Microgaming Play It Forward is the headline sponsor for the 2017 Isle of Man Sports Awards event that is due to take place on Thursday, 1st March 2018 at the Villa Marina’s Royal Hall.
Although there are several familiar names among the shortlist for the event, there are also a few lesser-known individuals and teams.
The Sportsman of the Year award category will be contested between World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea, Enduro E2 World Champion runner-up Jamie McCanney, Celtic FC and Scotland national team footballer Kieran Tierney, athletics record-breaker Joe Reid, TT podium men Dan Kneen and Lee Cain, Parish Walk winner Liam Parker and European Under-23 Track Cycling champion Matthew Bostock.
Included in the Sportswoman of the Year category are British 50m and 200m women’s butterfly swimming champion Charlotte Atkinson, U23 women’s time trial champion cyclist Anna Christian, multi-medal winning Island Games gymnast Tara Donnelly, international triathlete Hannah Howitt, England race walking medalist Erika Kelly and Island Games athletics team captain, Hannah Riley.
Other categories that are contested are Under-21 sportsman, Under-21 sportswoman, team, coach, sports administrator, Isle of Man Ambassador, veteran sportsperson and disability sportsperson.
The Sports Awards committee selects the recipient of the Lifetime Achievements Award. There is no shortlist for this category.
The Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards will be presented by the Microgaming Play It Forward program while each of the other categories is sponsored by a local company or organization.
Isle of Man Sport’s executive chairman, Gary Corkhill, commented that nominations opened in December and the Manx public have shown their support for the event with a fantastic number of nominations. He went on to say that the shortlisting process is always a difficult task for the committee, with the Isle of Man having so many sporting success stories throughout the year.
