It’s time to salute sport’s unsung heroes

You can vote now to get some recognition for the unsung heroes of sport.

St Mirren basketball star Chris Cleary , who competed with Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, is urging Express readers to nominate their favourites in the Renfrewshire Sports Awards 2018.

The awards, organised by Renfrewshire Leisure, aim to showcase the dedication and hard work of sports club coaches, volunteers, officials and competitors.

Nominations are open until Friday, June 29.

Categories in the awards are: Community Coach of the Year; Young Coach of the Year; Disability Sports Coach of the Year; Technical Official of the Year; Volunteer of the Year; Young Volunteer of the Year; Community Health Volunteer and a Dedication to Sport Award.

Chris, who works for Renfrewshire Leisure as an Active Schools and Community Club officer, said:“I started playing basketball when I was 16 and at Gryffe High School, in Houston.

“One of our PE teachers there was Lindsay Lang who started a basketball club in Paisley and my sporting career really took off when he encouraged me to join.

“It’s thanks to people like Lindsay who devote so much of their time to running sports clubs that young people get the chance to develop their skills.”

 Visit www.renfrewshireleisure.com/ sports-awards to nominate.