More than 200 people cheered on the borough’s budding athletes as they were presented with awards for their achievements in sports over the past year at a ceremony in Hackney Town Hall on Wednesday 12 July.
The Young Hackney School and Youth Sports Unit’s Awards is an annual celebration. It recognises the sporting excellence of Hackney’s young people and aims to celebrate those who have not only participated in competitions but have also become sports leaders, coaches and officials.
Over 30 awards were presented by special guest Adam Gemili, Team GB Sprinter and three times European Champion.
One of the awards given was for sports personality of the year, which was awarded based on ‘passion, commitment, dedication, fair-play, leadership and resilience’ – this special award went to Zeniece Hall, 16, who alongside being a talented tennis player, also volunteers as a Young Hackney Sports Ambassador. She said: “I love competing. I like to challenge myself. I’ve been playing for nine years and I’m now competing at a national level, playing Grade 2 events here and abroad. I like to play as much as I can.”
Young Hackney Football Club was also recognised at the awards, after seeing their most successful season to date in 2017, winning the U14 Hackney Marsh Youth Football League Cup.
Darren Agu, 14, one of the U14 team members at the Young Hackney Football Club, said: “It feels amazing to win this award. We’ve come so far in two years. Before we didn’t attend training sessions, but now we’re much more motivated and dedicated … and I think that’s why we won the Cup this year.”
