ASHCOMBE Volleyball player Lucy Bolton has had her sporting future secured for the next four years.
UK Sport unveiled its funding decisions for 2013 to 2017 and while volleyball has had its money cut from £3.5 million to just £400,000, all of that will be attributed to the women's beach volleyball team of Bolton and new partner Zara Dampney.
Mixed emotions, then, for the 26-year-old who joined Ashcombe in September.
She said: "Obviously, it's disappointing for the sport as a whole. It's a massive blow, everyone's talking about legacy and then to take away pretty much all the funding except for one gender in one discipline is a big loss for top-level volleyball in this country.
"It's fortunate that the one they are still funding is the one I'm playing in, but for the top end to be cut is hard to take, especially as there have been huge strides forward in terms of the last Olympic cycle and for that to continue you need the funding to stay the same.
"As soon as UK Sport outlined how they were going to divide the money up and what they were looking for in return, people started questioning because volleyball is not going to produce in Rio in 2016, it takes time.
"Look at cycling and rowing. They didn't immediately become like they are, it's taken a number of cycles, but we just haven't been given the time to develop. We have done amazingly but we need more time to develop."
But while everyone else with connections to Volleyball England have had their funding cut, Bolton will continue to be supported by UK Sport to the tune of £400,000 for the women's beach volleyball team.
She added: "It's a positive for us, but it's hard because it feels more like a disappointment than a success. But it's an exciting time for us and I'm pleased that they have seen progress with us."
Bolton and Dampney have until April, when the beach volleyball tour gets under way, to decide what support team they want around them and how to use the money attributed to them.
Bolton finished: "We need to be pretty quick with our decisions. That money has to go towards our support team and we need to work out who we want around us.
"We're a new team coming together and we wanted to be part of Rio 2016 and it's a relief to get that funding."
