Anna Watt and Holly Wilkie-Milne have been announced as joint Sports Personalites of the Year, in the 2023 Perth and Kinross Sports Awards held on Friday 1st March at Perth Art Gallery, George Street, Perth.

The Awards, in partnership with Perth and Kinross Sports Council, and now in their 34th year, recognise the achievements of athletes, volunteers and clubs from across Perth and Kinross.

Phil Coleman, Community Sport and Partnership Manager from Live Active Leisure commented:

“It was an absolute honor to announce Holly and Anna as joint winners of Sports Personality of the Year 2023. Both are outstanding athletes, having won Gold at the World Junior Curling Championships and retained their Scottish Junior Championship title for a third year. Holly and Anna are a fantastic choice of overall winner in our celebration of local sporting talent.”

The evening highlighted the many incredible sporting achievements from local athletes, as well as the phenomenal effort volunteers, coaches and club officers contribute to our wonderful sporting landscape that is more vibrant than ever.

Phil Coleman continued:

Once again, the caliber of our finalists was extremely high and each category proved to be very competitive. The event highlighted the outstanding achievements of our local athletes and the unwavering commitment of our coaches, volunteers and sports clubs. We were delighted to return for a third year to Perth Art Gallery to welcome guests and finalists and celebrate our winners. We look forward to another wonderful year of exceptional local sport in 2024.

THE WINNERS OF THE 2023 AWARDS

1. Volunteer of the Year

John Duncan - Crieff Juniors Football Club

During 2023 John has been the driving force in growing the girl’s section of Crieff Juniors Football Club. The club evolved from 3 girls playing with boy’s teams to 56 girls now registered to play.  John now coaches two teams, Under 12 and Under 14, who participate in the East Region Leagues. A number of the under 14 girls now assist in coaching the younger age groups. This helps them develop their confidence, communication, and organisational skills. As a result of these opportunities, the club has seen girls move into Academy teams.

2. School Team of the Year

Perth High School Senior Boys Football Team

Perth High School's Senior football team won the Scottish Schools Shield at Hampden in May. This is the oldest school football trophy in the world and has only previously been won once in its 119-year history by a team from Perth. More than 120 schools from across Scotland entered the competition.  Closer to home, the team also won all their group games and a knockout semi-final in the Perth and Kinross Schools Cup. In the final against Breadalbane Academy, the team staged a late comeback to win 6-5 and lift the trophy at McDiarmid Park.   

3. Chuck Hay Team of the Year

Team Lockhart – Curling

Team Lockhart (Jackie Lockhart, Mairi Milne, Wendy Johnston & Katie Loudon) won the Scottish Senior Ladies Championships, earning the team the right to compete at the World Curling Championships in South Korea where they went on to finish in Silver medal position.

"The trip to Korea to play in Gangneung was a fabulous experience. We saw the sites in Seoul, and we had a perfect run to the final winning our 6 round robin games and semi final and we are all proud of our silver medals." Team Lockhart Facebook 

4. Young Sports Personality of the Year

Connor Graham – Golf

Connor has had another outstanding year, winning the 2023 Scottish Men's Open,  was runner up in the 2023 French Boy's Open, won the Junior Ryder Cup in Rome for Team Europe (unbeaten over 3 days in Rome), and was selected as the youngest ever player in history to the GB Walker Cup Team to play against USA at the Old Course in St.Andrews.    Connor was also presented with an honorary membership to Blairgowrie Golf Club in recognition of his achievements and has secured full golf scholarship to train and study at Texas Tech University in the USA.

5. Veteran Sports Personality of the Year

Ron Hunter – Athletics

Ron from Crieff, has been involved in athletics for over 40 years and in 2023 had particular success at the European Athletics Championships (masters) in Italy, making the 200m individual final and winning Gold in the 4 x 100m Relay event. He was also awarded the European Athletics (masters) Athlete of the Year accolade.

6. Disability Sports Personality of the Year

Alex Medley – Boccia

Alex, 18, a is a member of Perth Eagles Boccia Club and has enjoyed a very successful year at local, regional and national level. At the Perth & Kinross Disability Sport (PKDS) Boccia Championships, Alex secured a Bronze medal. Further medal successes came at the PKDS Team Boccia Championships, Dundee Discovery Games and Scottish Disability Sport National School Championships.    Alex was recently selected for the Scottish National Development Squad and in July 2023 made his debut on the international stage, representing Scotland at the Para Sport Festival Teams and Pairs Championships. The highlight of Alex's year however was being crowned the Scottish National Boccia Champion (BC2) in October. 

7. Sport for Change Award

Tayside Judo

Tayside Judo have been nominated for their commitment to positively impacting the lives of young individuals in collaboration with Perth Grammar School. Tayside Judo's comprehensive and long-term project, initiated in Easter 2023, demonstrates their dedication to community integration, mental health improvement, and the development of essential life skills. Coaches David Scobbie and Aidan Moffat have successfully engaged identified secondary school pupils, initially facing challenges, through judo sessions that foster respect and responsible citizenship. The transformative impact is evident in improved attendance, enhanced skills, and, most importantly, a remarkable shift in mindset and behaviour.

8. Coach of the Year

Alan Erikson - Perth Strathtay Harriers

Alan is coach to Lois Garland (Perth Strathtay Harriers) and has helped her to achieve great results in 2023, namely Scottish University Indoor 200m Champion, Scottish University Outdoor 200m Champion and Scottish Senior Outdoor 200m Champion, including personal best performances in 100m and 200m.  Alan currently has 5 athletes in the Live Active Emerging Athlete Programme and the level of performance of the athletes being coached by Alan is incredible.   

9. Youth Leadership Award

Rachael McWilliams – Dance

Rachael volunteers at Breadalbane Academy where she leads 2 lunchtime dance clubs - one for primary pupils and one for secondary pupils. Her dedication has added up to more than 50 hours of volunteering in 2023. Rachael had the idea for a 4 day summer dance camp for pupils P5-S2 in Highland Perthshire, in Pitlochry town hall. Living rurally, Rachael is very passionate about making sure people get the same opportunities as people living in urban areas and travelled herself by bus a hour each way to lead the sessions. Finally, Rachael is a Girls for Change Ambassador for Breadalbane Academy.

10. George Mortimer Service to Sport Award

Bruce Bannerman – Swimming

Bruce is a quietly dedicated volunteer who has been shaping the success of Perth City Swim Club for at least 14 years. An active Committee member for many years, Technical Official and all round problem solver, Bruce is involved in every aspect of Perth City Swim Clubs operation and has spent time running courses and training new technical officials as well as AOE operators.   Recently Bruce took on the challenge of the final step in his technical official career and qualified as a referee, a huge achievement and testament to his dedication to the sport. He has secured the club sponsorship through Kilmac for two years and is the sole organiser of the widely anticipated Club Championships every year.

11. Sports Personality of the Year

Laura Watt & Holly Wilkie-Milne – Curling

Laura and Holly wer both members of GB & Scotland teams in 2023 that worked hard throughout the year to win Gold at the World Junior Championships in Füssen, Germany with team Henderson. The title was the first Scottish win in over a decade with Team Skip, Fay Henderson, saying that Eve Muirhead's Olympic triumph was inspiration to pull off their against-the-odds late victory in Germany. Laura and Holly also retained their Scottish Junior title in November 2023 with Team Munro, becoming Scottish Champions for the 3rd time.