BEDSA 2019 Awards Finalists

It's that time of the year... The annual BEDSA Awards are here, and will be taking place on Saturday 6th April at the Hilton Hotel T5, Heathrow, London.

The Awards are designed to recognise and celebrate the contribution of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in sport and physical activity.

The Sporting Equals Awards aim to create a positive impact towards the sport sector, where more role models from diverse communities in various sports are a priority to increase participation.

The award categories include Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, Inspirational Performance of the Year, Young Sports Person of the Year and community awards such as the Community Sports Project of the Year.

Previous BEDSA winners include England cricketer Moeen Ali, Rugby superstar Maro Itoje, Mo Farah, former heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, gymnast Rebecca Downie and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

The finalists have now been announced for this year's BEDSAs. These include:

Young Sports Person of the Year

Aaliyah Powell

Taekwondo fighter Aaliyah Powell became a Junior World Champion in April 2018 at just 15-years-old. The athlete clinched the -46kg title after winning a silver medal at the Junior European Championships and winning back to back Dutch Open Championships. 

Caroline Dubois

Caroline Dubois is a two-time European champion and continued her sensational form in 2018, regarded as one of the most promising boxing prospects of her generation, Caroline Dubois lived up to her billing at the Youth Olympic Games on her way to gold in 2018. 

Kare Adenegan

Kare Adenegan beat fellow Briton Hannah Cockroft to win T34 100m gold at the World Para-athletics European Championships in Berlin. In addition to this achievement she finished in with a time of 17.38 seconds taking the World Record.

Coach of the Year Award

Haj Bhania

Haj Bhania, is the Head Coach of the Great Britain Senior Men's team at British Wheelchair Basketball.  Under his leadership, in 2018, the GB men's team brought home the nation's first senior World Championships title.

Lorna Booth

Lorna Boothe is a former double Olympian and Commonwealth Gold and Silver medallist in 100m Hurdles. Boothe coached 100m hurdles specialist Marcia Sey to the final of the European Youth Championships in Gyor, Hungary, finishing in fourth place. Lorna was also the lead speed coach for Team England at Commonwealth Games.

Jonas Dodoo

Jonas looks after three sprints squads in London. Jonas has coached Reece Prescod who won a Silver medal at European championships in 2018, Daryl Neita who won relay Gold in 2018 and CJ Ujah who won gold relay too. 

Sportsman of the Year Award

Galal Yafai

From factory labourer to one of British boxing's most exciting young prospects, Galal made his Commonwealth Games debut on the Gold Coast where he won gold in the men's light fly category. He was forced to work overtime to defeat India's tough Amit and claim the gold medal.

Raheem Sterling

2018 was an exceptional year for Raheem Sterling who secured the Premier Title with Manchester City and the English League Cup scoring 23 goals in all competitions. Raheem was also selected as part of England World Cup Squad achieving a semi-final finish. 

Ranvir Singh

Even after breaking his nose in the first match of the British Championships, Ranvir Singh continued to wrestle. He never gave up and beat his opponent on points to become the first British Senior Champion of Slough Wrestling Club.

Sportswoman of the Year Award

Kare Adenegan

Kare Adenegan beat fellow Briton Hannah Cockroft to win T34 100m gold at the World Para-athletics European Championships in Berlin. In addition to this achievement she finished in with a time of 17.38 seconds taking the World Record.

Dina Asher-Smith

Dina Asher-Smith is the 2018 European champion at 200 metres and the 2018 European champion at 100 metres and Commonwealth Bronze Medallist. She holds the British records in the 100 and 200 metres, and was named women's European Athlete of the Year.

Ama Agbeze

Ama Agbeze was deservedly inducted into the England Netball Hall of Fame in testament to her contribution to netball in England. Ama was named captain of the England netball team and led them to their historic gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Inspirational Performance of the Year Award

Ranvir Singh

Even after breaking his nose in the first match of the British Championships, Ranvir Singh continued to wrestle. He never gave up and beat his opponent on points to become the first British Senior Champion of Slough Wrestling Club.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson

2018 was an amazing year for Katarina Johnson-Thompson - at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham she won Gold in the Pentathlon and won Gold at the Commonwealth games in the Heptathlon. 

Ali Jawad

Ali Jawad is a British Paralympic powerlifter, he battled Crohns disease to win Commonwealth Bronze in the Gold Coast 2018 after only 8 weeks back and incredibly won gold at the European Championships in France 6 weeks later.

Sport England Community Sport Project of the Year

Pro Touch SA

Pro Touch SA is delivering several community projects targeting BAME children/young people across several London Boroughs. The projects are engaging with over 20 nationalities and 5 faith groups, and delivering a range of sports including Fencing and Tennis.

Bolly Cric-Hit

Bolly Cric-Hit has been designed to engage more women to be active in a fun way and by introducing them to cricket in an exciting format.

GirlDreamer: Boarders without Borders

GirlDreamer have taken a group of young women aged 16-25 from different ethnic minority backgrounds with little or no longboarding experience and formed the UK's first female, BAME longboarding crew. 

Lawn Tennis Association Community Project of the Year

British Muslim Heritage Centre (BMHC)

BMHC decided to take on a new and unchartered challenge of introducing SERVES to young people from diverse BAME backgrounds in Manchester - The project has engaged over 50 new young people.

Positive Youth Foundation

Since March 2018, Positive Youth Foundation have delivered weekly SERVES sessions to 221 young people, 74% of whom are from BAME communities. 

Young Hackney

Young Hackney allows young people to be given the opportunity to enjoy a sport they thought wasn't for them. For Hackney, SERVES has been a revelation. 

Spirit of 2012 Connecting Communities Award

GirlDreamer: Boarders without Borders

GirlDreamer have taken a group of young women aged 16-25 from different ethnic minority backgrounds with little or no longboarding experience and formed the UK's first female, BAME longboarding crew. 

Unity Gym

Unity Gym encourages people from different faiths, ethnicities and generations to mix in this diverse environment by training together and learning from each other.

Aik Saath

Aik Saath means Together As One - the organisation was established due to violence between young Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in Slough and works with all communities to strengthen cohesion and build relationships.

British Army Unsung Champion

Shaharun Nessa

Shaharun is a mother of 7 and a wife who also works, yet she still finds time to dedicate a minimum of 6 hours per week to offer netball to local women and girls. 

Harmander Singh

Harmander is well known in the running community and is part of the 100 Marathon Club. He has trained the oldest marathon runner in the world Fauja Singh.

Abdal Ahmed

As a dedicated football referee and community coach Abdal Ahmed has reached a milestone by refereeing two London FA football cup finals in succession.