THE deadline for nominations for the Cumbria Sports Awards 2025 is fast approaching.
Sponsored by Fibrus, a full fibre broadband company committed to supporting Cumbrian grassroots sports, the Cumbria Sports Awards 2025 will be brought back to the county in a 'live' format for the first time in a number of years, thanks to a partnership between Newsquest Cumbria and Active Cumbria.
Finalists will be invited to an awards event at Energus, Workington on Friday, February 28, 2025.
As the deadline approaches at the end of this month, we have spoken to a previous winner, who said he was delighted that his win had given a non-mainstream sport more representation in the county.
Joseph Birch from the Upper Eden Tug of War club was awarded Coach of the Year at the Cumbria Sports Awards 2023, saying he believed the accolade had given more of a spotlight on the sport of tug of war in the county.
Speaking about what it meant to win the award, the coach of the year said: "For me it was obviously great to be nominated and was great to win, but I think I was very pleased to win from the perspective that tug of war is not a main stream sport.
"So for me I was very pleased that I won by coaching a non main stream sport: it wasn't football or rugby, something that lots of people hear about and take part in particularly in schools.
"I was really pleased that I won and the effort that I put in to a non-mainstream sport was recognised."
There are a whole host of categories to nominate your favourite sports person, team and player, including:
The Becky Underwood Volunteer Award
This award is presented to an individual who has given the greatest contribution to a sport, club, performer, community group, or school in the last year. The winner will be able to demonstrate the impact their volunteering has had in terms of the progress made during the last year.
Active Education Award
This award is presented to a school, college or university that can demonstrate a commitment to providing high quality and innovative approaches to physical activity and sporting opportunities for all pupils. The winner will be able to demonstrate how these innovative approaches have made a significant difference to activity levels in their setting during the last year.
To nominate a sportsperson, individual or a sports team for these awards you can click here, or scan the QR code below.
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