoreoil.com.au and then taking the link to the Future Champions page. It's a very simply application process and the next round of funding closes November 30, 2007.