The cream of Derbyshire's considerable sporting talent gathered at Derby's Pride Park Stadium in November for a night of celebration.
The cream of Derbyshire’s considerable sporting talent gathered at Derby’s Pride Park Stadium in November for a night of celebration. The annual Derbyshire Sports Awards honoured the county’s brightest sporting stars, coaches and volunteers for their success in 2009.
The Chair of Derbyshire Sport, Cllr Clive Moesby, said ‘2008/09 has been a great year for sport in Derbyshire. Tonight is an ideal opportunity to congratulate the performers on their success and to properly recognise the invaluable contribution of all the coaches and administrators who are the backbone of sport in Derbyshire.’
Professor John Coyne, Vice Chancellor of the University of Derby, sponsors of Derbyshire Sport, added ‘Sporting excellence, achievement and the benefits of sport to health are high on the University’s agenda, and through this sponsorship we have been able to demonstrate our commitment not only to developing sport within the university, but also the wider community.’
The University of Derby (UoD) Sportsperson of the Year Award went to Nicola Minichiello who won the World Bobsleigh Championships at Lake Placid in February, and is currently ranked No 3 in the world. The 31-year old from Renishaw, near Chesterfield, is the most successful UK woman driver and has a real prospect of a medal at next year’s Winter Olympics. Nicola was back competing in Lake Placid at the time of the Awards and sent a message of thanks by video. The runner-up was Derby’s British powerlifting No 1 Mark Gregory. Mark holds five Commonwealth records and qualified to represent GB at the IPF Open World Championships.
For the second year running Bolsover’s Jon Hall was named as the University of Derby Disabled Sportsperson of the Year. Jon is a member of the GB wheelchair basketball team taking bronze medals at the Paralympics and Paralympic World Cup. 14-year-old Maddie Thompson was presented with the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Junior Sportsperson of the Year Award. The High Peak wheelchair basketball player became the youngest ever to compete at the Paralympic World Cup with the senior GB women’s team. Chesterfield’s Liam Pitchford (16) was again named UoD Junior Sportsman of the Year having won bronze at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships while Hannah Jones was named the UoD Junior Sportswoman of the Year. The Amber Valley 13-year-old retained her World Ladies Junior snooker title and won the World Ladies Double title in April.
The other award winners were: Daren Truman (Erewash, judo) – Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Community Coach of the Year; Tim Lascelles (Derby, basketball) – Derbyshire 2012 Performance Coach of the Year; Derby Trailblazers U18 Team (Derby, basketball) – Derbyshire 2012 Junior Team of the Year; Les Pearson (Swadlincote shooting) – Derbyshire Sport Veteran Sportsperson of the Year; Ann Bradley (Matlock, hockey) – Derby Telegraph Service to Sport Award; Oliver Hooper (Chesterfield, various sports)– Connections Young Sports Leader/Coach of the Year; Jill Healey (High Peak, various sports) – Origination Contribution to School Sport Award; Belper Ladies Hockey Club U18 Team – Derbyshire County Council Team of the Year; Colin Deaton Table Tennis Club (Chesterfield) - Derby County FC Club of the Year.
