The Hampshire Schools Sports Federation celebrated the 25th anniversary of its annual Michael Austin Harlick Awards – a Celebration of Sporting Success in Hampshire – with its popular presentation evening in the Ashburton Hall, Winchester.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, and chair of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Colin Davidovitz, attended the ceremony, when awards were presented to 17 aspiring youngsters from across the sporting spectrum.

There were also long service awards to Geoff Salter and Eileen Williams, stalwarts in schools’ soccer and athletics respectively.

The Hampshire Schools Sport Federation is made up of 18 individual School Sports Associations, each association is invited to make their nominations for the awards that were presented in Winchester.

In his address to a packed audience, Roy Gittens, programme manager (PE & Sport), Hampshire County Council Children’s Services, said: “I always leave it up to our guests to make their own judgement on the levels of achievement reached by the recipients of the awards; the result of talent, combined with long hours of hard work and dedication.

“Importantly, most if not all will have been supported by volunteers, coaches, teachers and parents, without whose help these achievements would not be possible.

“Often, however, the sporting achievements of young people go unnoticed and therefore the main aim of the annual presentation evening is to celebrate the successes of Hampshire’s young people as the county plays its part in the legacy of London 2012 by continuing to nurture and support the champions of tomorrow.”

Mr Gittens reminded guests at the ceremony that school sport continued to play a pivotal role in the development of young people generally and as a pathway to county, national and international representation.

“The importance of school sport is often under estimated and as a nation we do so at our peril – national squads do not just materialise, but are born out of grass root development in schools,” he pointed out.

“The role of the Hampshire Schools Sports Federation will be to continue to provide the support needed to ensure that school sport is recognised for the vital part it plays in producing the champions of tomorrow, and to celebrate and highlight the outstanding success of young people in their own right.

“The Federation, which is run entirely by volunteers, is grant aided by Hampshire County Council, and school sports associations within Southampton and Portsmouth, without whose support, it would be unable to function.”

Mr Gittens thanked all the young people, parents, teachers and coaches, not only for supporting the presentation evening, but for the hours they give voluntarily, without which there would be little or no school sport.

There's a superb six-page review of the awards with pictures of all the winners in this weekend’s Sports Pink, which is available now - don’t miss it!