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Donna Kellogg named University of Derby Sportsperson of the Year for second year

14 November 2008

The Spondon badminton player (pictured), who competed at the Olympics in Beijing earlier this year, received the prestigious award during a ceremony at Derby’s Pride Park Stadium, attended by more than 250 people.

Donna, who is No.1 in the English National rankings at both mixed and ladies badminton doubles, was presented with her Sportsperson of the Year trophy by Professor John Coyne, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby, headline sponsor of the awards.

The cream of Derbyshire’s athletes, sporting volunteers and veterans, gathered with other invited guests to celebrate the successes of the past year and recognise all the behind the scenes work that takes place to make sport in Derbyshire great.

Guests of honour were Derbyshire’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes – swimmers Ross Davenport and David Ellis, badminton player Donna Kellogg, footballer Leon Taylor, wheelchair tennis player Alex Jewitt and wheelchair basketball player Jon Hall, as well as athletics official Chris Cohen, badminton coach Andy Wood and British Cycling Performance Director David Brailsford, who all played key roles in Beijing.

David Brailsford was also presented with a Special Award for Outstanding Achievements in 2008, in recognition of the role he played in the British Cycling team’s success in Beijing, which saw them bring home 14 medals in all, including eight gold medals.

The team had previously topped the medal table at the World Track Cycling Championships in Manchester, taking nine of 18 gold medals available.

The evening also saw wheelchair basketball player Jon Hall, from Chesterfield, named University of Derby Disabled Sportsperson of the Year.

Jon won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympics as part of Great Britain’s wheelchair basketball team, and was also part of the GB team which won a silver medal at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

Runner-up in the Disabled Sportsperson of the Year category was swimmer David Ellis, from Heanor who swam in six events at the Paralympics in Beijing and qualified for the final in the Men's 200m IM and Men's 100m Breaststroke.

The University of Derby Junior Sportsman of the Year was table tennis player Liam Pitchford, from Chesterfield, who won a bronze medal at the European Youth Championships. Allestree triathlete Tom Bishop was runner-up in the Junior Sportsman of the Year category.

The University of Derby Junior Sportswoman of the Year was mogul skier Ellie Koyander, from Tideswell, who is a three times British Champion.

Gymnast Ricky Blampied, from Allenton, was named Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service Junior Disabled Sportsperson of the Year for the second year running, after representing Great Britain at the Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai, where he won two gold medals and five silvers.

Other awards presented on the night included the Derby Evening Telegraph Service to Sport Award. Buxton’s Liz Broomhead and Dr David Hunt from Morton were named joint winners in recognition of their voluntary contribution over many years to netball and swimming respectively.

The Derby County FC-sponsored Club of the Year award went to Dronfield Town Football Club, which has grown to a total of 30 boys, girls and adult teams, and is run on a purely voluntary basis by nine honorary officers and 40 team managers and coaches, all who give up many hours of their free time.

Sammi Moujahid, from Chaddesden, won the Connexions Derbyshire Limited Young Sports Leader/Young Coach of the Year award after being selected as one of four Young Ambassadors from across England to visit Maine, USA to look at the structure for PE, sport and volunteering earlier this year.

The awards are organised by Derbyshire Sport, a county sports partnership which provides the strategic lead for sport in Derbyshire.

Clive Moesby, Chair of Derbyshire Sport, said: “It was great to see so many people join us at Pride Park for a fantastic evening looking back at some of the sporting success stories of the past year.

“We have a great number of talented sports people in the county, from community coaches to elite athletes, and it is great to be able to recognise the dedication these people show.”

The awards were sponsored by the University of Derby, Derby Evening Telegraph, Derby County Football Club, Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Origination, Derbyshire Sport, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, Derbyshire 2012, Connexions Derbyshire Limited and Derbyshire County Council.