Lesbilicious - the web’s tastiest lesbian magazine

Lesbian and gay athletes will gather in Manchester for a gala evening later this month ahead of the annual Pride Games in June.

Hundreds will attend the award show to celebrate achievements by gay sportspeople in the North West of England.

The event, due to be held at Manchester’s Ramada Piccadilly hotel on 18 February, is organised by Pride Sports, the UK’s LGBT sports organisation.

The LGBT Community Sports Awards currently only serves the North West of the country, mainly due to the larger number of LGBT sports clubs in the region, however, organisers are hoping to make it a national event in the next few years.

Founding director of Pride Sports Lou Englefield told Lesbilicious.co.uk that she thought the event would get “bigger and better” through joint work with the National LGBT Sports Network.

“In two years, we have developed from a small, local organisation delivering an annual multi-sports festival, to an organisation with national significance working with key partners throughout the UK to challenge homophobia and increase the participation of LGBTs and make their participation in sport visible,” she said.

According to Englefield, it is “very important” that there are ‘out’ gay people in sport to provide role models for younger athletes.

However, she condemned the act of ‘outing’ gay people in the media. “What kind of role models do we create by forcing people to come out?” she said.

Six awards are up for grabs at the ceremony in the following categories:

• Male Sports Achiever of the Year (sponsored by the Lesbian & Gay Foundation): Jonathan Guildford (Manchester Frontrunners); Paul Smith (Northern Wave Swimming Club)
• Female Sports Achiever of the Year (sponsored by the Lesbian Community Project): Lizzie Bellinger (Northern Wave Swimming Club)
• Coach of the Year (sponsored by Manchester Leisure): Dave Taylor (Gay Gordons); Anna Verges Bausili (Slam Dunkin’ Divas)
• Volunteer of the Year (sponsored by Proud City Co-op): Dave Taylor (Gay Gordons); Hana Kubacova (Northern Wave Swimming Club)
• Community Investor of the Year (sponsored by the BikeRight! Company): AXM, Up and Running and City Life
• Club of the Year (sponsored by Pride Sports): Northern Aces; Slam Dunkin’ Divas; Manchester Village Spartans Rugby; Manchester Sharks; Open Athletics; Manchester Frontrunners; Northern Wave Swimming Club; Village Manchester Football Club

The Pride Games, also organised by Pride Sports, are being held from 5-13 June. For more information on the awards and the games, visit the Pride Sports website.

Posted in: Events |