NORMALLY at this time, I would be reporting back on the Scottish Women in Sport annual awards dinner – telling you about the amazing food, delicious wine and wonderful company – and that’s what I am going to do this year, too.
Our seventh annual awards were held online on Thursday and the food was cooked at home, to instructions on YouTube from Scott van der Hoek, head chef at The Corinthian. We also enjoyed a delicious cocktail, created for us by Edrington Beam Suntory.
As per the normal format, we had two amazing guests. One was a pre-record which Alison Walker did with the wonderful Kathrine Switzer, the first women to run the Boston Marathon in 1967. The other guest, live courtesy of Zoom, was Sue Strachan, the first female president of Cricket Scotland. We threw in some great music from the extremely talented Glasgow artist Sharon Martin and presented 10 awards, again live through the medium of the internet.
Controlling the technical side was our partner the University of the West of Scotland and in particular its Arts and Media Division of its School of Business and Creative Industries. They did a wonderful job for us.
We also managed a quick live chat with Laura Muir as she picked up the MG Alba Sportswoman of the Year award. Our quick look back on the year was a quirky video showcasing some of the ways athletes had stayed fit and in training during lockdown.
Everything from the night is available on our YouTube channel. With winners from South Lanarkshire Active Schools, athletics, golf, archery, judo, para-swimming, as well as an award for Dunblane High School, it was a great night for all. A huge thanks to all our category sponsors who took a leap of faith in supporting us in this very difficult year. The feedback has been amazing, but I hope it was our first and last virtual awards.
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