ANGUSalive Sports Awards 2018
ANGUSalive Sports Awards Winners
The ANGUSalive Sports Awards were held on Friday 8 March 2019 at the Reid Hall. The awards aim to highlight and celebrate the achievements and success of individuals, teams and clubs across Angus throughout 2018.
ANGUSalive announces the winners for the nine award categories as follows:
The award of the night: Arbroath Bowling Club and Team Scotland athlete Darren Burnett took home Sports Personality of the Year, sponsored by Precor.
Darren had an outstanding year in bowling; He started the year as runner up in the World Mixed Pairs and was also a beaten semi-finalist in the Singles. April saw him represent Team Scotland in the Gold Coast, during the Commonwealth Games and skipped the triples team to a gold medal. Darren played an important part in helping his club win the Angus League and the Scottish National Top Ten. Darren had also won the Broughty Masters coming back from 16 shots down, whilst finishing the season ranked 5th in the world. He has helped promote the sport to the younger generation through attending a variety of community events.
The two highly commended nominees were Hailey Duff (Curling) and Niamh Harper (Sailing).
Young Sports Personality of the Year, went to our 2018 Highly Commended athlete Ben Hudson sponsored by R & P.M Thomson.
Ben is a fantastic young tennis player; in 2018 Ben was No1 in Great Britain at 12 and Under age group, whilst being in the top 100 at 14 and Under. Ben is the current singles and doubles Scottish Junior Indoor champion at 12 and under and was the runner up in the Under 14 category. Ben is a humble and hardworking young person, who demonstrates a high standard of training and commitment to tennis as well as a brilliant attitude.
Due to the high calibre of nominations for young people received in the category, the selection panel have highly commended the following young athletes: Lucy Hay (Figure Skating), Sophie Smith (Swimming), Shona Campbell (Netball / Touch Rugby), Zoe Rennie (Basketball / Netball / Cricket).
Sports Personality of the Year for People with a Disability, sponsored by Angus Disability Sport in partnership with Special Olympics Tayside was won by Special Olympics athlete Liam Thom.
Liam competed at the Special Olympics 40th Anniversary Games in Stirling in 2018; Liam achieved 2 gold medals in the Motor Activities Training Programme (MATP). His incredible hard work, perseverance, dedication and sheer personal determination defied all the odds to be able to demonstrate his skills and achievements in MATP at International level. Liam is a young man for whom his prognosis and diagnosis were incredibly limiting and yet now at the age of 22, Liam continues to develop his skills and prowess in Motor Activities despite all of the personal daily challenges he faces. Liam has spent hours of training to get to where he is and has astounded all with his achievements and determined attitude.
The two highly commended nominees were Scott Perera (Athletics / Swimming) and Murran MacKay (Athletics).
For her length of service, hard work and dedication with Brechin Beavers Swimming Club, Margaret Hadden, was presented with the Outstanding Commitment, sponsored by D&A College.
Margaret has been involved in her local swimming club Brechin Beavers for over 33 years, starting out as coach. Her commitment grew as she became more involved in the club holding several position's including swimming teacher, head coach, learn to swim coordinator and president. Margaret focusses her time and enthusiasm for swimming towards supporting the club committee, coaches and fellow volunteers. She supports developing the coaches to progress and help motivate the young swimmers who look up to her. Margaret is always looking for others in the club to follow in her footsteps and strives to help the club operate at the best it can.
The two highly commended nominees were Evelyn Smith (Ten Pin Bowling) and Robin Shields (Football).
Strathmore Rugby Club collected Club of the Year, sponsored by Brechin Beavers Swimming Club and Brechin Community Sports Hub.
Strathmore Rugby Club has established pathways for all from primary 1 through to walking rugby in 2018 which has also seen the first Women's Strathmore team who are now playing competitive fixtures, following on from a successful Tartan Touch initiative. The club have been a major part in driving unified rugby forward in Angus, in partnership with other clubs which has provided opportunities for all to participate. The club's first team reached the semi-final of the Caley shield in 2018 and are performing well in the league. The junior section has increased membership with more volunteers attending UKCC Level 1 and 2 courses. The club also has 18 new coaches qualified coaches to referee junior matches.
The two highly commended nominees were Forfar Amateur Swimming Club and Monifieth Athletic Football Club.
Special Olympics Taysidetook home Team of the Year, sponsored by Angus Community Sport Hubs.
Special Olympics Tayside team competed in the Special Olympics 40th Anniversary Games in Stirling in 2018. The team consisted of 42 Angus athletes who competed against 1400 other competitors. The athletes trained on a regular basis with their dedicated coaches who worked tirelessly to ensure the athletes could compete at the highest level. To this effect the team ended the games with 18 Gold, 27 Silver and 20 Bronze medals. The team competed in 10 sports: Athletics, Swimming, Badminton, Boccia, Bowling, Cycling, Football, Golf, Table Tennis and MATP. Included in this team were 25 new athletes and 7 coaches who were involved with the team for the first time.
The two highly commended nominees were Forfar Farmington Football Club Under 13's and Montrose Tennis Club Junior First Team.
Our Coach of the Year, sponsored by Forbes of Kingennie Resort, Gemma Lumsdaine is recognised for her work with Dundee Dragons Wheelchair sport.
Gemma's 2018 achievements have been notable, leading the Dundee Dragons senior wheelchair basketball team to an unbeaten season which saw them win the development league play off. Through Gemma's coaching 2 players went on to play for Scotland Under 19's who collected silver and bronze medals at the school and Invictus Games respectively. Gemma is heavily involved with both sportscotland and Basketball Scotland Young People's Sports Panels helping influence others in coaching. She works very closely with elite coaches to enhance her personal development and regularly attends CPD opportunities to ensure she keeps evolving as a coach.
The highly commended nominees were Oliver Carter (Triathlon), David Wilson (Badminton) Kay Rudd (Football).
Club Volunteer of the Year, sponsored by Voluntary Action Angus went to Lorna Cochrane.
Lorna was instrumental in the development of the annual Rural School Highland Games which has been running for 4 years. The event goes from strength to strength with Lorna seeking feedback after each event to ensure it improves year on year. She has recruited 40 volunteers and up-skilled them through various CPD sessions to allow the volunteers to run the variety of events. Lorna worked with Northmuir PS to arrange a second Highland Games which allowed an additional 350 pupils to take part in the event. Lorna is passionate about giving as many children as possible the Highland Games Experience and to help promote Strathmore Highland Games.
The two highly commended nominees were Jordan Young (Swimming) and Alana Mackie (Swimming).
Showing a valued commitment to school sport, Arbroath High School's Head Boy Lee Paterson won School Sports Volunteer of the Year sponsored by Active Schools.
Lee is a credit to his school and dedicates many hours volunteering to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to take part or access sport in school. He is the coach of the S1, S2 and Senior Boys football teams, along with the cricket and basketball teams. Not only does he coach the teams, but officiates in a variety of secondary school competitions along with cluster primary school events. In 2018, Lee's excellent organisation skills have allowed him to organise and run Midnight Madness, an event which raised money for the school and a chosen charity, along with the Friendship Cup, a football game between Arbroath High School and Arbroath Academy.
The three highly commended nominees were Rebecca Whyte (Running / Football) Pippa Reddy (Netball) and Callum Burnett (Rugby Union).
ANGUSalive would like to extend their best wishes to all winners and all of those nominated and wish you a successful 2019 in sport. The charity wishes to also thank all sponsors for their contribution this year.