The second Derbyshire Dales Sports Awards were held on Friday 19 October 2007 at Wirksworth Leisure Centre.

12 Awards were presented and the winners go forward to the Derbyshire Sports Awards, which is being held on Friday 26 October.

Service to Sport - Sean Griffin

Secretary of his local Ashbourne Town Football Club for 25 years, Sean has helped, supported and encouraged young footballers in youth teams for over 50 years. He attends every game no matter what the weather. After the game Sean does the team sheets, and writes the match report.

Young Sports Leader/Young Coach of the Year Female - Stephanie Jackson-Horner

Stephanie is a Year 13 student at Highfields School, and is the school’s Ambassador for Sport. She has completed 350 hours of voluntary service in Highfields School and the local community. Stephanie has been awarded a Gold Award by the Youth Sports Trust for the Step into Sport Initiative and has gained the Sports Leaders UK level 3 Higher Sports Leaders Award, national governing body awards in football, netball, hockey and rounders. She has coached netball and football teams in Highfields School, and is now running coaching sessions for Ashover Football Club. She is also working with the District Council to set up a new Ladies Football Club in Matlock. Stephanie also helps with the Walking for Health scheme in Matlock and runs coaching sessions for all 13 of the feeder primary schools in the Matlock area. Stephanie’s parents collected the award on her behalf.

Young Sports Leader/Young Coach of the Year Male - Scott Benson

Scott is in year 12 at Highfields School in Matlock and is a member of both the school’s Sports Leaders Academy and the Derbyshire Sports Leaders Academy. He has recently passed the level 2 community sports leaders award and is helping the District Council’s coaching staff at Rowsley School. Scott has coached football for the 13 feeder primary schools in the Matlock cluster and has officiated as principal referee. He coaches young students at the Highfields Primary Schools Sports evening each week and is currently attending a level 1 football coaching course.

Club of the Year - Derwent Hockey Club

The fastest growing hockey club in the Midlands, Derwent Hockey Club runs four teams, including a youth team. Last year both the third and second team won promotion, and the first team was promoted to the Midlands Division 1, and received the Fair Play award from the East Midlands Umpire Association. Players from the club regularly go out for Derbyshire, and one boy has been selected for the Midlands under 14s and 15s.

School Team of the Year - Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School Year 10 Rugby Team

In the Derbyshire Cup, they were 15-5 down in the semi final but fought back to win 24-15In the final they had a full squad for the first time all season and won 15-5. Eight of the players have played for Derbyshire, two have played in the Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire, and two have been selected for the new elite “Schools of Rugby “ Programme.

Contribution to School Sport - Martin Farr

Martin has taught PE at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School for over 25 years. His contribution in that time has covered a huge variety of sports including rugby, football, cricket, basketball, athletics and tennis. As Head of Boys PE he leads a high quality department and puts in many hours of extra curricular work to make sure the pupils get their opportunities to compete.

Performance Coach of the Year - Chris Loeber

Chris has been a member of the Matlock Rugby Union Football Club for over 35 years as player, captain, committee member and chairman of the club. Several years ago he took over the role of club coach and has built up the team to a very high level. They reached the final of the Notts, Lincs and Derbyshire Cup Final, came second in the Midlands 2 East League, narrowly losing to a semi professional team, they won the Derbyshire Cup beating Derby on three separate occasions. Chris won the Midlands Coach of the Year at the recent Midlands Coaching conference, voted by all senior coaches in the region.

Team of the Year - Matlock Rugby Club 1st XV

Last year was their best season for 23 years. They were runners up in the 3 Counties Senior Cup, winners of the Derbyshire Cup and runners up in the Midlands 2 East League . The team are all amateurs and have nearly all developed from the junior rugby teams within the club.

Veteran Sports Person of the Year - Pat Goodall

In 2006, Pat won the cup at the Great Longstone Fell Race.Since then she has won 21 prizes in 21 races. These include individual and team races and best in the over-40 category. Pat achieved her personal best on the High Peak marathon and set a new record for veterans over-50 on the Grindleford Gallop. As well as Fell Running, Pat also plays netball and tennis and continues to work full time.

Sports Person of the Year - John Davey

John has been a member of Matlock and District Swimming Club since 1994 and is now competing at a national standard. He was the first Matlock swimmer to be invited to join the County elite training squad, Derventio Excel. This means training 20 hours each week in the pool, including five early morning sessions starting at 5.30am. Although most of his training is now done with Derventio Excel, he still competes on behalf of Matlock in all County competitions. John is the current Open County Champion at 800m freestyle and 200m breaststroke and is county champion at 100m breaststroke in the 17/18 age group. He is also the County record holder for the 200m breaststroke in both short course and long course events. He is a member of the Derventio 4 x 100m medley relay team and the 4 x 200m freestyle relay team that are current Midland District Champions as well as County record holders. John captained the Derbyshire team in the Midlands Schools Championship in October 2006 where the team was placed 4th out of 20 and gained promotion to the first division.

Junior Sports Person of the Year - Sam Mak

Sam won seven gold medals and was crowned best junior athlete at the first World Chin Wu Championship in June 2007 in Warsaw, attended by over 500 competitors from seven nations. He retained the UK all Round Junior Wu-shu Taolu Champion’s title for the fifth time since 2002. Sam recently competed in the third European Junior Championships in Warsaw and won a Gold Medal in the straight sword event, a Silver medal in the spear and a Bronze medal in the long fist. These medals accounted for half the medals of the whole Great Britain team, and they were competing against full time athletes from Eastern European countries. Last year, Sam made British Wu-Shu history by taking the 1st world Junior Under 15 All Round Champion. Next year he is hoping to win his second World Junior Championship, and is looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010.

Junior Sports Woman of the Year - Ellie Koyander

In the last year Ellie has risen from 177 to rank 107 in the world in Moguls Skiing and has become the youngest Great Britain skier ever to qualify for the World Cup. Her first race will be in 2008. Ellie is ranked 19 in the world under 21s following the Junior world championship. In March, she became the British Female Moguls Champion for all ages in both singles and duals head to head events. She is on programme to represent Great Britain at the next Winter Olympic Games in 2010.

Councillor Mike Longden, Vice Chairman of Derbyshire Dales District Council’s Community & Environment Committee, presented the Sports Awards Evening.

Councillor Andrew Lewer, Chairman of the Community & Environment Committee, welcomed everybody to the centre and praised the audience for the achievements honoured during the evening.

The evening began with a demonstration of Wu-Shu by Sam Mak, Junior World Champion. Councillor Ken Bull, Chairman of the District of Derbyshire Dales, presented the winners with their awards.