Sports Awards contenders are of a high calibre - The Redditch Standard

Sports Awards contenders are of a high calibre

Redditch Editorial 27th Oct, 2016   0

NOMINATIONS for the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Sports Awards categories are now closed, but you still have the chance to vote for the Sports Personality of the Year Award, sponsored by Bullivant Media.
The shortlist for Sports Personality of the Year includes Tom Fell, Cooper Vuna, Lauren Rowles, Alex Gregory MBE, Claire Cashmore and Sascha Kindred OBE.
The winner of this award will be decided by your votes and could progress to become the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Simply visit www.sportspartnershiphw.co.uk/vote-for-spoty-2016 to cast your vote by midnight on November 6.

Below, we take a look at the people in contention in four of the award categories:

Senior Female Sportsperson of the Year

WITH a fantastic calibre of athletes nominated for the Senior Female Sportsperson of the Year award, our panel had great difficulty in shortlisting just three individuals – Bianca Blackburn, Evie Richards and Samantha Thomas.
This accolade is sponsored by Freedom Leisure and aims to recognise a person that has excelled in their sport and is a positive role model to others.
Bianca has had an exceptionally busy year, balancing a full-time career alongside her rugby commitments.
She was the starting scrum half for Worcester Valkyries, who finished fourth in the Women’s Premiership in 2015/16.
Developing into a world class athlete over the past 12 months, Bianca’s focus and drive have led to increases in her physical capabilities and skill level.
At the age of just 22, Bianca has amassed 15 caps for her country, including representing England at the Six Nations and Rugby Super Series against Canada and USA this year.
Our next shortlisted nominee made history this year at the inaugural Under 23 Union Cycliste Internationale race in Zolder, Belgium, as the first ever British senior cyclo-cross world champion.
2016 has been an extraordinary year for Evie Richards who won her first European elite women’s mountain bike race race in Austria, came fourth in the World Under 23 Championships in the Czech Republic and also became the National Under 23 MTB champion.
Evie was also invited to race for the elite women’s Great Britain race team alongside Lizzie Deignan (nee Armitstead) at the Tour de Yorkshire – her first road race in the UK on the open road.
Completing the Senior Female Sportsperson of the Year shortlist is Samantha Thomas.
A second dan black belt in karate, Samantha has claimed many medals and titles this year.
In Germany, Samantha claimed the silver medal at the European Karate Championships, proving to be among the very best in her sport.
Samantha has been selected to represent England and captain the female Team England squad for the World Karate Union.
She has been victorious in numerous World Karate Union events throughout 2016, as well as being recognised as leader in the female categories across the UK at the National Karate Championships.




Senior Male Sportsperson of the Year

SPORTS Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire is delighted to announce your shortlisted nominees – Benjamin England, Ryan Atkins and Matthew Hudson-Smith – for the Senior Male Sportsperson of the Year award, sponsored by Modus Creative.
It has been a tremendous year for world class athlete Benjamin who claimed the world title at the 2015 World Kickboxing Championships.
The 4th degree black belt was also victorious at the German Kickboxing Open, along with placing first at the British Tae Kwon-Do Championships.
Benjamin dedicates much of his time to other club members, delivering 23 classes per week, assisting them to gain martial arts belts.
Also on the shortlist is Olympic runner Matthew, who had a remarkably challenging 2014/15 season after overcoming stress fractures to his back.
Since then, he has gone from strength to strength to complete a phenomenal season on the world stage, securing automatic selection for the Rio Olympic Games where he set a 400m personal best of 44.48 seconds.
He specialises in the 400m and 4x400m relay and took gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 4x400m relay, individual silver in the European Championships of the same year and gold at the British Championships in the 2015/16 season.
Completing the shortlist is Ryan Atkins, a regular member of both England indoor and outdoor bowls teams.
Ryan plays in both the under 25 singles and mixed pairs events, of which he claimed both world indoor titles this year.
His national successes have seen him rise through the ranks to become English Indoor Bowling Association’s number ten ranked player.


Disabled Sportsperson of the Year

THE SPORTS Partnership is overjoyed to celebrate the range of elite level sport across our two counties.
From wheelchair basketball to sailing, inclusive sport exists at an exceptional level here in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
The Disabled Sportsperson of the Year award, sponsored by the University of Worcester, aims to recognise our sportspeople who represent their county at an elite level.
This year we are lucky enough to have three Paralympic athletes making up our shortlist – archer Vicky Jenkins and swimmers Claire Cashmore and Sascha Kindred OBE.

Community Project of the Year

OF COURSE, the benefits of sport and physical activity stretch far beyond just physical.
Community projects take place in order to enhance the lives of individuals and groups across our local communities. They may increase the provision of sport or create communities for local people.
This year our Community Project of the Year award is sponsored by Rivers Fitness and on the 2016 shortlist are Inclusive Sailing at Upton Warren Outdoor Education Centre, the Core Skate Hereford CIC and Pendock Spring Chicken Run.
As winners of the Malvern Hills District Council sports award, Pendock Spring Chicken Run received automatic nomination to the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Sports Awards.
There have been a record-breaking number of entries to the race this year, with runners from across three counties.
The project has gathered large amounts of volunteer commitment since it began in 2013 and volunteers for next year’s event have already signed up.
Meanwhile, collaborative work between Aztec Upton Warren, Upton Warren Sailing Club, schools and disability specific community groups has enabled the provision of inclusive sailing opportunities in Worcestershire.
Reaching full capacity before the first session, high demand resulted in the arrangement of a second session. Catering for a variety of disabilities can be a challenging task, yet this programme has been made possible by the enthusiasm and excellent work ethic of three key partners.
The all-inclusive initiative has involved 51 individuals as well as family members over the summer months, with exceptional feedback.
Innovation has been vital for our next shortlisted community project – Core Skate Hereford CIC.
The Core has grown significantly from a once-a-week skating session to providing skating sessions for all ages and abilities, including different genres of roller sports.
Through grants and fund-raising, the volunteers were able to develop the empty shell to provide new and exciting opportunities for people in Hereford to get active.

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