Nominations invited for annual sports awards

The Shetland Times is teaming up with Shetland Recreational Trust and a new partner this year – Active Shetland – for the fifth Shetland Sports Awards.

This year’s celebration of Shetland sporting achievement will take place in the bowls hall at the Clickimin Leisure Complex on Friday 18th November.

The awards, first held in 2007, are intended to recognise the achievements of the many sportsmen and women, and the clubs they represent, who have excelled both in the isles and further afield during the year.

Given Shetland’s remarkable success in the NatWest Island Games in the Isle of Wight during the summer, this year’s event promises to be very exciting.

There will be more tickets available than normal to reflect the move to a larger area within the leisure centre and it is hoped that supporters as well as performers will come along for what is always an enjoyable evening.

And as a special treat visiting Ukrainian Olympic gymnasts Iryna Krasnianska and Dariya Zgoba will be performing a routine in the bowls hall.

Last year fencer Chris Rocks was named sportsperson of the year while his coach Andy Alderman was coach of the year. The other winners were the senior inter-county badminton team (team of the year), the Anderson High School netball team (young team of the year) and swimmer Felix Gifford (young sportsperson of the year).

For the first time a lifetime endeavour award was presented on behalf of the family of Rob Anderson, former councillor and deputy head of SIC leisure and recreation. His widow Mary handed the trophy over to long-time hockey stalwart Joan Nicolson, who was surprised and delighted to have been chosen as the first recipient. This award, for which nominations are not sought, will be presented again this year.

In a change to previous years the partners have decided to leave the nominations entirely to members of the public.

The categories are: sportsperson of the year, young sportsperson of the year, coach of the year, team of the year and young team of the year.

A coupon for nominations can be found on page 2 of this week’s Shetland Times and should be filled in and returned to us at the address given. Alternatively, you can make your nominations by emailing us at editorial@shetlandtimes.co.uk

Three nominees in each category, or representatives of clubs nominated, will be invited to attend and tickets will also be sold for the evening, which includes a dinner.

Shetland Recreational Trust gen­eral manager James Johnston said: “Last year’s awards evening was a great occasion and we are once again delighted to be associated with this event. The awards are an excellent way for our many talented athletes and coaches to receive fit­ting recognition for their tremendous achievements over the past year.

“I would like to ask anybody with an interest in all kinds of sport in the isles to put forward names of indi­viduals and teams who deserve to be recognised at the Shetland Sports Awards.”

The Shetland Times editor Paul Riddell said the paper, a strong supporter of sport, was proud to sponsor the event because it would highlight the hard work put in by participants and coaches.

He said: “The awards are now a strong feature of Shetland’s sport­ing calendar which we are delighted to be involved with. If there is an individual, a team, or a coach that you think should be rewarded for all their effort please fill in one of the coupons and send it back to us or email us.”