BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award
The BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award[1] is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. The award is given to the sportsperson who has made a substantive, yet unrecognised contribution to sport. Sportspeople are nominated by the public, and must be aged 16 years or over on 1 January that year. Nominees may not put themselves forward or be nominated by a member of their immediate family. A nominee must actively help others participate in a sport at any level on a voluntary basis. The work they do must not be part of their job or take part within their places of work, and they must not be a participant in the sporting group they are helping. Previous winners of the award are ineligible for nomination. One winner is selected from each of the twelve BBC English Regions, and the three national regions: BBC Scotland, BBC Wales, and BBC Northern Ireland. A judging panel then chooses the Unsung Hero winner from the fifteen regional winners.[2]
The inaugural winner in 2003 was 63-year-old Nobby Woodcock, for "his unstinting work with grassroots football in Wales".[3] Of the six recipients to date, three were chosen for their contributions to football; the other recipients contributed towards boxing, swimming, and the Special Olympics. Three of the seven winners have been put forward from the BBC South region, and the other three winners came from the BBC London, BBC East, BBC West Midlands and BBC Wales regions. The most recent award was presented in 2011 to Janice Eaglesham and Ian Mirfin, for providing athletics coaching to disabled athletes.[4]
Contents |
[edit] By year
| Year | Nat. | Winner | Location | BBC Region | Sport | Rationale | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 |  WAL |
Nobby Woodcock | Newport, South Wales | BBC Wales[5] | Football | for "his unstinting work with grassroots football in Wales".[6] | [7] |
| 2004 |  ENG |
Abdullah Ben-Kmayal | Peckham, London | BBC London[8] | Football | for his work with Bethwin Football Club, a club he founded and funded personally.[9] | [10] |
| 2005 | ENG |
Trevor Collins | Isle of Wight | BBC South[11] | Swimming | for more than 25 years work in administration and coaching at the West Wight Swimming Club.[12] | [13] |
| 2006 | ENG |
Val Hanover | Oswestry, Shropshire | BBC West Midlands[14] | Special Olympics | for spending nearly 30 years organising Special Olympics for thousands of people with learning difficulties in north Shropshire.[15] | [16] |
| 2007 | ENG |
Margaret Simons | Bicester, Oxfordshire | BBC South[17] | Football | for over 40 years of work with Bardwell FC, a community football team that she originally founded in 1964.[18] | [19] |
| 2008 | ENG |
Ben Geyser | Dorchester, Dorset | BBC South[20] | Boxing | for setting up three boxing clubs, and campaigning for a permanent home for the Dorchester Amateur Boxing Club.[21] | [22] |
| 2009 | ENG |
Doreen Adcock | Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire | BBC East[23] | Swimming | for teaching "over 13,000 people to swim in the town over the last 35 years".[24] | [24] |
| 2010 | ENG |
Lance Haggith | Bedfordshire | BBC East[25] | Basketball | for providing children of differing abilities coaching in basketball. | [26] |
| 2011 |  SCO |
Janice Eaglesham & Ian Mirfin | Scotland | BBC Scotland | Athletics | For providing coaching to disabled athletes | [4] |
[edit] By region
This table lists the total number of awards won by the BBC Region through which the recipient qualified for the award.
| Nationality | Number of wins |
|---|---|
| BBC South | 3 |
| BBC East | 2 |
| BBC London | 1 |
| BBC Scotland | 1 |
| BBC Wales | 1 |
| BBC West Midlands | 1 |
[edit] By sport
This table lists the total number of awards won by the sport the recipient contributed towards.
| Sport of contribution |
Number of wins |
|---|---|
| Football | 3 |
| Swimming | 2 |
| Athletics | 1 |
| Basketball | 1 |
| Boxing | 1 |
| Special Olympics | 1 |
[edit] References
- General
- "Sports Personality Of The Year: more winners". BBC. December 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/spoty_more.shtml. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- Specific
- ^ "Nominate your BBC Sports Unsung Hero". BBC Press Office. BBC. 28 August 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/08_august/28/unsung.shtml. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
- ^ "Sports Personality voting & judging: Terms & conditions". BBC Sport (BBC). 18 November 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/7735134.stm. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ "Nobby named unsung hero". BBC Sport (BBC). 14 December 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_2003/3310001.stm. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ a b "BBC Sport - Sports Personality of the Year 2011: Scots duo win Unsung Hero award". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_personality/16249817.stm. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
- ^ "Cooke wins BBC honour". BBC Sport (BBC). 8 December 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/wales/3301971.stm. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Nobby named unsung hero". BBC Sport (BBC). 14 December 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_2003/3310001.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ Norton, Charlie (15 December 2003). "Wilkinson and Redgrave scoop top BBC awards". The Daily Telegraph (London: Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2427004/Wilkinson-and-Redgrave-scoop-top-BBC-awards.html. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "BBC London Sports Awards – Unsung Heroes 2005". Sport England. http://www.sportengland.org/print/london_index/london_news_media/iyr_london-bbc_unsung_heroes.htm. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "BBC Sports Personality: The winners". BBC Sport (BBC). 12 December 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/4085337.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ White, Jim (13 January 2007). "Unsung hero restoring order to chaotic lives". The Daily Telegraph (London: Telegraph Media Group). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/jimwhite/2306017/Unsung-hero-restoring-order-to-chaotic-lives.html. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ "Hampshire net top BBC award". Daily Echo. Newsquest. 5 December 2005. http://archive.dailyecho.co.uk/2005/12/5/96586.html. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Swimming coach secures BBC prize". BBC News (BBC). 12 December 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/4520966.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ "Let's follow Trevor's example to save our pools.". Bristol Evening Post (AccessMyLibrary). 15 December 2005. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12069786_ITM. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Unsung heroine wins". Tesco Magazine. Tesco. http://www.tesco.com/todayattesco/community/archive/0701_using_heroine_win.shtml. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Val's a winner". BBC Shropshire. BBC. 11 December 2006. http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2006/12/04/midlands_sports_awards_feature.shtml. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ Corrigan, James (11 December 2006). "Phillips is surprise winner of top Sports Personality award". The Independent (London: Independent News & Media). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/phillips-is-surprise-winner-of-top-sports-personality-award-428036.html. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ "Unsung Hero 2008". BBC South Today. BBC. 10 September 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/southtoday/content/articles/2008/09/09/unsung_hero_2008_feature.shtml. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Unsung sporting heroes". BBC Sport (BBC). 9 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/7128889.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ Phillips, Matt (11 December 2007). "Simons Says". TheFA.com. The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/GrassrootsNew/News/Postings/2007/12/simonssays.htm. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "BBC nomination is a ‘fitting tribute’ for Geyser". Dorset Echo. Newsquest. 3 December 2008. http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/sport/3945303.BBC_nomination_is_a____fitting_tribute____for_Geyser/. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Boxing club hero wins Unsung 2008". BBC Sport (BBC). 14 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/7777915.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ "Geyser’s accolade can inspire next generation". Dorset Echo. Newsquest. 16 December 2008. http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/sport/3980245.Geyser___s_accolade_can_inspire_next_generation/. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ "Edwards is East Sports Personality 2009". BBC East. http://www.bbc.co.uk/lookeast/content/articles/2009/11/26/sports_personality_2009_feature.shtml. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Swimming teacher Doreen Adcock wins BBC Unsung award". BBC Sport (BBC). 13 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/8409171.stm. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
- ^ "BBC East Sports Unsung Hero 2010 winner announced". BBC Sport (BBC). 14 December 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/threecounties/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9282000/9282258.stm. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ "Basketball coach wins BBC award". BBC Sport (BBC). 19 December 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/9302001.stm. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
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