RSS Press releases

 The award winners for the Annandale and Eskdale Sports Awards for 2019 have recently been announced during the month of October, 18 months after the scheduled event.

The awards that are organised by Active Schools and Community Sport for Dumfries and Galloway Council, were due to be held at the Buccleuch Centre, Langholm on Friday 27^th March 2020 just days after the country went into lockdown.

The awards for 2019 received an excellent standard of nomination and the ceremony would normally recognise other outstanding achievements in school and community sport for that year. It was always hoped the ceremony would take place as planned however, with restrictions still in place it was decided to present the winners locally during the month of October.

 The Small School Sports Initiative of the Year Award which was sponsored by the Annandale and Eskdale Area Committee was won by the partnership school of Carrutherstown and Cummertrees Primary School. All children had the opportunity to take part in at least one activity ranging from swimming, netball, football, rugby, multi-sports, tennis and gymnastics, winning many local and regional competitions. The school also participated in a wide variety of well-being and inclusive sporting activities, including piloting a 'Shelf the Sugar' initiative in partnership with the NHS which led to a 63% reduction in sugar consumption across the partnership.

 The Large School Sports Initiative of the Year Award was sponsored by The Dumfries and Galloway Standard. Runners up were Langholm Primary School for their growth in extracurricular activity and sporting success due to the contributions of external individuals and organisations. This has raised levels of physical activity, helped inspire younger children and led to sporting success at regional and Scottish level including medals at national level in sportshall athletics, gymnastics and sprint relay.

The winning school was Newington Primary School from Annan who maintained their sportscotland Gold School Sport Award status and achieved success at local, regional and national level.  The school encourages a healthy lifestyle and life choices. It keeps sport at the heart of the school’s aims, directing finance to support children taking part in and enjoying sport.

Annan Travel were sponsors of the Volunteer of the Year Award which received inspiring nominations of people doing excellent work in our communities. The winner was a group of four ladies from Langholm Rugby Club for their dedication and hard work in providing hospitality at the club for over 20 years. They keep their diaries clear until fixtures are announced and make sure that visiting teams are well fed for their journey home. They also cater for club functions including the biennial dinner, pensioners day, pre-match meals and ladies day.

Runner-Up was Barry Henderson for his devotion to Langholm Legion Football Club. Following an illustrious playing career with over 500 matches for the club, Barry became manager for several years as well as undertaking secretarial duties for the club. Known locally as Mr Langholm Legion, with a family devoted to the club, his leadership has helped secure two trophies and two promotions.

Sponsored by Magnox Limited and to recognise the contribution of young people in sport was the Year of Young People Award. The runner up was Ava Hume from Moffat for her volunteering, organisation, and promotion of sporting opportunities at Moffat Academy. Ava is an extremely committed, dedicated and self-motivated young individual. She leads and supports several activities in the school, raising levels of participation, none more so than in the sport of Netball.

The winner was 17-year-old Emily Richardson from Eastriggs who has been coaching gymnastics voluntarily with Dumfries Y Gymnastics Club for over three years, regularly committing twenty hours per week. In 2019, her efforts in gymnastics were recognised when she was made a member of the Scottish Gymnastics Youth Forum and shortlisted for Scottish Gymnastics Volunteer of the Year.

The Coach of the Year Award, sponsored by sportscotland, was presented to Terry Bruton from Spartans Boxing Club in Annan for his hard work, commitment and enthusiasm developing the sport of boxing in Lower Annandale. He has secured facilities and affiliation to Boxing Scotland allowing promising young boxers the opportunity to progress. Without the avenue of structured boxing sessions, these young people could be at risk of offending but instead channels their energies and helps develop many life skills through the sport. 

Runner-up was athletics coach John Little for his work with young athletes. John’s coaching experience helped four young athletes from Annan to win medals at the Scottish Schools and Scottish Athletics Age Group Championships. Two were subsequently selected to represent Scotland in the Schools International Athletics meeting.

The Young Sports Personality of the Year Award was again sponsored by Gretna Gateway and included thirteen nominations of the highest calibre. Receiving a Rising Star Award for someone who had made significant progress in 2019 was 15-year-old athlete Molly Reville. Molly won the Indoor and Outdoor National Long Jump events where she set new championship records. She also secured the Scottish Schools 75m hurdles title and represented Edinburgh Athletics Club who won the UK Youth Development League.

Runner-up was Finlay Waugh from Annan who had an outstanding year winning all U17 Scottish and Scottish Schools titles at 100m and 200m. He broke an U17 Championship Record and won bronze medals for Scotland at the Schools International and another bronze medal at the World Youth Games.

The winner in 2019 was 17-year-old Ava Simpson who became the 50m Backstroke Scottish Age Group Champion and won bronze in the 200m. At the British Summer Championships, Ava swam times that qualified her to race at the Olympic Trials in London in April 2020.

There were four nominations in the Team of the Year Award which was sponsored by Rostrum Sportswear Ltd of Lochmaben. Runners up were St Mungo’s Disability Tennis Team who after joining the Scottish Learning Disability Tennis League in 2018 competed successfully all over Scotland winning several competitions. In November 2019 they won 7 medals including 5 gold at the Great Britain National Learning Disabilities Tennis Championships in Sunderland.

Winners were the young SUPERteam from Annan and District Athletics Club. Freya Blaikie, Matilda Brockley, Lyvie Bryson and Neve McGoldrick, four primary school children who in 2019 competed as a team in sprint, throw, jump and as a relay team. They overcome 71 teams indoors and 75 teams outdoors to be crowned Scottish Athletics double SUPERteam winners.

Sponsored by Ashleybank Investments, the Lifetime Achievement Award was won by Andrew Armstrong from Beechgrove Bowling Club in Moffat. Andrew has been involved in bowling for over 27 years as president of Beechgrove Bowling Club and is a member of the Dumfriesshire Bowling Committee. He has been umpiring for over 15 years with nearly 10 of those as an International Technical Official. Despite travelling widely on bowling duty, he always has time to coach children at the local club and schools.  

Runner up was Maitland Pollock from Lochmaben Golf Club who for over 20 years has made a huge impact by coaching and promoting junior golf in the region. He has been a member of Lochmaben Golf Club for over 30 years, holding many positions on the committee. He is one of four level 3 coaches in Scotland who volunteers, encouraging hundreds of young people into the sport.

The awards also recognised some special achievements in 2019 including Langholm Rugby Club who were presented with a Special Recognition Award for being shortlisted at the Sunday Mail and Sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards in 2019.

The Sports Personality of the Year Award was sponsored by Anderson’s Joinery and went to a young man who had a fantastic year in 2019. Ryan McCormack from Lockerbie started the curling year winning a silver medal with Team Kinnear at the Scottish Junior Curling Championships in Aberdeen. With his team, he went on to win the Asham Under 21 Slam and trained twice weekly at the Scottish Curling Academy in Stirling. The pinnacle of 2019 was being selected for Team Whyte in February to represent Scotland at the World Junior Curling Championships in Canada where they won a bronze medal. He was then selected for Team GB at the World University Games in Russia competing against some of the best curlers in the world and managed to return home with another bronze medal.

Runner-up was Lewis Bell from Langholm, who after many years of drive, dedication and determination had his best year on the athletics circuit to date. He won the Scottish National Athletics U20 200m title at Grangemouth and followed this up with a silver medal in the men’s national final over the same distance. He won two bronze medals over 200m and 400m at the Scottish University and College Championships which won him the ‘Most Improved Athlete’ title from the University of Abertay. He was selected for the Kingdom Athletics team that competed in the UK Youth Development League Finals and was awarded Hawkshill Harriers ‘Best Male Performance’ of the year. This was for his performance in the National 200m and was joined in good company with Laura Muir the female recipient.

Chair of Annandale and Eskdale Area Committee, Councillor Stephen Thompson said “Although late due to Covid-19, these awards are a great opportunity to recognise the sporting talents in Annandale and Eskdale. However, the back-story is just as important. The amount of time and effort put in by all the teachers, coaches, volunteers and parents is what enables the opportunities for our talent to participate and progress. We are very lucky that sport in Annandale and Eskdale is in such good hands and long may it continue.”

Vice Chair of Annandale and Eskdale Area Committee, Councillor Adam Wilson said, “The Awards are always an excellent opportunity to celebrate the enormous effort and talents of the sporting stars of Annandale and Eskdale. The quality and quantity of nominations again highlights the strength and depth of sporting talent. It also highlights the fantastic work behind the scenes and every nominee would have been a worthy winner”.

Calum Graham from Active Schools and Community Sport added “These awards should have been presented four days after the country went into lockdown in March 2020. It was always hoped to still stage the celebratory event, but significant time had passed and restrictions hadn’t reduced enough to let that happen. However, it has been worthwhile presenting these awards locally in the winner’s own localities where their work is hugely appreciated.