NMD Sports Awards Winners Go Forward To Sport Northern Awards

Seven winners of this year’s inaugural NMD Sports Awards in association with SANDSA will be nominated to Sport Northern Ireland’s SportMaker Awards.                               

The new local awards, established by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council with Sports Association Newry, Down and South Armagh (SANDSA), will recognise the achievements of the sporting community in 13 categories. Seven of the recipients will go on to compete against other district councils in the Sport Northern Ireland SportMaker Awards. These awards will recognise the outstanding contribution of coaches, officials, volunteers and projects over the previous 12 months and the role they play in encouraging people to enjoy, engage and excel in sport.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairman, Councillor Mark Murnin said, “While we look forward to recognising all nominees and winners of our local 13 award categories, we are fortunate to be in a position to nominate the winners from seven of our categories to a national level. It is only fitting that our sporting stars are given this opportunity to compete against the best from other district councils.

“We hope that everyone gets behind our fantastic local sports people and takes the opportunity to nominate their favourites for the local awards. The categories that our winners will be competing at in the national level are across a wide range of achievement for 2018, including Young Sport Volunteer of the Year, Sport Volunteer of the Year, Disability Coach of the Year, Young Technical Official and Technical Official of the Year, Young Coach of the Year and Performance Pathway Coach of the Year.”

Antoinette McKeown, Chief Executive of Sport Northern Ireland said, “We all know that coaches, officials and volunteers play an absolutely vital role in getting people active and supporting them to pursue and achieve their sporting goals. The talent, commitment and passion of our sporting workforce here in Northern Ireland is outstanding, but because their work happens behind the scenes or off the field of play, all too often they go unnoticed.

“That’s why Sport Northern Ireland is so delighted to see Newry, Mourne and Down District Council leading the way with these Sports Awards and expanding the categories, in line with our own SportMaker Awards, to include a greater range of roles within the local sporting workforce. We would encourage all those within the local sporting community to make their nominations, and look forward to seeing many sportmakers from the area recognised and celebrated in the near future.”

The NMD Sports Awards will be held on Thursday 7 March in the Canal Court Hotel & Spa, Newry. Nomination forms are available from the Leisure and Sport Department in Newry Leisure Centre and Down Leisure Centre or available for download at: www.newrymournedown.org/leisure-and-sport

The closing date for entries is Thursday 24 January 2019. Tickets for the event will be available from Friday 8 February.

For further information on the NMD Sports Awards in association with SANDSA visit: www.newrymournedown.org/leisure-and-sport or the NMD Be Active Facebook page.