Photos & Video: Annual Sports Awards

March 18, 2012

The Annual Sports Awards took place at last night [Mar.17] at Camden in the Botanical Gardens. With Premier Paula Cox and Minister of Sports Glenn Blakeney in attendance, the male and female as well as the junior male and female Athletes of the Year were announced.

Swimmer Ashley Yearwood was crowned the Junior Female Athlete of the Year, while cyclist Sidney Dominic Mayho took home the Junior Male Athlete of the Year Award.

Swimmer Lisa Blackburn captured the Female Athlete of the Year Award, while Track and Field athlete Tyrone Smith claimed his second consecutive Male Athlete of the Year Award.

Other Athletes recognized on the night included Roy-Allan Burch, Tyler Butterfield, Flora Duffy, Harold Tre Houston and Jillian Teceira.

Faheemah Scraders and Bruce DeGrilla were both mentioned for their performances in 2011. The Minister also awarded boxer Teresa Perozzi a Special Achievement Award for retaining her WBA World Middleweight Belt.

Minister Blakeney’s full statement follows below:

Good Evening Madam Premier, Cabinet Colleagues, Members of Parliament, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen and of course our awards recipients, welcome to the thirty-first Annual Sports Awards.

Tonight we pay tribute to the exceptional accomplishments of our top sportsmen and sportswomen and in particular our Senior and Junior athletes for their achievements in 2011, and recognize the role of our sports administrators who made an outstanding contribution to the development of sport in a non-competitive capacity.

The Government of Bermuda acknowledges that sports is an integral part of our community and despite the current economic challenges, it is important that we recognize the accomplishments of our athletes.

2011 was a great year for sports in Bermuda, locally and internationally. Our athletes performed exceedingly well in international competitions, including in track and field: the Carifta Games, the Pan American Games, and swimming, the CAC Championships, just to name a few.

We also cannot fail to acknowledge the success of Bermuda’s own Nahki Wells who continues to flourish at Bradford City in the UK and last weekend we saw a thrilling exhibition of boxing as Teresa Perozzi successfully defended her WBA World Middleweight belt in front of a jubilant home crowd.

During tonight’s awards presentation we will see nine [9] athletes representing five [5] of our National Sports Governing Bodies. These Associations continue to lead the country in the development of our elite athletes.

Locally, the International Race Weekend, Bermuda Day Half Marathon, Cup Match and various league programmes held weekly and supported by hundreds of volunteers are enjoyed immensely both locals and visitors.

We sometimes often forget to acknowledge the unsung heroes in sports, i.e. coaches, administrators, officials, referees, and umpires of each sport who work tirelessly to ensure that our athletes have events to compete in. Tonight I salute you for your dedication and commitment to your sport.

2012 is an Olympic year and Bermuda hopes to be well represented in athletics, swimming, equestrian and triathlon competitions and possibly few other sports as well.

This year Bermuda will also be hosting some major sporting events. We have already hosted the International Race Weekend in January and in a few weeks, we will host the 2012 LIME Carifta Games at the National Sports Centre in which twenty-seven [27] countries will compete.

In Carifta 2004 a world record was set in Bermuda by Usain Bolt, announcing himself to the world with a time of 19.93 seconds in the 200 metres. We may see something spectacular at this year’s Lime Carifta Games.

Later this year Bermuda will be hosting the Bermuda Corporate Games.

We can also look forward to the opening of The National Aquatic Centre. The National Sport Centre Board of Trustees have commenced preliminary planning with regard to operational programming for the Aquatic Centre. Progress on the Aquatic Centre continues and the Trustees expect to complete the project in late summer/early fall.

Our vision for the Aquatic Centre, which will be the only 50 m pool on the Island upon completion, is a community-centric facility that offers a range of aquatic opportunities, including swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.

Before I conclude my remarks, let me congratulate our National Associations for ensuring that our athletes are prepared to represent Bermuda at the highest level in sports.

And finally let me warmly congratulate all of the nominees who have earned our recognition as Bermuda’s top performing athletes and will go forward as our sports icons and national treasures.

On behalf of the Government and the people of Bermuda – we salute you!