The 13th annual Carmarthenshire Sports Personality awards,were organised by Carmarthenshire County Council’s Sports Development Unit in partnership with the Carmarthenshire Local Sports Council. This evening is organised to promote, recognise and reward those athletes, coaches and volunteers who achieve and who contribute towards the continued success of sport in the County
Each year, the standard of nominations received is of a very high quality, which makes the short listing process for the panel very challenging!
Tonight’s ceremony will also include the induction of two individuals into the Carmarthenshire Sporting Hall of Fame. These individuals, who will be introduced later on in the ceremony, have made a massive contribution to the legacy of sport and are an inspiration for the next generation of sporting Champions, not only within Carmarthenshire but on an international level. Carmarthenshire has a great history of sporting legends and we are proud to celebrate their achievements.
Carmarthenshire also boosts a great number of individuals who give their time and energy into ensuring that young players have the opportunity to train and compete. Over the last twelve years of these Awards, Carmarthenshire has been able to formally recognise these great individuals through the Volunteer of the Year and Outstanding Services to Sport categories.
Sports Coach of the Year, the three short listed nominees, were :-
Richard Wyer, Athletics
Gideon Griffiths, Power lifting
Carol Sargeant, Gymnastics
Gideon Griffiths
In 2010, Gideon was nominated Head Welsh Para Power lifting Coach for Disability Sport Wales. In June, Gideon coached three Welsh lifters and 3 English lifters to gold medals at the British National Championships in Stoke Mandeville.
In October, Gideon attended the Commonwealth Games in Delhi as coach to the one female and two male Welsh Para athletes. At this competition, two athletes achieved personal bests and one was placed 7th.
Gideon also coaches disabled athletes at Stoke Mandeville every 6 weeks, attends welsh training sessions and attends junior competitions, all on a voluntary basis.
Disabled Sportsman of the Year, the short listed nominees, were :-
Vic Morris, Air Target Shooting
Stephen Beynon, Kayaking
Robert Phibben, Kayaking
Previous winners of this award were athletes from skiing, judo, golf, canoeing, snooker, air target shooting and wheelchair racing. Gideon Griffiths who was short listed for Coach of the Year has won this award on two separate occasions in 2006 and last year in 2009. In 2009 Gideon competed in the Welsh Counties Power lifting and Bench Press competition and was placed first in the 90kg class after lifting 165 kg. Both these events were abled bodied competitions.
Vic Morris
Mae Vic yn aelod o Glwb Targed Awyr y Tair Sir ac mae’n cymryd rhan mewn cystadlaethau pryd bynnag y daw cyfle. Mae Cymdeithas Genedlaethol y Drylliau Calibr Bychan yn trefnu cystadlaethau blynyddol. Mae’r gystadleuaeth honno’n cynnwys pum rownd, un bob mis. Rhaid saethu pob rownd o fewn amserlen benodol ac yna caiff y canlyniadau eu cyflwyno i’r Gymdeithas. Mae saethwyr o bob rhan o’r DU yn cystadlu yn y gystadleuaeth hon a bydd y rhai sydd wedi sgorio uchaf yn teithio i Bisley ar gyfer y rownd derfynol ym mis Hydref.
Mae Vic yn cystadlu yn y gamp dryll awyr 10m Air ac yn 2010 daeth yn ail, gan guro saethwyr abl ac anabl fel ei gilydd. Mae hyn yn anhygoel o gofio fod Vic wedi’i barlysu’n llwyr a’i fod ond yn gallu symud ei ben a’i wddf ac mae’n saethu drwy ddefnyddio’i dafod.
Vic is a member of the Three Counties Air Target club and participates in competitions whenever he can. The National Small Bore Rifle Association organise annual postal competitions. This competition consists of five rounds, one round each month. Each round must be shot within a specific timeframe and results are then submitted to the Association. Shooters from all over the UK compete in the postal competition, with the highest scoring competitors travelling to Bisley in October for the finals.
Vic competes in the 10m Air pistol event and in 2010, finished in 2nd place beating both able-bodied and disabled shooters. This is an even more remarkable achievement as Vic is a tetraplegic with head and neck movement and shoots using his tongue.
Stephen Beynon
Stephen competes in the Special Olympics Kayaking team and took part in the Welsh competition in August where Stephen won a silver and a bronze medal.
Stephen also competes in Paddle-ability events organised by the British Canoeing Union. Paddle-ability has been established to promote and develop canoeing for disabled people and the British Canoe Union & Canoe England use the concept and term Paddle-Ability to address the issue of participation in canoe sport and canoe recreation. Paddle-Ability focuses on the individuals' ability in canoeing rather than disability.
Stephen competed in a sprint Paddle Ability regatta in April and qualified to compete in the Final in September. At this event, Stephen won a gold medal, 2 silver and achieved a 4th place.
Robert Phibben
Robert is from Llanelli and a pupil at Coedcae School. Robert also competes in the Special Olympics Kayaking team and took part in the Welsh competition in August where he won two silver medals.
Robert also competes in Paddle-ability events organised by the British Canoeing Union and he competed in a sprint Paddle Ability regatta in April in Nottingham and qualified to compete in the Final in September. At this event, Robert won a gold medal, 2 silver, a bronze and achieved a 4th place. In addition, Robert also received a trophy for best in his division.
Carmarthenshire’s Disabled Sportsman of the Year for 2010 was Vic Morris.
Disabled Sportswoman of the Year, the short listed nominees, were:-
Rosemarie Wood, Swimming
Jemma Morris, Archery
Chloe Smith, Air Target Shooting
Previous winners of this award include 3 paralympions. Lisa Pudner in 2000 for Power lifting, Claire Williams in Athletics and Maxine Ingram, Judo. Lisa was also inducted into the Carmarthenshire Hall of Fame last year following her success at European, World and Paralympic championships.
The 2009 winner was Jemma Morris and Jemma has also been short listed this year. In 2009, Jemma became the Under 16 Welsh recurve female archery champion after winning at the Welsh Indoor Senior Championships and was also selected for the Great Britain Paralympic squad. Jemma also became the Welsh Indoor Under 16 champion.
Rosemarie Wood
Rosemarie is a member of Towy Salmon Swimming club and is one of approx 30 disabled swimmers. Rosemarie competes within the club’s Gala team and in 2010, competed against swimmers from other clubs in Wales and on two occasions progressed from the heats to the finals of the 50m race, where Rosemarie won a bronze medal.
In September, Rosemarie swam in the All Wales Gala against other Halliwick clubs and won the final of the 50m event. This qualified Rosemarie to represent Wales in the National Gala in Seven oaks in October winning a Gold medal and the Olive Lee Memorial cup.
Jemma Morris – Archery
Dechreuodd Jemma y flwyddyn 2010 drwy gystadlu gyda Thîm Iau Cymru ym Mhencampwriaeth Dan Do Iau Prydain, lle’r enillodd fedal arian. Rai misoedd wedyn, roedd Jemma yn cystadlu ym Mhencampwriaeth Awyr Agored Prydain lle’r enillodd fedal arian arall am saethu i Dîm Iau Cymru.
Hefyd, cafodd Jemma ei dewis i saethu fel rhan o dîm Paralympaidd Prydain ym mis Gorffennaf ac ym mis Awst, roedd hi’n cymryd rhan ym Mhencampwriaeth Anabl Ewrop yn Ffrainc fel rhan o Dîm Prydain. A hithau ond yn 15 oed, Jemma yw’r bwasaethwr ifancaf erioed i saethu i Dim Paralymaidd Hŷn Prydain.
Yn 2010, torrodd Jemma 9 record yng Nghymru ac enillodd dlws coffa Des Clarke am fod y bwasaethwr iau mwyaf addawol y DU. Bwasaethwyr eraill enwebodd Jemma i dderbyn y tlws hwn.
Jemma started 2010 by making her debut for the Welsh Junior team in the British Junior Indoor Championships, where is won a silver medal. A few months after this, Jemma competed in the British Outdoor Championships where once again Jemma won a silver medal whilst shooting for the Welsh Junior team.
Jemma was also selected to shoot as part of the Great Britain Paralympic team in July and in August, Jemma took part of the European Disabled Championships in France as part of the Great British team. At the age of 15, Jemma has become the youngest archer to shoot for the GB Senior Paralympic team.
Also in 2010, Jemma set 9 Welsh records and was awarded the Des Clarke memorial trophy as being the most promising junior archer in the UK. Jemma was chosen by other archers to win this accolade.
Chloe Smith
Chloe is 12 years old and is a member of the Three Counties Air Target club. During 2010, Chloe has made remarkable progress due to her determination and can now independently load and shoot the rifle.
Her scores are consistently improving to the level whereby shortly she should be able to compete in club and regional competitions. Due to Chloe’s commitment and perseverance, Chloe will no doubt improve and is a future potential medallist in National events.
Carmarthenshire’s Disabled Sportswoman of the Year for 2010 was Jemma Morris
Team of the Year, the three short listed nominees, were:-
Llanelli Warriors RFC
Llangadog Ladies Tug of War team
Hannah Smith and Anwen Butten, Bowls
Llanelli Warriors
The Llanelli Warriors are a rugby team that includes players with learning disabilities. In 2010, the club completed their 15th season and only lost one match this year.
50% of the squad are registered disabled and the team play full contact rugby. The Warriors do not compete against other disabled teams, all their matches are against mainstream teams.
The team have been instrumental in the development of a similar team in England and are currently being consulted by the English Rugby Union on how to integrate abled-bodied and disabled players within the same team.
Carmarthenshire Hall of Fame. Carmarthenshire has a wealth of athletes and coaches who are recognised and renowned world-wide for their sporting achievements.
To celebrate the county’s proud sporting history and to officially recognise those individuals that have achieved success on a world stage, we are honoured to induct two individuals into the Carmarthenshire Sporting Hall of Fame this evening. These individuals will join existing Hall of Fame inductees which are Carwyn James, Phil Bennett and Gerald Davies (Rugby), Lynne Thomas (Cricket and Hockey), Terry Griffiths, (Snooker), Geoff Jones (Cricket), Lisa Pudner (Power lifting) and Delme Thomas (Rugby)
Disability Sport was well represent again in in the following categories :-
Coach of the Year.
Disabled Sportsman and Sportswoman.
Team of the Year.
