Maidenhead & Windsor

Freeman of the Maidenhead Royal Borough and former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward OBE will give an official high-profile seal of approval for budding local talent when he hands out the bursary awards at next week's Celebration of Sport event.

Cookham resident Sir Clive was awarded the Freedom of the Royal Borough for his role as coach of the England World Cup winning team in 2003 and has recently been appointed British Olympic Association director of Elite Performance for the 2012 London Olympics.

Sir Clive will present coveted sports bursaries to nine budding young sportsmen and women in recognition of their outstanding sporting achievements.

He will be joined by Cllr Richard Fagence, lead member for Maidenhead leisure and cultural services to present the awards to youngsters representing sports ranging from rowing and archery to swimming and gymnastics.

The nine will step into the limelight to receive their bursaries - presented twice-yearly by the Maidenhead Royal Borough to help athletes with travelling costs, coaching fees and equipment - at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Altwood Road, Maidenhead, on Tuesday October 3 at 7.30pm.

There will be two further presentations of a coach bursary and a Lifetime Achievement award, as well as visual presentations showing local sporting achievements, and a performance from the GCSE dance group from Windsor Girls' School.

Also on the programme will be the presentation of two new trophies to representatives of the borough's two School Sports Partnerships to be awarded at next year's bursaries to the sporting "champions" of their choice - reflecting the important role played by the two partnerships in developing competitive sports in borough schools.

Attending the evening will be members of the borough's Twin Towns team, fresh from their successes in Kortrijk last weekend and the Berkshire Youth Games squad who flew the borough flag in the summer's hotly-contested youth games.

They will be joined by some of the participants in this year's popular 13-19-year activities programme, who will present thank you certificates to the three sponsors of their programme – Hutchinson 3G, Michael Shanly and the St Regis Paper Mills.

Cllr Richard Fagence, lead member for Maidenhead leisure and cultural services, said: "It is always a pleasure to be involved in presenting these awards to our young people. They have all worked very hard to develop their talents and should be very proud of their achievements to date. Hopefully these bursaries will help them to develop those skills even further in the future."

Four of the recipients are rowers and scullers – they are:
Simon Lilley (15) (Maidenhead) – winner of a number of rowing regattas at Maidenhead, Marlow, Reading and Walton, as well as fourth place in doubles at the National Schools championships in Nottingham and a gold in the coxed fours at the National Rowing Championships in Scotland.
Aimee Broadbent (15) Maidenhead – gold medallist in the Junior Regionals, the National Championships, and Marlow International competitions. Would use her bursary towards buying her own boat to help achieve her aim of getting into the Great Britain team.
Madeleine Reynolds (15) Hurley – many times medal-winner at regional and national competitions, her aim is to win at the national championships and go forward to the next stage of selection for the Great Britain team.
Alexandra Brooks (16) Maidenhead – Alexandra won her first GB vest at the Munich Regatta in May this year, and was pre-selected as the fastest under-16 single sculler for a GB match against France in early July. Her long-term aim is to compete in the 2012 Olympics.

The remaining player bursary awards go to:
George Irwin (12) – Old Windsor (Tennis) – George is a member of the 12-and-under county team and is ranked within the top 50 players nationally in his age group.
Benjamin Huse (13) (archery) – Windsor – Current Berkshire shooting champion with several gold medals in both target and field archery this year. Hoping to represent England in the 2012 Olympics.
Jennifer Heckford (16) – Windsor – (hurdling) – Jennifer has been hurdling since the age of 11 and has won the Berkshire championships six years running. Earlier this year she came second in the Southern Junior championships.
Scott Mudge (18) – Holyport (swimming) – a backstroke and butterfly specialist swimmer, Scott is currently county and south-east champion and came fifth in his age group in the British Championships.
Kirsty Banfield (15) Wraysbury (gymnastics) – Kirsty is currently ranked number one in Great Britain for her age group (15-17 years), and this year has had successes in both the German and French open competitions.

A coach bursary award will be presented to Michael Holloway of Windsor. An international rower who has represented Great Britain in many competitions, Michael is also a volunteer coach at Dorney Boat Club and is being honoured for his work in developing the skill of the young rowers of the future. The Lifetime Award recipient is a surprise and will only be revealed on the night.

For further information about the bursary awards contact Polly Westell, Maidenhead sports development officer on 01628 796074.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead