Travel Help - Flights, Visas, Travel Insurance

When you apply for a Sport Lived programme, we will send you a Confirmation document. The Confirmation contains information on organising your flights, visa and travel insurance with contact details of companies that can organise these aspects of your trip.

Flights

You will need to arrange and cover the costs of your own flights.  We have an affiliation with STA Travel who can organise flights and appropriate visas for Australia and New Zealand.  We will provide you with the telephone number of STA Travel Business to Business Accounts Team in your Confirmation.  

If you decide not to use STA Travel, please ensure that the company you do use is ATOL bonded, otherwise you run the risk of losing your money or being stranded abroad. An ATOL licence is only granted to travel agents once the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has carried out checks on them and, most importantly, when the company has provided a guarantee (a ‘bond’) to protect the money you have paid for flights. This ensures that your money will be returned to you if they go out of business.

Please arrive in the city you are playing or coaching sport on the day your programme beings. Our programmes finish on the published end date and youshould plan to leave the tripon this date. It is advisable to buy flexible tickets in case your travel plans change whilst overseas, for example, if you decide to stay in country after your programme has ended with us.

Visas

If you are on a ‘play sport’ or ‘coaching’ programme you will need to organise an Australian or New Zealand Working Holiday Visa.  This visa enables you to live and work in Australia or New Zealand for up to 12 months.  

STA Travel can organise your Working Holiday Visa.  Working Holiday Visas for Australia and New Zealand cost approximately £100 and take 4 weeks to process.  We recommend that people apply for their Working Holiday Visa well in advance.

If you are on an academy programme in Australia you can either apply for a Working Holiday Visa or apply for a Short Stay Visa (ETA) or Long Stay Visa which allow British or Irish passport holders to live in Australia for 3 and 12 months respectively.  Most participants attending our academies do not obtain paid work during their programmes as they are short and intensive courses and therefore travel on a Short or Long Stay Tourist Visa.

Travel Insurance

To undertake a Sport Lived programme, you must have personal travel insurance to which covers the activities you will be undertaking overseas.

You need to be fully covered for the whole time you are away (from initial departure date to arrival back in yourhome country date), so may need to choose a policy that is 1-2 weeks longer than your trip dates with us. Also include any extra weeks of independent travel you plan to do in-country.

Look at your chosen policy carefully (read the small print and Terms and Conditions) and make sure that you are comfortable with the cover offered and have paid particular attention to general exclusions and pre-existing medical conditions.

Also think about other activities that you intend to undertake that are not part of your trip with us and ensure that you policy also covers them.  We further recommend that your policy includes personal liability insurance.

Details of your insurance policy must be sent to us before departure. Without insurance cover you will not be allowed to travel with us.