Amazing sport achievements from across the County were recognised at the Sport Pembrokeshire awards on Friday, November 28.
Over six hundred people turned up to celebrate the outstanding talent of the County’s sportspeople at the prestigious annual event at Folly Farm.
Hosted by Sport Pembrokeshire- Pembrokeshire County Council’s sports development service - this year’s awards attracted more nominations that ever before across a wide variety of sports.
Among those recognised was former professional football player – Mark Delaney, who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mark played for Goodwick United, Carmarthen Town, Cardiff City and finally Aston Villa, where he is now the coaching organiser for their under 7s to 11s and coaches their talented under 16 side.
He was only at Cardiff City for 28 matches before John Gregory took him to Aston Villa and he established his first team place very quickly. One highlight of his 158 games there was playing for Villa in the last FA Cup Final to take place at the old Wembley Stadium, although they lost to Chelsea.
Another of Mark’s highlights was representing Wales 36 times after his debut in 1999 – and he was honoured with the captaincy as an added bonus.
Another of this year’s winners was Christopher Gouldsmith, recipient of the Chairman’s Special Achievement Award.
He and identical twin brother, Jonathan, grew up the best of friends and both had successful careers in the Army.
Christopher was a Corporal with the Royal Engineers and Jonathan a Lance Corporal with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).
In April, 2011, Jonathan returned home to celebrate winning a services skiing championship but tragedy struck during a night out in Llanelli when he was hit by a taxi and killed.
Three years on, Christopher decided to honour his brother’s memory and take on a mammoth marathon challenge. He ran 10 marathons in 11 days as part of the ‘Run Goldie, Run’ challenge.
On September 15th this year, Christopher began his mammoth undertaking in Kinloss, Scotland - which is where incidentally he and Jonathan trained with Great Britain’s cross country skiing team – and less than a fortnight and 524 miles later he finished in his home town of Haverfordwest.
Christopher wanted to raise £20,000 for the REME Charitable Trust - which helped support his family when they lost Jonathan - and Combat Stress, the Mental Health Charity for ex-service personnel.
Councillor Elwyn Morse, Cabinet member for Sport and Leisure said the awards recognised not just the hard work and effort that went into sport in Pembrokeshire but also the sporting heroism that often went with it.
“We have an exceptional standard of award winners this year, who epitomise the very best of sporting endeavour,” he said. “Again, it proved to be a very emotional evening.”
Ben Field, Manager of Sport Pembrokeshire said the success of the awards scheme was due to the many coaches, parents and volunteers that kept community sports clubs going right throughout the year.
“It’s down to them that grass roots sport in Pembrokeshire is alive and kicking!” he said.
The Sport Pembrokeshire Awards are sponsored by Valero, Western Telegraph, Folly Farm and Radio Pembrokeshire.
This year’s winners and finalists in each category were:
Coach of the Year
Winner: Graham Brockway
Finalists: Peter Crook & Richard Thomas
Female Sporting Achievement
Winner: Angharad James
Finalists: Clare Harris & Rhian Homer
Male Sporting Achievement
Winner: Bruce Tasker
Finalists: Harry Owen & Dave Francis
Boys Under 16 Achievement
Winner: James Probert
Finalists: Liam Cullen, Tom Murphy & Iori Humphreys
Girls Under 16 Sporting Achievement
Winner: Lydia Thomas
Finalists: Lucy Davies & Abbie Williams
Disability Sport Award
Winner: Jack Lloyd
Finalists: Madeline Roberts & Jemma Bowie-Hallam
Junior Under 16 Disability Sports Award
Winner: Morgan Bugler
Finalists: Anthony Triebel & Harry Thomas
Unsung Hero Award
Winner: Alison Turner
Finalists: Diane Davies & Liam Bowen
Club Organiser Award
Winner: Delyth Summons
Finalists: Alison Lewis and Jonny Sutton
Team Achievement
Winner: Tenby Aces
Finalists: Ysgol y Preseli U18 Rugby Team & Whitland Ladies RFC
Junior Under 16 Team Achievement
Winner: Crymych RFC Under 15’s team
Finalists: Pembrokeshire Harriers Relay Team & Newport Junior Sea Rowing Team
Contribution to School Sport
Winner: Eiry Wyn Miles
Finalists: Taran Richards & Florence Thompstone, and Rachel Thomas
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