SPORTING HEROES RECOGNISED IN COUNTY AWARDS

Nottinghamshire County Council hosted this year’s Nottinghamshire Sports Review of the Year at the East Midlands Conference Centre at the University of Nottingham. About 450 guests celebrated the achievements of athletes and rewarded administrators, coaches and officials in Nottinghamshire sport, in what has been another remarkable year for the county.
BBC East Midlands Today presenter Colin Hazelden hosted the evening, along with colleague Natalie Jackson, and they werejoined by guests from professional sport, including Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club’s Mick Newell and Chris Read and players from the Nottingham Panthers and Nottingham Rugby,along with some of Nottinghamshire’s Olympians and Paralympians, including gold-medallist Rebecca Adlington.
Councillor John Cottee, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community, said: “These awards highlight our elite sports performers, the stars of the future and our reputation as the sporting county.
“They also acknowledge the countless individuals – coaches, administrators and other people behind the scenes – who put so much hard work into supporting sport across the county and without whom we couldn’t achieve the successes we do.
“Sport offers so much to so many people and I am delighted that the Sports Review of the Year celebrates all of this. Our new Shining Stars and Rising Stars grant schemes, launched last week, will help our top athletes to Olympic success and produce the next generation of stars.”
There were numerous winners from the Rushcliffe area. The East Midlands Airport Nottinghamshire Youth Games Fair Play Award (Junior Team of the Year) was won by
Nottingham Rowing Club U14 Boys Team. In a whole season without losing a quad, this side won gold in the J14 coxed quad sculls and the single scull plus a silver in the double sculls at the National Rowing Championships.  They also won golds at the National Schools Regatta, the Junior Inter-regional and the National Junior Sculling Head.
The Team of the Year was won by Rushcliffe’s GB Slalom Women’s K1 team (kayaking). The team, consisting of Lizzie Neave, Louise Donington and Laura Blakeman, which trains at the National Water Sports Centre, won gold at the World Championships and European Championships in their first season competing together. This was Great Britain’s first-ever gold medal at the World Championship team event.
Rushcliffe cricketer, Jenny Gunn, won an
Outstanding Achievement Award. The all-rounder played a valuable part in England victories that saw the team win the ICC World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009. They retained the Ashes and defeated Australia 4-0 in the NatWest one-day series.  Jenny’s latest challenge is the England tour of India which began last month.
Nottinghamshire cricketers Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann were also presented with Outstanding Achievement Awards. Broad was England’s leading wicket-taker in the Ashes series and man-of-the-match in the gripping final test at the Oval.
Swann claimed his fourth five-wicket haul in 2009 to become the first English spinner to pass 50 wickets in a calendar year, finishing third in the International Cricket Council’s bowling rankings. Graeme’s telling contributions with both bat and ball contributed strongly to England’s winning Ashes series.
The Disabled Sportsperson of the Year award went to Ashfield swimmer San Hynd, as he won gold at the Paralympic World Cup. Gedling boxer Carl Froch won theSportsperson of the Year after becoming the WBC super-middleweight champion.