Cumbria Sports Awards winners for 2023 announced
The 2023 Cumbria Sports Awards have been announced with Georgia Stanway winning Sports Personality of the Year.
The Bayern Munich and England attacking midfielder played in every game during the World Cup as the Lionesses reached the final where they fell short against Spain.
She has been a key member of the England squad since making her debut in 2018 having started her career at Blackburn Rovers. She subsequently joined Manchester City before making the move to Germany.
Richard Johnston, Chair of Cumbria Sports Awards Judging Panel said: “In this, the forty-fourth year of the Cumbria Sports Awards the judging panel are once again overwhelmed by the number and quality of nominations.
“Every year, we hear of new names and their outstanding achievements, and the awards provide an opportunity to showcase the incredible range of great sporting talent in the county. It’s never an easy task deciding on the winners.
“We would like to congratulate not only our incredible winners but all of this year’s nominees. As always, there was some fierce competition with so many great nominations, and we had well over 100 separate individuals and teams put forward. Many of the categories were almost impossible to judge with so many great nominations.
“I’d like to thank our Judging Panel for their time, and everyone who took the time to submit a nomination.”
The Junior Sports Personality of the Year award went to taekwondo champion Gabriella Pettigrew.
Gabriella took part in the British Taekwondo Nationals winning the event without losing a single round.
She is a current three time British champion at just 10-years-old. Gabriella is the current Scottish Open Champion 2023. Current Welsh National Champion. Ultimate Open Champion 2023. Ultimate Winter Open Champion 2023. Lanarkshire Open Champion 2023.
There were three award winners in the Rising Star category.
Kendal's Jake Armistead received the award for excelling in ski racing. In September he became the U16 British Dry Slope Ski Champion.
The second award winner was Amber Rigg. Amber who is from Carlisle, qualified for 2 events at the British Championships in April. And qualified for 8 individual swims at the British Summer Age Group Championships in July achieving a total of 5 medals - 3 silver and 2 bronze.
7-year-old Frankie McMillan received the third award. He broke an international sporting record as he became the youngest Briton to summit the highest peak on Mount Olympus in Greece.
The Becky Underwood Volunteer of the Year award went to James Fitt, a player and dedicated volunteer with Wigton RUFC.
James dedicates countless hours to the team's development and the club as a whole.
Coach of the Year was awarded to Carlisle's Joe Birch. From the world of tug of war Joe took on the role of England Junior Manager and dedicated many hours towards creating a team by volunteering at events to scout for potential team members and holding trials at which all abilities.
The Service to Sport Award was awarded to 85-year-old Les Middleton. The award is presented for Extra Dedicated Service.
Bee Unique FC received the award for Community Club or Group of the Year. Bee Unique FC is a pan disability football club formed by the Bee Unique Autism Charity.
Over an 18-month period the club organised 1998 activities for children and young people autism and other learning conditions.
The Active Education award goes to Step Up and Play, a programme designed and led by head teacher Steve Herbert. The award is presented for High Quality Physical Activity and Sporting Opportunities at School.
Carlisle United were awarded the Special Award. The award recognises the success the Blues have had on the field following the play-off penalty shootout victory against Stockport County.
The Junior Team of the Year was awarded to Trinity School U13 Girls’ Football Team who were crowned National Under 13 Development Cup Champions.
Barrow Raiders Ladies Team were crowned Team of the Year for Best Team Achievement.
Athletics star Becky Seaton won the Performance of the Year Award and the Disability Performance of the Year.
In 2016, Becky who is from Carlisle received a new kidney and pancreas. Fast forward just six years and she was selected for the British Transplant Games in 2022 and in the same year selected to represent team GB in the European Transplant games.
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