Winning throws open SportMaker Awards 2019 nominations
Sport Northern Ireland are back for another year to give our sporting community the opportunity to showcase their achievements and give special thanks to local coaches, officials and volunteers as it opens nominations for the 2019 SportMaker Awards.
The SportMaker Awards acknowledge the work of Northern Ireland’s sporting workforce and highlight the outstanding people and projects that have made a big impact over the last year.
Sport NI, Chief Executive Antoinette McKeown commented: “2018 was a tremendous year for sporting success for many coaches and athletes in Northern Ireland. We collected 12 medals from the XXI Commonwealth Games in Australia’s Gold Coast, our Netballers qualified for the World Cup and our fantastic Women’s Hockey Team reaching the World Cup final in England” and not to forget Ireland won rugby Grand Slam”.
“Our athletes also delivered 11 medals on the World and European stages. Athletes such as James McSorley taking Gold at the Wheelchair basketball World Championships and Kirsty Barr Bronze at the World Shooting Championships in the Mixed Team event for Olympic Trap demonstrated significant progress on both their parts.”
“The talent, commitment and passion of our sporting workforce here in Northern Ireland is outstanding and all too often it goes unnoticed. That’s why Sport NI is delighted to be launching this year’s SportMaker Awards, providing a platform for us to recognise and celebrate those who make sport happen every day, at community, club and elite level”.
Clare Winning, Sport Northern Ireland’s Club Performance Coach of the Year in 2018 and Assistant Coach to the Northern Ireland Netball squad commented: “I think there are so many valuable people throughout our clubs who are just fabulous and very worthy of recognition. We have umpires, coaches, assistance coaches and those ever-present volunteers who play such a crucial role in making sport happen. I was absolutely overwhelmed to win the award in 2018; infact, I was incredibly proud just to find out that I had been nominated. So I would urge anyone who knows someone deserving of a SportMaker award to make a nomination in 2019!”
Nominations can be made by anyone via the Sport NI website, with 12 award categories recognising achievement at all levels of sports participation, from grassroots through to high performance.
All nominations must be submitted through the designated online process. To begin completing your nomination, please click here.
Nominations close on Wednesday 10 July 2019 for all categories
PICTURE: Clare Winning, Sport Northern Ireland’s Club Performance Coach of the Year 2018 with members of Belfast Ladies Netball Club.