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Leeds Beckett University winners honoured at 2021 Leeds Sports Awards
Leeds Rhinos’ Director of Rugby, Kevin Sinfield MBE, received the Sporting Pride of Leeds award in honour of his incredible charity work around Motor Neurone Disease.
Supported by academics from the Carnegie School of Sport Kevin raised more than £2.7 million for the MND Foundation in 2020. He took on the challenge of running seven marathons in seven days after his former Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow was diagnosed with the disease in 2019.
Former Leeds Beckett University Rugby League Head Coach Paul Fletcher was the recipient of the Outstanding Service to Sport award in recognition of his contribution to the game over almost three decades.
Paul, who coached Kevin and Rob in their development years at the club, retired in 2020. Throughout his career he was instrumental in developing the next generation of stars in Leeds. His time in charge at Leeds Beckett, where he guided the team to the BUCS Championship final in all of his 15 seasons, was unrivalled.
Triathlete Georgia Taylor-Brown received the Sportswoman of the Year award after a stellar year competing in the World Triathlon Series. 2020 saw her rank as joint top in the world and qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Team GB team.
Leeds Beckett Head of Strength & Conditioning Dane Mitchell was highly commended in the Coach: Performance category, which saw Leeds United Head Coach Marcelo Bielsa win the award.
Other highly commended Leeds Beckett nominees included graduate Tom Bosworth (Sportsman of the Year), Leeds Beckett Talent Hub athlete Beth Potter (Sportswoman of the Year), and the Carnegie American Football team (Student Team: Participation).
Graduates Alistair Brownlee MBE and Bronwen Owen were recognised as finalists in the Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year categories, respectively, alongside Leeds Beckett University Tennis Club (Student Sport: Performance), and LBU partners Triathlon Leeds (Club/Team Performance).
The awards were broadcast live on Leeds TV.
2021 Leeds Sports Awards winners
- Sporting Pride of Leeds – Kevin Sinfield MBE
- Outstanding Service to Sport – Paul Fletcher
- Sportswoman of the Year – Georgia Taylor-Brown
- Sportsman of the Year – Tom Pidcock and Kalvin Phillips
- Club/Team – Performance – Leeds United
- Coach - Performance - Marcelo Bielsa
- Sportswoman Disability – Hannah Cockroft MBE
- Sportsman Disability – James Simpson
- Student Sport – Participation – University of Leeds Women’s Rugby Union
- Student Sport – Performance – Charlotte McGuinness (Leeds Trinity)