Youths shine at Club Sport Roxburgh awards

There was a definite youthful feel to the Club Sport Roxburgh Awards evening held at Kelso RFC last night as four of the seven categories were topped by the under 30s.
From left Ian McKenzie (Coach of the Year); Mary Weir (SALSC Service to Local Sport); Megan Shiel (Junior Coach of the Year); Lucy Porteous (Sports Personality of the Year); Jim Thomson (SALSC Service to Local Sport).From left Ian McKenzie (Coach of the Year); Mary Weir (SALSC Service to Local Sport); Megan Shiel (Junior Coach of the Year); Lucy Porteous (Sports Personality of the Year); Jim Thomson (SALSC Service to Local Sport).
From left Ian McKenzie (Coach of the Year); Mary Weir (SALSC Service to Local Sport); Megan Shiel (Junior Coach of the Year); Lucy Porteous (Sports Personality of the Year); Jim Thomson (SALSC Service to Local Sport).

And the audience in the packed clubrooms reflected the abundance of young sporting talent across the region, with a fair turnout of experienced heads present also.

Star of the Show was 26-year-old tennis ace Lucy Porteous who was named Club Sport Roxburgh’s Sports Personality of the Year for 2015.

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Since beginning her tennis career a little later than most, at the age of 14, the hard hitting youngster from Stichill has collected so many gold, silver and bronze medals that her parents have a special trophy room to house them.

From left Ian McKenzie (Coach of the Year); Mary Weir (SALSC Service to Local Sport); Megan Shiel (Junior Coach of the Year); Lucy Porteous (Sports Personality of the Year); Jim Thomson (SALSC Service to Local Sport).From left Ian McKenzie (Coach of the Year); Mary Weir (SALSC Service to Local Sport); Megan Shiel (Junior Coach of the Year); Lucy Porteous (Sports Personality of the Year); Jim Thomson (SALSC Service to Local Sport).
From left Ian McKenzie (Coach of the Year); Mary Weir (SALSC Service to Local Sport); Megan Shiel (Junior Coach of the Year); Lucy Porteous (Sports Personality of the Year); Jim Thomson (SALSC Service to Local Sport).

The past year has been outstanding for Lucy with the pinnacle coming in August when she scooped yet another gold in the mixed doubles at the Special Olympics World Games in LA as well as taking bronze in the singles.

Since then she has won two singles silver medals and two mixed doubles golds at Glasgow and Nottingham respectively.

Taking the Junior Sports Personality of the Year title was Morebattle curler Cameron Bryce, 20, who was unable to attend the evening as he was competing at the European Curling Tour event in Thun, Switzerland.

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Cameron’s numerous achievements this year include winning the Scottish Mixed Championships to qualify for the World finals in Bern where he and the team won eight from nine group games before losing out to the hosts by a single shot in the play-offs.

Cameron’s younger brother Angus collected the award on his sibling’s behalf.

Another rising young sports star, Megan Shiel from Hawick, took the accolade for Junior Coach of the Year.

At the age of just 18 Megan is fast becoming one of the respected, and popular, sports coaches in the town with qualifications in golf, rugby, hockey, football, athletics and disability coaching to name but a few.

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Working alongside Border Sport and Leisure Megan has made a massive impact within the Hawick sporting cluster and beyond and hopes to continue this even though she has just began her term at Edinburgh University.

Last but not least on the young achievers list is Jed Thistle RFC who picked up the award for Team of the Year for the second time in recent years.

Coached by Gary Goodfellow, Gary Hill, Calum Brown and Doug Mofatt the squad enjoyed another fantastic season in 2014/15 when they won the Border U18 League and Cup and the Scottish U18 Championship. They were also the 2015 Kings of the Semi-Junior Sevens and Glasgow U18s Sevens Champions.

Coach of the Year went to the slightly more mature, and equally as enthusiastic, Ian ‘Eekie’ McKenzie from Kelso Wheelers Cycling Club.

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A tireless supporter and hard working committee member Ian has, almost single-handedly, built up the junior section at the club and turned it into the success story it now is.

One of his most outstanding achievements over the last year has been securing over 50K of funding for the Angraflat off-road community cycling course and building a very robust coaching system within Kelso Wheelers CC.

Last but by no means least the Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils (SALSC) awards for Service to Local Sport went to Kelso High School hockey guru Mary Weir and Jed-Forest RFC’s Jim Thomson in recognition of their long term dedication and commitment to their respective sports.

Hosting the evening was evergreen Club Sport Roxburgh chairman Norman Anderson who thanked all present for their continued support as well as congratulating the talented array of winners.

And the 2015 winners are.......

Sports Personality of The Year ‑ Lucy Porteous

Junior Sports Personality ‑ Cameron Bryce

Coach of the Year ‑ Ian McKenzie

Junior Coach of the Year ‑ Megan Shiel

Team of the Year ‑ Jed Thistle RFC

Service to Local Sport ‑ Jim Thomson and Mary Weir