It is twice as much as was invested last year.
The financial grants are designed to help coaches become more successful by improving the quantity and quality of time available to coach.
Palmer was one of the part-time coaches with regular jobs who had to give up their personal time to coach athletes.
Sparc's general manager of sector development, Peter Miskimmin, said ‘‘balancing both roles can be pretty challenging.
‘‘These grants allow us to purchase more of a coach's time off employers and this gives the athletes more chance of success.''
The Otago Daily Times talked to Palmer just before he boarded an international flight to England for the world track cycling championships at Manchester.
He will spend a lot of time away from his job at the University of Otago School of Physical Education this year as he prepares his cyclists for the Olympics.
Otago cyclist Alison Shanks is his best medal prospect.
‘‘It will cover the cost of my wages while I am away from work,'' Palmer said.
‘‘It is an initiative that will allow coaches to spend more time with athletes and will take the pressure off coaches.
‘‘One of the big problems with coaching is juggling a full-time job with coaching. Most of the time it is unpaid.''
Palmer will work with Bike New Zealand in a sports science role in the lead-up to the Olympics, in addition to coaching Shanks and his other cyclists.
Palmer believes the coach performance enhancement grants could lead to more full time sports coaches being employed in New Zealand.
‘‘When you are able to spend more time at the coal face it helps to eliminate mistakes,' Palmer said.
A total of 27 coaches in 12 Olympic sports are the recipients of the grants.
