The shortlist for this year's Orkney Sports Awards have been announced today.
The awards, organised by the Council's Active Schools team and sponsored by The Orcadian, will see 28 individuals and teams compete in nine categories.
This year the Sportsperson of the Year Award is entirely female dominated with Anna Tait, Sarah MacPhail and Hannah Beaven all in contention to pick up the prize as Orkney’s outstanding athlete of 2017.
This year will also see the addition of a public vote Performance of the Year Award — awarded to an individual, or team, who produced an outstanding sporting performance in 2017. This is will be run as an online poll on The Orcadian website, with the winner announced on the night. The poll is now live, with the public invited to vote for the performance they believe is worthy of special recognition.
Catherine Johnson, from Orkney Islands Council’s Active Schools team, is one of the main organisers. She said: “Once again, the response from the Orkney public has been fantastic with hundreds of nominations were received during three weeks in November.
“The Orkney Sports Awards continues to go from strength to strength and this year has been no different. We were delighted to receive such a high number of nominations and, as with previous years, the judges had some really difficult decisions to make.
“Orkney’s sporting scene is diverse and this is reflected in the sheer number of sports involved on the shortlist.
“In previous years, we’ve seen sports such as shooting, pool and darts recognised; this year, there is powerlifting, women’s rugby, kickboxing, equestrian and running, alongside some of the more mainstream sports.
“I am positive that the 2017 Orkney Sports Awards will prove to be another memorable evening, as we celebrate our sporting achievements of the last 12 months.”
The awards take place on Friday January 19 and tickets for the event can be now purchased from The Orcadian Bookshop at £3 each.
Sportperson of the Year Award
- Sarah Macphail.
- Anna Tait.
- Hannah Beaven.
Team of the Year
- Island Games Athletics.
- Orkney Dragons.
- Orkney FC.
Young Sportsperson of the Year
- Mia McAllister.
- Molly Anderson.
- Amy Golder.
Young Team of the Year
- Orkney Under-15 Netball.
- Stromness Academy Senior Boys Volleyball.
- Junior Inter-County Hockey.
Coach of the Year
- Gordon Mowat.
- Gary Nicolson.
- Ruth Pottinger.
Official of the Year
- Terry Penna.
- Anthea Hume.
- Stevie Scott.
Volunteer of the Year
- Ian Sutcliffe.
- Ian Golder.
- Neil McCartney.
- Laura Johnston.
Young Volunteer of the Year
- Nicola Sutherland.
- Amy Golder.
- Eilidh Warnock.
Schools Sports Volunteer of the Year
- Bobby Campbell.
- Leanne Bews.
- Karen Burns.
Performance of the Year Award
- Anna Tait — 1,500m performance at NatWest Island Games, winning gold and setting a new Island Games record.
- Taylah Spence — bronze medal in 100m at NatWest Island Games.
- Bobby Spence and Donald Sinclair — Small-bore shooters claimed first medal of Island Games, winning bronze in NSRA 100-yard prone rifle event.
- Angus Blance — set three new inter-county records and won all his races in the swimming pool at the junior inter-county.
- Mia McAllister — qualified for the final of the 50-metre breaststroke event at the Scottish National Short Course Championships.
- Senior county hockey side — beat Shetland 3-0 to lift the Scottish District Cup for the third time.
- Bobby Oag — claimed bronze in the Island Games triathlon event.
- Robbie Balfour — inspired Rendall to fight back from 3-0 down in the Parish Cup Final.
- Senior county football side — beat semi-professional outfit Wick Academy to claim the Ken Green Cup.
- Senior county badminton side — beat Shetland 8-4 to lift Inkster Cup. Achieved first inter-county double in 40 years.
