Cause for celebration at Sports Awards

The sporting community celebrated in style at the Shetland Sports Awards last night

There were standing ovations for triathlete Lynsey Henderson, who was named sportsperson of the year, and Jim Peterson who collected the Lifetime Endeavour Award.

Lynsey said it was “amazing ” to be honoured. She told the crowd at the Clickimin Leisure Centre that she intended to compete at the European Championships and Island Games next year.

Jim was thrilled to collect the lifetime award, particularly on the same evening his beloved Spurs were named team of the year. Although he said their season had been a “failure” because they had not won the Fraser Cup.

He said sport in Shetland had altered dramatically in his lifetime. “I just think the whole scene in Shetland has changed radically. I think that’s because of the effort put in by coaches and supporters.”

Guest speaker on the night was David Grevemberg, chief executive of Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. He had only arrived in Shetland earlier in the day and said it was “fantastically motivating” to see the importance of sport on the isles.

He said: “Credit to the people of Shetland. That is something that is so important. You have fought to use the facilities you have become committed to sport as part of your daily lives.

“That is something quite special and does deserve recognition and reward.”

Other winners were: Coach of the Year, Neil Pottinger; Young team of the Year, Junior Inter-county Swimming Team; Team of the Year, Spurs FC; Young Sportsperson of the Year, Zoe Buchanan.

Full story and pictures in Friday’s Shetland Times.