A committee of the Berrima District Sports Awards has been meeting since 1979 with the sole purpose to acknowledge the phenomenal sporting talent across the region.

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Each month since 1979 the committee members meet to discuss the nominations for 'Sportsperson of the Month' for both junior and senior categories. Nominations are received from proud sporting clubs, coaches, parents and schools.

The junior recipient for February is Harry Keats.

Harry competed in the Regional Little Athletics Championships in early February representing Bowral Little Athletics.

In the under 12 age division, he placed first in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m events. Harry additionally broke records in the 400m and 800m races. He also competed in the NSW Junior State Athletics Championships in late February representing Athletics Wollongong.

Running up, in the U14 age division, Harry placed first in both the 400m and 800m events. His success continued in March where he placed first in the under 12 400m, 800m and 1500m events at the Little Athletics State Track and Field Championships.

Qualifying for Nationals, he ran an exceptional race to secure a bronze medal in the under 12 800m and achieved a PB of 2.08.

Patrick Reid was voted senior recipient for February for his achievements in the sport of skeet shooting.

Days from his 18th Birthday, Patrick competed in the NSW State Titles both as a junior and a senior competitor.

In the junior events he placed 12th in the NSW state team and interstate skeet match scoring 144/150 and eighth in the NSW Postal Teams scoring 48/50.

In the senior events, he placed second in the B-Grade NSW State 100 T Championships, scoring 95/100 and first in the B-Grade NSW State Skeet Doubles Championships scoring 43/50 5/6.

Patrick was awarded first junior overall with a score of 187/200.

He now turns his attention to the Skeet Nationals in May which will be held in Wagga Wagga. Patrick, a Year 12 student at Chevalier College, is a member of the Berrima Clay Target Club and is coached by his grandfather Peter Papps.

The junior winner for March, Phoenix Sparke, is a young Australian pioneer in the sport of Winter Biathlon, combining the sports of cross country skiing and shooting.

Phoenix spent the Australian summer months in Italy and Austria as a member of the Biathlon Australia Development Team. He qualified for the Youth Junior World Biathlon Championships, held in Soldier Hollow Utah, by placing second in the U16 Austrian National Biathlon Championships.

At the World Championships, which fielded competitors from 32 countries, Phoenix competed in the under 19 age division and, at 15 years of age, was the youngest competitor.

He placed 60th in Individual 12.5km event and was part of the Youth Men's Relay team which placed 16th .

Phoenix was also selected as a member of the Illawarra U16 representative Rugby 7s team and the Illawarra under 16 Rugby representative team.

Melissa Perrine was awarded the senior award for March. Melissa was named co-captain of the 2022 Australian Winter Paralympic team and was given the honour of carrying the flag in the opening ceremony.

She competed in two events in the vision-impaired category, the Slalom and Giant Slalom where Melissa, and her guide Bobbi Kelly, placed sixth in the Giant Slalom.

Melissa is retiring from elite sport after an incredible 12 years of consistently being in the top five. During her stellar career, Mellissa competed in four Paralympics.

If you would like to nominate a worthy athlete or join the committee, simply send an e-mail to bdsawards1@gmail.com before the first Monday of the month detailing the athlete's sporting achievements in the previous month.

Please note your contact phone number just in case they need to clarify any of the details.

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