Sally Brown wins OCS Young Sports Award & One-to-Watch
Sixteen-year-old sprinter from Ballykelly, Sally Brown, just keeps winning awards. To add to the recent SportsAid’s 2011 One-to-Watch Award she also has been named the overall winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards 2011. Not to mention she has been shortlisted for the BBC Young Sports personality of the Year!
OCS Young Sports Person Awards
16-year-old sprint athlete Sally Brown from Ballykelly has been named the overall winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards 2011. Paralympic field athlete Nathan Stephens, who was himself an OCS Young Sports Person Awards winner in 2005, presented Sally with her prize. Speaking of her award, Sally commented: “Making great achievements in my sport has always been a dream and it’s a bit strange now that it’s all coming true!”
Winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards Disability Category for Ireland, Sally beat off stiff competition from ten regional and three other Disability Category winners to take the overall winner title for 2011. She will receive £10,000 through the scheme over the next three years.
In her classification (T46), Sally currently holds the No.1 UK ranking for both 100m and 200m, as well as a senior IPC World Ranking of No.4 in 200m and No.7 in 100m. She took bronze at this year’s Paralympic World Cup event in Manchester, in addition to a gold and silver medal at the World Junior Championships.
The 2011 OCS Young Sports Person Awards event in conjunction with SportsAid took place on 24th November at the OCS Stand at the Kia Oval in London, hosted by leading BBC sports commentator Clare Balding. Young sporting stars from across the UK received their award from sporting personalities including David Gower OBE, Rory Underwood MBE, Kate Howey MBE and Iwan Thomas MBE.
One-to-Watch Award
The One-to-Watch Award is presented to the UK’s best young sportsmen and women based on their performance and commitment. Previous winners include diver Tom Daley and the current European junior athlete of the year Jodie Williams. Beating 2,000 other top young athletes to get the award, Sally said:
“I’m really honoured and can’t believe that I’ve been picked for this award. There’s so much talent in the UK and to be chosen as the One-to-Watch is amazing.
“This is a great start to the season for me as I’m just getting back into training now, focusing on my technique and getting ready for the year ahead and winning this gives me a lot of confidence for that. I would definitely like to get to the London 2012 Paralympics next year and even medal at it but I will have to see how the season goes.”
At 16, Sally is still a junior athlete but has won medals at some of her sport’s highest profile senior events this year. At the IPC World Championships in New Zealand she won a bronze medal in the 200m (T46) and in the same event at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester she went one better, winning silver. At the IWAS World Junior Championships in Dubai in April she won another silver medal in the under-23 100m (T46) and a gold medal in the under-23 200m (T46).
SportsAid’s Chief Executive Tim Lawler said: “Our annual One-to-Watch Award recognises the UK’s best performing young sportsperson and Sally is a worthy winner. She has shown immense dedication to her sport and enjoyed some fantastic medal-winning performances as a result.
“When you look at the potential within young people like Sally, it highlights how important it is for us to support talented athletes like her. Thanks to the ongoing support of SportsAid’s partners we are able to help 2,000 rising stars of British sport every year.
“Many of the athletes in action at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games next year will have had a helping hand from SportsAid and there is every chance that Sally will be one of them,” he added.
Sally’s nomination for SportsAid’s 2011 One-to-Watch Award came from her sport’s governing body, UK Athletics. Their Paralympic programme performance transition manager is Paula Dunn, who works closely with Sally and said:
“Sally burst onto the international field in August 2010 at the world juniors and since then she has gone from strength to strength. She has great talent, as well as great drive and determination, and hopefully this combination will make her realise her full potential for 2012 and beyond.”
The One-to-Watch Award panel judges who chose Sally from a shortlist of 13 announced on October 26 are:
- Paul Dickenson (BBC Sport Commentator)
- Matt Slater (BBC Sport News Gatherer)
- Emyr Roberts (Strategic Lead Coaching and Talent Development, Sport England)
- Matt Favier (Head of Performance Solutions, UK Sport)
- Joslyn Hoyte-Smith (Performance Operations Manager, English Institute of Sport)
- Sarah Winkless (Chair of the Athlete’s Commission, British Olympic Association)
- Emmanuel Blanchard (Awards Manager, SportsAid).
