Shetland Sports Awards marks special year of sport
Adam Guest
Dedication, guidance and sporting success was celebrated at The Shetland Sports Awards last night.
Top sportsmen and women from a range of sporting backgrounds were recognised for their efforts, with a host of awards from coach of the year, to team achievements and individual prizes.
Joint winners of the Sportsperson of the Year award went to Commonwealth athletes Erraid Davies, Lynda Flaws and Andrea Strachan.
At 13, Davies became the youngest ever Team Scotland member to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games – with her bronze in the SB9 100m breaststroke.
Meanwhile Flaws was part of the table tennis squad which made history by fielding the first Scottish ladies team to win a match at the Commonwealth Games.
And swimmer Strachan witnessed roaring fans in Glasgow reaching the final of the women’s 50m breaststroke. She flew up from Edinburgh for the ceremony at the Clickimin.
Davies and Flaws were unable to attend as both had competition commitments. But family members accepted the prizes on behalf of the two athletes.
Strachan said afterwards that being from Shetland, it meant “so much” to win the award.
She added:“The community and the support you get from them is unreal.”
Laura Guthrie picked up the first award of the night in the Young Sports Volunteer of the Year category.
Described as a “diamond” in Yell, she has worked over the past 12 months and more, organising, supporting and coaching sport for people of all ages, on and off the island.
In the team awards, the Shetland Junior Inter-county Football team won the Young Team of the Year prize, while the Shetland Ladies Hockey Team was awarded the Team of the Year award.
Rising athletics star Sophie Moar was crowned Young Sportsperson of the Year. Her successful year included breaking her way into the Scotland team with a silver medal performance in the triple jump at Hampden Park in June. She also won a bronze in the long jump at the same meeting.
She set a new Shetland senior women’s long jump record of 5.27 in the Shetland open competition.
Afterwards, she said she “was really surprised” to have won.
“The whole week, I wasn’t expecting it at all,” she said.
“Sport is part of my life,” said Moar.
“I’m really looking forward to the NatWest Island Games in Jersey.”
Meanwhile coach of the Year went to Shetland Amateur Athletics Club coach Martin Leyland, and founder member of the Shetland Juvenile Football association and football coach Davie Riddell, was given the Lifetime Endeavour Award.
For more see Friday’s Shetland Times.
Stuart Wallis
Delighted to see the Panel awarding all 3 girls with the Sportsperson award. It would have been difficult, and perhaps unfair, to separate one from the others after the hard work they all put in. A great advert for women’s sport on Shetland too.