Finalists announced

A seven-strong judging panel named the 36 finalists of the popular annual award scheme following a selection meeting last week.

Councillor Elwyn Morse, Pembrokeshire County Council Cabinet Member for Sport and a member of the panel, said it had been a very difficult task due to the extremely high standard of all the nominees.

“In several of the categories it proved very difficult to choose just three finalists,” he said.

“There are so many sports represented that to try and assess the level of achievement in one sport against another was very challenging.

“We have been amazed by the level and quality of the applications that have come in, and we are grateful to all those who suggested nominations, for taking the time to put the names of so many deserving winners forward.”

This year’s Sport Pembrokeshire Awards attracted a record 123 nominations — ten more than the previous high in 2011.

All the 36 finalists will be invited to a grand presentation ceremony at Folly Farm on Friday, November 30th, where the winners will be announced.

The ceremony will also reveal the winners of two further categories — the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chairman’s Special Achievement Award.

The Awards are sponsored by Sport Pembrokeshire, Valero, The Western Telegraph, Folly Farm and Radio Pembrokeshire.

Now in its sixth year, the award scheme aims to recognise those people who have excelled in sport over the last 12 months, or who have given their time to coaching and organising grass roots sport.

Ben Field, Manager of Sport Pembrokeshire – the County Council’s sports development arm, which organises the annual event — said the range and quality of nominations had been outstanding.

“We really struggled to select finalists and all panel members are agreed that the real winner is sport in Pembrokeshire,” he said.

Sport Pembrokeshire Awards 2012 — Finalists Coach of the Year

Angie Nicholls, Colin John, Melissa McPhee Female Sporting Achievement Becky Harries, Chloe Sinnott, Stefanie Dando Jones.

Male Sporting Achievement

Dan Colman, Daryl John, Gavin Campbell.

Boys (Under-16) Sporting Achievement

Daniel Thomas, Lorcan Williams, Thomas Beazley.

Girls (Under-16) Sporting Achievement

Amy Leahy, Jessica Bradley, Rebekah Gwyther.

Disability Sport Award

Ben Hopkin, Emma Martin, James Tyler Junior (Under-16) Disability Sport Award Harry Thomas, Robyn Fellows, Seren James.

Unsung Hero

Jenny Lewis, Maurice Leyland, Sue Alvey.

Club Organiser of the Year

Brian Hawkins and Phil Devonald, Fintan Godkin, Huw Bevan.

Team Achievement of the Year

Fishguard and Goodwick Senior Hockey Team, Pembrokeshire County Swimming – Boys Relay Team, Whitland Cricket Club.

Junior (Under16) Team Achievement of the Year

Haverfordwest County AFC Academy U12s, Kilgetty U13s Cricket Team, Pembrokeshire Schools U11s Football Team Contribution to School Sport award Chris Hinman and Scarlett Rushby-Smith, Finola Findlay, Tom Darcy.