Who started your sporting success?
From absolute grassroots beginners to Premier League legends, we all start somewhere... Pride of Sport needs your help to recognise those unsung volunteer heroes who kickstart sportsmen and women’s dreams
We all start somewhere. Whether it’s a child trying a sport for the very first time, or someone who hasn’t exercised for years getting off the sofa and getting active, we all need to take that first step.
The same is true of the superstars of sport – they all started somewhere too. New England cricket captain Joe Root joined Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club as a boy. Football aces Harry Kane and David Beckham honed their skills at Ridgeway Rovers in East London. And Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill took her first steps to stardom at a kids’ event in her school summer holidays.
“We all start somewhere” is also the theme of this year’s Mirror Pride of Sport Awards, in partnership with TSB, which I am delighted to be hosting once again.
These brilliant awards celebrate the unsung heroes of sport, from volunteers giving up their own time to run clubs to inspirational coaches and young people who have overcome awe-inspiring challenges just to make it to the start line.
And this year we will especially celebrate the role they play in giving people of all ages the help they need to get started in sport.
These remarkable people are out there making a difference in every community, in local parks, school halls, council swimming pools and on playing fields in every corner of the country, and we need you to help us find them.
Pride of Sport honours the grassroots, those dedicated volunteers, endlessly supportive parents and competitors taking part for the love
AMAZING WINNERS
All our winners were amazing. I’ll never forget Abdulkareem Musa Adam, a young man who endured unimaginable horrors after his parents were murdered in Sudan. He had the spirit and determination to overcome every obstacle and make it to Britain and start training as a jockey.
And Alex Smith, who took on an incredible charity challenge after learning that his son, Harrison, was suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a debilitating, life-shortening condition.
Alex completed an ultra-triathlon – a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a 42.2km run – pulling and pushing Harrison around the course using specially adapted kit. He has raised £50,000 for of the game rather than glory, who are the true lifeblood of sport in Britain.
It may be someone who gives up their time to run a club, a coach who has transformed a team’s fortunes, or someone who has pushed themselves to the limit to raise money for a good cause.
All of them are using sport to change lives for the better, like one of last year’s winners, Denham Elvin, who has created safe havens for cycling in deprived areas around Southampton, giving youngsters the safe start in the sport he was denied as a child.
Denham, who had to overcome homelessness himself, said: “The biggest reward is seeing the projects completed with the kids growing in self-belief and interacting with each other and with adults. Some have gone from what many people would consider as a lost cause to working in bike shops and even cycling at a national level. I feel lucky to do what I do.”
The biggest reward is seeing the projects completed with the kids growing in self-belief and interacting with each other WINNER DENHAM ELVIN
INCREDIBLY COMMITTED
Harrison’s Fund, a charity he set up to help find a cure for the disease. In total, since 2011, the family have raised over £1.5million.
We also honoured Jay and Maddie Norton, a remarkable husband and wife team whose Pilgrim Flyers mountain biking club is inspiring kids to develop a lifelong love of sport.
Anyone who has played grassroots sport knows the contribution people like these make to the lives of youngsters.
We all start somewhere, and I started at my rugby club, Woodford RFU in East London, where I experienced grassroots sport first hand. It was like my second home and was full of incredibly committed men and women who turned out week in, week out so hundreds of children and five men’s teams could train and play every weekend.
They did it voluntarily, mostly with smiles on their faces. It was testament to my time playing there that I’m still mates with boys I started playing rugby with at six. Our elite sportsmen and women feel the same debt of gratitude to the grassroots heroes who helped them get started, which is why so many of them come along to honour them at Pride of Sport. It is always a stellar night, and the presence of so many champions is a wonderful reminder that top-level sport has the power to bring the whole country together, and inspire every one of us. But whatever your favourite sport, whether you love watching Premier League football or the high octane thrills of Formula One, take a moment to remember that every elite competitor took those first faltering steps to glory at their local club, and nominate someone you think deserves an award. Our research team considers every nomination, as well as searching for stories of remarkable people in sport. They are whittled down to a shortlist for our judging panel, made up of celebrated sporting figures. The winners they choose will be revealed at the Pride of Sport Awards dinner at London’s Grosvenor House in November. I can’t wait to meet them.