TIME TO NOMINATE SPORTING STARS
Time to nominate heroes of amateur sport
East Kilbride Sports Council celebrate their 50th anniversary this year and they are hoping it will herald their best-ever Sports Personality of the Year Awards.
Nominations are now open for the showpiece event, which recognises the town’s top amateur sports stars, and News readers are being invited to put forward their outstanding performers from 2016.
The awards ceremony will be held at the Village Threatre on Saturday, May 6, and the quest to find who will follow in the footsteps of last year’s overall winner, Whitemoss Amateur Athletic Club’s Emma Canning, is well underway.
Last year was also another outstanding time for East Kilbride Amateur Swimming Club. They took home club of the year for the second year running, while Meg Finnon made it three in a row after she won the junior female title once again.
There was also success for EKASC’s Derek McGown, who won coach of the year. Will it be their year again?
The past 12 months have witnessed some great moments for East Kilbride athletes, with trophy success for the town’s cricket, hockey and football clubs.
And East Kilbride Sports Council treasurer Bob Anderson told the News: “In our 50th anniversary year we hope the people of East Kilbride get behind this event and get involved in the nomination process.
“I’m sure there are lots of strong contenders out there as there have been some fantastic achievements, especially from our young athletes and swimmers, once again.
“I would encourage clubs and individuals to get nominating now and help make this our best-ever sports awards.
“Unfortuantely South Lanarkshire Council have withdrawn their clerical support this year so we will need to work even harder to make this a success.
“The show will go on and we look forward to seeing who will be nominated this year.”
EK Sports Council are looking for performers who have had great sporting success during 2016 at national or international championships or who have had the honour of representing Scotland or Great Britain in prestigious international events or championships.
Information is also required on local teams who have had a top year of achievement during 2016 at international, UK or Scottish Championship level.
The awards are only open to amateur sportsmen and women who reside in East Kilbride and the surrounding areas.
The EK News and the Sports Council have no bearing on who is entered into each category so we need your nominations. This year’s award categories are: adult sports personality of the year; junior male sports personality of the year (under 18 as of January 1, 2016);
junior female sports personality of the year (under 18 as of January 1, 2016);
junior male individual of the year (under 12 as of January 1, 2016);
junior female individual of the year (under 12 as of January 1, 2016) veteran of the year (50 and over). In the team categories there are awards for club of the year, senior team of the year, junior team of the year (under 18, as of January 1, 2016), coach of the year, administrator of the year and there is also a services to sport award.
Anyone can make a nomination simply by filling out the nomination form (below) and sending it to Jim Ballantyne, EK Sports Council, John Wright Sports Centre, Calderwood Road, East Kilbride, G74 3EU.
Alternatively you can email eksportscouncil@gmx.com, giving the details requested on the coupon. Any enquires should also be directed to this address.
The closing date for nominations is Wednesday, March 15
On Wednesday, March 29, the sport council’s selection panel will meet to discuss the nominations and vote for their winner in each category ahead of the awards night.
The sports council also intend to mark the 50th anniversary with a sports day for local children in June and a special dinner in September.