Sports awards winners go county-wide

Four of the winners from the first Thanet Sports Awards have been shortlisted for county-wide awards.

The four have been put forward to the finals of the Sports Awards 2009, organised by Kent Regional Newspapers and sponsored by Eastwell Manor. You can vote now, by filling in the coupons in the Isle of Thanet Gazette. One has already been published in the paper, dated Friday 29 January and more coupons will be published in the Friday 5 and 12 February editions. Votes can only made by post and must be received by Friday 19 February.

Those shortlisted are:

1. Maureen Fiander, who has been shortlisted in the Unsung Hero category. She helped to form the Hugin Vikings FC in 1995 and then worked behind the scenes to support all 20 teams at the club.
2. The Hugin Viking Girls U15 team, who are finalists in the Young Team of the Year category. They were the only girls team in Thanet to be playing in the Kent Girls and Ladies league and were league and cup winners last season.
3. Ian Sharpe and Victoria Lawrence, who are shortlisted in the Team of the Year category. They compete as a pair in Dance Sport, are ranked top 10 in England for both ballroom and Latin dancing. They regularly compete in national competitions and were second in the European Championships.
4. Charlotte Davies, who is a finalist in the Young Personality category. She swims for Thanet Swim Club, is Kent champion in two events and gained a silver medal for Kent in an international competition.

Martyn Cassell, Chair of the Thanet Sport Network, said: “We felt that the first Thanet Sports Awards came up with a superb set of winners, all of whom had achieved so much. Because of that, the group behind the awards decided to nominate some of our winners into relevant categories of the county wide sports awards. We’re delighted to see all of our winners that we put forward shortlisted at the Kent level. Now it’s up to everyone to decide who the winners are. We’d encourage everyone in Thanet to vote for our local success stories and help them to become successful in the county awards.”

The awards dinner will be held at Eastwell Manor in Ashford on Thursday 18 March.