The 2018 Leeds Sports Awards was a big day for sport in Leeds as the city celebrated the achievements of athletes, coaches and sports volunteers in 2017.

Celebrations took place in the First Direct Arena where sports-people of all levels and abilities from across the city alongside their coaches, volunteers, sponsors and supporters all came together to celebrate Leeds’ proud sporting heritage and commend the achievements of this year’s nominees in true style.

A whole host of awards were up for grabs and many of the nominees have been involved with the University of Leeds over the years. Alumni, current students and honorary degree holders were nominated over a diverse range of categories giving them plenty of opportunity for recognition of all their efforts and achievements in sport.

The winners and nominees

One of the biggest successes of the evening was the nomination and win from our very own Rugby League and American Football teams. They beat off some fierce competition from Leeds Beckett University Hockey to jointly win the ‘Student Sport Award’  for all their hard work on the ‘It’s ok not to be ok’ campaign, highlighting the positive power of sport. Their campaign has promoted the importance of mental health awareness across the University and got people talking, as well as raising thousands of pounds, for mental health charities. This award gives them recognition from across the city for the fantastic work they are doing.

Jess Bassett, Activities Officer at Leeds University Union said:

It has been an absolute privilege to get to know and work along side Andrew and Aaron on the it’s OK not be OK campaign. It was amazing to see all of the hard work and fundraising efforts from both clubs recognised when they won this award. This campaign has increased the awareness of male mental health in particular and raised money for two very special charities, and alongside celebrating this success we must keep working hard to tackle this because it is OK not to be OK.

On the night Jess Learnmouth won the sportswoman award, Jess trains with the Leeds Triathlon Centre at the University’s facilities including The Edge and The Brownlee Centre. She took home the award beating a number of fantastic athletes including Olympic Gold Medallist Nicola Adams OBE who received an honorary degree from the University in 2015.

Cecilia Allen a Leeds alumna received a highly commended award in the Young Club Team Performance award with the Yorkshire CCC U17 girls, a team she manages. Fellow alumni Dr Malcolm Brown MBE and Jack Maitland also received a highly commended award in the Performance Coach award for their work with triathletes at the Leeds Triathlon Centre. The triathlon theme continued in Tom Bishop who graduated from Leeds in 2013 and was nominated for the Sportsman of the Year award.

The night was a fantastic celebration of sport and a wonderful evening for all. We send a huge congratulations to all the finalists and we are hoping for even more success next year.

A full list of the winners can be found on the Leeds Sports Awards website.