UNDER-16 OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARD

Highly commended:

Paul Horsley : a 15-year-old pupil at Eastbourne School in Darlington, Paul has developed from a regional children's champion in Taekwondo to become the current national junior number one seed. He represented Great Britain in the world championships in Ireland.

Steven Rodriquez Bonilla : Steven also represented Great Britain in the Taekwondo Junior World Championships in Ireland last week and did really well. He was also Teesdale's Sports Person of the Year.

Emma Pledge : Emma, from Richmondshire, is the Under-16s North girls' hockey captain and represented England, winning the Home Nations Tournament. She regularly coaches juniors in her spare time and is said to be a shining example of modesty and sportsmanship.

WINNER

Bradley Saunders.

(Spennymoor Boxing Club) - at 14 has been the British schoolboy champion for two years, fought for England six times, unbeaten for two years and an Olympic hopeful for 2004.

OVER-16 OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARD

Highly commended:

Dan Brooks : Dan has had an outstanding year both as an individual and as a member of Richmond and Zetland Harriers, setting personal bests, encouraging his team-mates to promotion and ending the season as world double decathlon champion and British record holder.

Stephen Brooks : Stephen, from Spennymoor, is the North-East's strongest man, he is the second strongest man in Britain and ranked 10th in the world.

Paul Rowntree : in his 10th season with Billingham Town FC. He's played over 400 games, and scored over 300 goals.

WINNER

Nicola Jackson.

A multi-junior and senior Great Britain record-holder, part of the world record 4x 200metres freestyle team. Selected for the Sydney Olympics team and set a personal best at the Olympics.

UNDER-16 SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT

Highly commended:

Aidan Dees : Aidan is 11 and for the last four years he has played football in all weathers for Durham City Boys, Durham County Boys, St Margaret's School in Durham and now Durham Johnston School. He was nominated for showing great dedication to his sport.

WINNER

Richard Lawson.

Richard has haemophilia, a severe bleeding disorder which usually prevents boys from actively participating in sport. Despite this, he gained a black belt in taisudo. He also plays roller hockey and at 11 years was voted the best under-14 netminder in a national league.

OVER-16 SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT

Highly commended:

Debbie Keeley : Debbie is the current under-17 figure skating champion and has won four national series competitions already this year. She has to travel from Teesside to Nottingham to train and is an England sports ambassador, visiting schools.

Joanne Little : Joanne has been riding since she was three, gaining many distinctions and was chosen to ride for England in an international competition in Germany.

Alan Davidson : lan cycled from Lands End to John o'Groats on his own with no back-up at all and raised £950 for the Butterwick Hospice at Stockton.

WINNER

Steven Grey.

In 1990, Steven broke his back in three places. He has built up the muscles through sheer hard work and won British and European power-lifting titles five years in a row. He's also been world champion three times as well as raising over £1,000 for local charities. On the day of the Local Heroes awards, Steven had just flown back from Las Vegas where he had won two silver medals in this year's world championships.

OVER-16 UNSUNG HERO AWARD

Highly commended:

Eric Jolly,Horden cricket club : Eric is secretary and team manager of Horden cricket club in the Durham Senior League. He gets club handbooks printed, arranges sponsors, rolls the wicket, mops up after the rain and sometimes even makes the tea.

Ian Hayman, Darlington Spraire Lads : Ian has led by example as captain of Darlington Spraire Lads under 18s football team. Although the team struggled on the field, the spirit was second to none. He has also turned up to help paint new goals and changing rooms and encouraged others to help.

WINNER

David Scott.

Set up Spraire Lads 18 years ago. There are now 20 teams, with Dave in overall charge as club secretary. He also runs the under 8s and three girls' teams. Dave recently won a service to sport award and helped Spraire win the club of the year award in recognition of the club's administration and help given to the Teesside junior alliance.

UNDER-18 TEAM AWARD

Highly commended:

Richmond school hockey team : the team worked and trained hard to reach the national semi-finals of the English Hockey Association Under-15 cup.

Durham Johnston girls under-12 5-a-side football team : they practise relentlessly every lunchtime for four months, overcoming restricted indoor faciltiies. They won three cups and became national schools runners-up. They also raised £145 for charity against Radio Metro DJs.

Marske CC Juniors : playing in the North Yorkshire Area Cricket Council leagues. They were league and cup winners in the under-11s section, the under-13s and the under-15s.

WINNERS

Chester-le-Street girls six-a-side team.

In August, nine girls from Chester-le-Street won a county competition to represent Durham at the Millennium Youth Games in Southampton. Over 700 children took part and the girls were the only North-East team to win gold.

OVER-18 TEAM AWARD

Highly commended:

Teesside Mohawks Basketball Club : Teesside Mohawks won the basketball treble last year - the only North-East team to go to Wembley and win. They also raised the profile of basketball off court with the continued effectiveness of the coaching in schools "Reach for Success" project in conjunction with Cleveland Police.

Durham County Men's A Bowls : for the first time since the inauguration of the Durham Bowling Association in 1922, the A team have won the inter county Middleton Cup. In the last few years, much hard work and effort has been put into achieving this feat.

Bedale cricket club : the club won both the 2nd and 4th division titles in their first year in the NYSD League. The team remained unbeaten throughout the 2000 season - a fantastic achievement.

WINNERS

Middleton St George CC.

This season they have won the Darlington and District League Division a for the third year running. They entered nine local knockout competitions, winning seven of them.

THE GAME FOR A LAUGH BACKTRACK AWARD

(nominated by Mike Amos)

WINNER

Peter Lax. Served local sport in Billingham for 50 years and has been a valued member of the Northern League management committee since 1988. He played both cricket and football with Billingham Synthonia and had football trials with England schools. As an administrator, he's held every possible position with the Synners but his greatest gift is his warm personality and ability to make others laugh.

OVERALL LOCAL HERO OF 2000

Steven Grey

Steven embodies the very spirit of sportsmanship. Some people have it easy - he certainly didn't. To say he's overcome adversity to be a winner is an understatement. Ten years ago, the Harrogate-based army staff sergeant broke his back in three places during a gymnastics display in front of 6,000 people and was left wondering what the future might hold. But he didn't let it beat him. He fought back, displaying unbelievable courage and dedication. As part of his campaign to recover his fitness, he began to work with weights -and discovered he was rather good at it. He entered a power lifting competition and promptly broke all British records. He can lift three times his own body weight and has won British titles, European titles and World titles.