County Colours Awarded to Derbyshire Sailors
Youth sailors from Derbyshire have been recognised for their sporting achievements in racing sailing when representing the County of Derbyshire in recent years. A roll of honour of 19 sailors has been established based on a points system for their being selected and competing in National and Inter-county events. The sailors who have been honoured are: - James Lucas David Blagden James Hadden Alley Britton Matt Rawson Laura Jones James Midgley George Sampson Charlotte Hadden Kate Fox-Davies Michael Robinson Kathryn Bradley Sam Churchill Rebecca Love Tom Gall Michelle Kelly Phill Bell Tom Levick Tom Harlow In addition a special award of County Colours has been awarded to Team Manager Mrs. Sally Hadden for her commitment and enthusiasm in supporting the Derbyshire Youth Sailing teams at events around the country. Derbyshire Youth Sailing has enjoyed a string of successes in recent years and it was noted that the award of County Colours for Sporting Achievement in Sailing had been overlooked. Derbyshire Youth Sailing Treasurer, Ian Bell, established with the County Sporting Authorities that DYS was acceptable to be recognized as the awarding organisation. The points system is designed such that earning a County Colour Award takes a minimum of two years of being selected to compete for the County. There are three key events, two are National events and one Inter-county. The National events are organised by the National Schools Sailing Association (NSSA) and include the annual regatta and an annual team racing event. The annual regatta is the largest regatta of its type in Europe. The Inter-county event is between the Counties of Derbyshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire-Humberside. The County Colour awards are generally presented to the youth sailors at their school or college and includes a decorative certificate and a specially designed cloth badge. With an estimated number of over 350 youth sailors in the County the award of the County Colours recognises the top youth racing sailors in Derbyshire. DYS Treasurer, Ian Bell said ?It has been a wonderful job to look through the records of these youth sailors and see the successes and efforts they have all put in. To be able to award the County Colours to them recognises this and it is a pleasure to have been involved.?
