The Berrima District Sports Awards has been in existence since 1979 with the sole purpose of recognising and promoting the sporting talent in our local area.
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In that first year "Sportsperson of the Month" awards were announced and, in the same way it is still done, they were presented to the winners at an end-of-year ceremony. At that first ceremony we made our first senior and junior "Sportsperson of the Year" awards.
Teams were included in the Sports Awards presentation in 1982 and from 1988 separate junior and senior "Team of the Year" awards were announced.
In 2011 the Committee introduced a new award for "Club Person of the Year". This award is in memory of the late Alex MacClean, a long-standing member of the Berrima District Sports Awards.
Once again surrounded by the extraordinary calibre of local athletic talent including state, national and world championship level representations we come down to the final decisions of who will it be? Who will win the coveted BDSA sportspersons and sports teams of 2020?
As time goes by the level of difficulty with which to make this exciting decision gets harder every year. Yet decide we must, so after exhausting all avenues of information in the hopes of making the decision process as clear as possible we make the final solemn judgements of each category to be revealed at the awards dinner night at 7pm, Friday, February 28.
A word from the committee: As another year flew by, we pause to recognise and marvel as a committee at the effort and results that highlands sportsmen and women have achieved in 2019.
Every month we hold a meeting to review the nominations for the previous month's achievements. These nominations come from both the public and the committee on behalf of the public.
We then read through each nomination carefully and then vote on them to determine a winner for the junior and senior winner of the month. At the end of the year we call for annual resumes outlining each individual's and teams to determine the biggest prizes of them all, the annual winners.
We then hold the awards night dinner to celebrate the winners, acknowledge all the participants, and to hear an elite level athlete from the institute of sport talk about their experiences and to encourage all athletes to strive to be the best athlete they can. This and a great dinner put on for us by the Mittagong RSL make it an exciting and fun evening.
This year we have the continuation of our newest award the Alex MacClean Club person of the year award. This prestigious award recognises the hard work and dedication of the behind the scenes individuals who help everything to run smoothly at our sporting organisations in their myriad of forms.
These often forgotten or unknown heroes now have a chance to be recognised for the work they do even though they do it without seeking accolades or even often a simple thank you. Their generosity of their time and experience is something to be appreciated.
How do I nominate someone? Where do send the information? What information do I need to supply? All these are important questions and the answers are thankfully simple.
After each month has passed write down the name, address, email address, phone number and date of birth.
This information is essential helps us to classify whether a nominee is a junior or senior sportsperson, and allows us to get in contact with you if we have any questions regarding your nomination.
It also lets us inform you if you have won the monthly award. Then list the competitions or events that the individual has been involved in that month as well as any detail about the number of competitors in that event, or times taken, or any records set. It is always better to provide more information than less as it helps us better understand the level of achievement of each nominee for that month.
Once you have done this please email it to bdsawards1@gmail.com.au or post it to PO Box 555, Bowral NSW 2576. That way we will be sure to receive it. It doesn't hurt to send it in two different ways just to be sure.
Our meetings a held on the first Wednesday of the month, except when they fall too early in the month for anyone to have time to enter nominations. At the end of the year the committee send out letters requesting a full listing of achievements for the year, this year we again struggled to get many nominations, and need your help to make this year's results show up for next year's awards dinner.
The best way to help is to start recording your efforts now ready for both the monthly nominations as well as the annual resume, by doing this not only do you save time at the end of the year you also get to make sure you haven't missed anything.
Every little piece on information helps in our final decision for the winners of each category. The committee takes this opportunity to thank our sponsors without whom we would not be able to put on these awards. Their contribution cannot be understated. Your support of them in the community allows them to make generous sponsorships to a group such as ours. We look forward to a continued relationship with our sponsors who are Moss Vale Newsagency, Paul Bunt Southern Highlands Interior Linings, TyrePower Bowral and Ace Internet Services.
During the already exciting night we have a special speaker, a top athlete. This year the speaker will be Sarah Walsh. Those closest to Sarah Walsh have always known she was a Paralympic star in the making.
Sarah, who was born with fibular hemimelia, was 18 months old when her parents gave doctors the go-ahead to amputate her foot. That decision changed the course of her life. Were it not for that decision, Sarah would not have represented Australia in Para-athletics.
She would not have become a Paralympian. She would not have been given all the incredible opportunities that come with being an athlete on the world stage.
Sarah was nine when she first began to take sport seriously, and after she was gifted her first running blade, she promised herself she would become the best athlete she could be. As it happened, Sarah's best was reaching the pinnacle event for her sport - the Paralympic Games.
At the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Sarah set an Oceanian record of 4.82m to finish sixth in the women's long jump T44, and moved up into fourth place the following year at the 2017 World Para-athletics Championships.
Now, with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games just around the corner, Sarah is working tirelessly to turn her dream of Paralympic silverware into reality.