HIGH-ACHIEVING athletes were singled out for well-deserved honours at the annual Haslemere Sports Awards ceremony, which was held at the town’s museum.

Ten talented youngsters with great sporting potential – out of the guest list that topped the 100 mark –

won Create a Star awards and £500 bursaries.

The scheme – jointly promoted by Haslemere Sports Association (HSA) and Sport Haslemere – is led by HSA chairman Chris Grimes.

The award-winner weres:

Luke van Outsthoorn, a member of Haslemere Swimming Club, and Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletic Club and Pentathlon GB, ranked number one nationally in the British Modern Biathlon in his age group and was recently awarded a sports scholarship to Millfield School;

Sophie Spencer, a member of Portsmouth Northsea Swimming Club and a Woolmer Hill School student,ranked 12 nationally in the 800m freestyle in her age group and selected for the 2014 England Talent Programme;

Rosie Forster, a former goalkeeper for Haslemere ladies, who represents Hampshire at U16 level and won a hockey scholarship to attend Cranleigh School;

Travis Diwell-Wilson, a member of Gosport BMX Club and a Bohunt School student, ranked 10th in the UK for U12s and second for 9-12 year olds, who qualified to represent Great Britain at the world championships, in Belgium, in July;

Alistair Wheble, a member of Grayshott Cricket Club and Hants Cricket U12, won 2014 Sport Haslemere junior sports personality award and is the county squad’s number one wicketkeeper;

Oliver Nicholson, member of Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletic Club ranked 28th nationally in 100m and 23rd in 200m and represented Hampshire schools in July’s English schools national championships;

Jodie Burrage, a member of Elstead Lawn Tennis Club and the Chiswick David Lloyd Tennis Centre, received the Nick Chilton award given in memory of the first HSA managing director. Ranked No. 2 in GB U16 and No. 8 in U18s, she played for GB in the U16 winter cup team and in the summer cup team in Hungary.

Three dinghy sailor brothers, who are members of Frensham Pond Sailing Club, also won awards – Jake Thompson, 11, was ranked 13th nationally in his age group in 2014 and competed in the world championships cadet class in August; Johnny Thompson, 13, ranked 14th nationally in 2014 at U16 and fourth at U13, and competed in the European championships in July; Ross Thompson, 15, was selected for Team GB for the world championships in Japan and attended the French International 420 championships with the GB transition squad.

Mr Grimes said: “I am sure you will all agree our 10 award winners have amazing potential and HSA is privileged to be able to offer each of them this support to help them achieve their dreams. We wish each and everyone one of them every success in the future.”

Sport Haslemere chairman Iain Lynch led the tributes to the winners of the Sport Haslemere Awards, which included two inspirational older members of Haslemere Borders Athletics Club.

Sally Goble won Sports Personality of the Year for her remarkable performances in long- distance running, cycling and Triathlon. The winner of many prizes in 2015, she also came third for her age in the London Marathon in 3hrs 4mins, was part of the winning women’s cycle team at the 100-mile Prudential Cycle race and represented GB in her age group in the Triathlon championship, in Chicago, in September.

Blind runner Deborah Impiazzi, also of a certain age, successfully set herself the challenge of competing in the Gibbet Hill 10k this year after just running on a treadmill. Helped by specially trained fellow club members acting as guides, she took part in 5k park runs, completed her first road 10k in 66 minutes, and completed the cross-country Gibbet Hill run, in July, in 80 minutes.

Praising their achievements, club chairman Bob Monteath said: “The dedication both athletes have given to achieve their goals is amazing.”

Further Sport Haslemere award winners were Janice Worsfeld, Dan Allaway and Jonathan Barker, who received the Sports Initiative Award for setting up the inaugural Haslemere Bumpy Triathlon.

Applications for next year’s awards will be available in May 2016. Anyone interested in applying for a grant or any organisation interested in sponsoring one of the athletes can find more details at www.haslemere. com/sport