Shortlisted candidates named ahead of the Mail 2017 South Cumbria Sports Awards

Last year was an incredible 12 months for local sport, and some of the best individual and team efforts will be honoured at the inaugural presentation evening at Hawcoat Park next Thursday.

The judging panel had an extremely difficult task in whitting down the four main prize categories into shortlist of three candidates, with the successful ones listed below.

In addition to prizes for Senior and Junior Sportsperson and Senior and Junior Team, several hard-working and dedicated individuals will be rewarded for the efforts with Service to Sport Awards.

From football, there is referee Joe Gardner, who has officiated for more than 60 years and is still a regular with the whistle aged in his 80s.

Soccer is also represented by evergreen Barrow Celtic and Barrow and District JFL servant Dennis Boyd, who has made an immense contribution to the local game down the years.

Millom rugby league duo Garry Kelly and Paul Roskell are being recognised for their huge contribution to the Woollybacks' cause.

Hawcoat Park rugby union's Terry Burns is a former first-team player who has worked for the club in various roles for more than half a century and is treasurer at present.

Fellow Hawcoat RU veteran and club chairman John Horne made his first-team debut at 16 and has been involved with the club for 40-plus years.

After playing cricket for Dalton and Kirkby, Terry Atkinson's love affair with the sport continued. He has spent many years officiating in the North Lancs and Cumbria League as well as being secretary and treasurer of the league's federation of umpires.

Ian and Lyn Fraser have been the driving force behind Furness Gymnastics Club for decades. Ian is the club chairman and Lyn, the head coach and secretary and both put in many hours of work each week making sure the club functions.

Thanks go to the sponsors Furness Heating (check spell) GMB union, and co-organisers Terry Barker, Emma Broadbent and John and Barbara Knagg, plus a big thanks to the South Cumbrian sporting community for voting in such large numbers for your heroes of 2017.

AWARDS SHORTLISTS

SENIOR SPORTSPERSON

CHARLOTTE JONES (Horse racing)

CHARLOTTE came to the attention of horse racing fans when she rode Lough Kent to victory for Cartmel trainer James Moffatt on her home track in May.

That was just the beginning of an amazing year for the rookie jockey from Barrow. She won again on Lough Kent at the next Cartmel meeting and then topped that by riding Altruism to the coveted Cumbria Crystal Cup in July.

And proving she could also do the business away from her home course, Charlotte rode 33-1 shot Bon Chic to victory at the world-famous Aintree in the autumn.

LIAM CONROY (Boxing)

LIAM'S rise through the professional boxing ranks is a great example of hard work and dedication paying dividends.

After coming close to quitting the ring a few years ago, Liam dug deep and has bounced back spectacularly.

The 25-year-old became the first Barrovian to win a national professional boxing title in September when he knocked out defending champion Joel McIntyre to win the English light-heavyweight crown.

LIAM LIVINGSTONE (Cricket)

THE Barrow Cricket Club product's career went into overdrive in 2017.

The 24-year-old was regularly in the runs for Lancashire – including hitting a Championship double century against Warweickshire – and played for England in the T20 series against South Africa.

One of English cricket's brightest young stars, Liam was appointed as Lancashire's new captain in the autumn and recently earned a call-up for England's Test squad for their forthcoming tour of New Zealand.

JUNIOR SPORTSPERSON

AIMEE EVERETT (Football)

AIMEE enjoyed a brilliant year on the football field as she starred on the European stage for England as well as signing for Women's Super League big guns Liverpool.

The former St Bernard's School pupil featured in European Championship qualifiers for England under-17s after impressing for the national side at under-16s level.

The striker now has her sights set on this year's U17 World Cup finals in Uruguay.

HARVEY BURNS (Judo)

A MEDAL-WINNING summer earned top judo player Harvey a place in the England team.

The Furness Academy pupil enjoyed a successive spell of action on the mat in competitions throughout Europe in the under-50kg cadet class. Harvey landed one gold medal, one silver and three bronze in national and international competitions, cementing his place among the best 15 to 17-year-olds in the country.

He is currently ranked third in Great Britian and has been selected for the England squad at Cadet level.

CURTIS ANDERSON (Football)

CURTIS fulfilled the dream of millions of young footballers across the globe when he helped England Under-17s win the World Cup.

The Manchester City keeper was an ever-present and played a big part in the Young Lions' success during the global tournament in India.

The former Crooklands Casuals junior was a penalty shootout hero against Japan in the second round and made some crucial saves in the final as England came from behind to beat Spain 5-2.

SENIOR TEAM

BARROW RAIDERS (Rugby League)

PAUL Crarey's side celebrated a double success in 2017 as they lifted the League One Cup and won promotion back to the Championship after a three-season absence.

CROFTLANDS PARK (Football)

THIS upwardly-mobile football team completed a remarkable treble when they clinched the Furness Premier League Premier Division title.

The title success meant Croftlands had won the FPL Division Two, Division One and Premier Division titles in the first three seasons of their existence as a club.

The Craven Park side lost just four games out of 32 all season and edged out Cumbria rivals Whitehaven in a nail-biting promotion play-off final.

BLACK COMBE RUNNERS LADIES (Fell running)

THE Black Combe Runners ladies produced a magnificent performance to finish runners-up in the English fell running championships.

The Broughton-based club originally thought they had won the title but were just pipped to the title by Kendal club Helm Hill when the disqualification of another club meant a redistribution of points.

JUNIOR TEAM

ULVERSTON VICTORIA HIGH SCHOOL (Orienteering)

THE brilliant UVHS orienteering team were crowned British champions and world silver medalists.

The school have enjoyed several global successes in the map-reading endurance sport down the years, and the class of 2017 proved just as capable.

Competing against teams from more than 20 other nations, Merryn Stangroom, Ellie Simmonds, Jess Ensoll, Alice Wood and Lucy Gibson won team silver in the junior girls section at the World Schools Orienteering Championships in Palermo, Sicily.

Merryn was also crowned world champion in the junior girls middle distance event, and the 14-year-old took silver in the long distance event.

DALTON RL U16S (Rugby league)

DALTON Dragons under-16s enjoyed a fantastic double-winning season.

The Dragons won the North West Youth League Division One title and beat Kells 34-6 in the Cumbria Cup final.

Two members of the all-conquering squad - Jack Stephenson and Evan Jones - have since been signed by Super League St Helens.

ULVERSTON VICTORIA HIGH SCHOOL (table cricket)

THE UVHS table cricket team did the school and Cumbria proud when they finished runners-up in the Lord’s Taverners National finals at Lord's.

Table cricket is played on a table tennis table, enabling young people with severe physical and learning disabilities to enjoy the game and represent their school on a competitive basis.

With 300 schools taking part in regional heats to try and qualify for the finals, UVHS played superbly to earn their date at the home of cricket.