PEEBLES cyclist Isla Short has been crowned Tweeddale's Sports Personality of the Year 2023.
The 27-year-old has had a year she will never forget, competing at Glentress for Great Britain in the summer's UCI Cycling World Championships.
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Short, of Ghost Factory Racing, was handed the coveted ClubSport Tweeddale prize at a ceremony at Peebles Rugby Club on Friday (November 17).
Afterwards she gave an informative speech about the importance of Endometriosis awareness.
Endometriosis a condition that impacts around 10% of women and which Isla has lived, trained and competed with since her own diagnosis 2 and a half years ago
Taking to social media, she said: "A very lovely gesture from ClubSport Tweeddale that felt like yet another celebration of the little event that happened at home this summer.
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"I’ve always been a Tweed Valley gal, but moving back after a few years away and realising how much I flipping love this community has made 2023 a mighty memorable year!"
ClubSport Tweeddale chair Adrian Lucas welcomed 70 athletes, coaches, councillors and sports development staff to Friday's event.
Many of those in attendance had been previous recipients of grant aid from the ClubSport organisation.
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The Junior Sports Personality of the Year prize was awarded to another Peebles cyclist – Emily Carrick-Anderson.
Carrick-Anderson, who started with Peebles Cycling Club, now races for T-Mo Racing in multiple disciplines. She also represented Britain at this year’s UCI Cycling World Championships.
Away from cycling, Campbell Forsyth took to the floor to receive both Club of the Year and the Service to Sports gongs.
Mr Forsyth has been instrumental in reviving West Linton’s Linton Hotspur FC, developing the club’s infrastructure to accommodate more than 200 members from preschool to pensionable age.
Peebles RFC's Colts side were named Team of the Year. They were handed their award by a very proud Tweeddale councillor Robin Tatler, who informed the room of both the Red and Blue teams' incredibly successful year.
Duo Scott Murdoch and Megan Mciver from Peebles Hockey Club were jointly awarded Coach of the Year.
Mr Murdoch and Ms Mciver were the first joint recipients of the award, reflecting their combined dedication to running the club.
Kayla Bisset, who could be in the running for that prize in the future, walked away with Junior Coach of the Year for her work at P.H.D FUNdamentals gymnastics club.
Amy Mckay, the young para-swimmer from the Borders Elite Swim Team (B.E.S.T) whose goals for next season involve achieving times for Scottish and GB Open Championships, won the Disability Sports award.
Chris Bryant, Live Borders' club development officer for Tweedale and organiser of the evening, said: “It was a great night with just some of the amazing local talent celebrated tonight.
“Shortlisting for the awards after public nominations was difficult. As a cyclist, I wasn’t surprised to see local cyclists nominated but some of the other sports stories we heard have left me amazed.
“The time that people give up to help others and the time some sports people put into their training and competition can never be fully recognised. I know ClubSport Tweeddale have worked with considerably more sports this year than we could reward tonight but all of the clubs should be thanked for making our area so strong in terms of offering sport for the community and role models for the next generation."
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