Bradford Sports Awards able to cheer up any old misery guts

It felt like a catalogue of gripes had been happening from the moment I woke up and decided to do a full day at work, before attending the Bradford Sports Awards that night.

Thirteen-hour shift? Yeah, smart idea Nath.

If the 8:30-5:30 was not much fun, then the 5:30-6:30 had me simmering on a low boil.

My walk down to Kirkstall Forge train station saw me combine two of my worst habits, running late and carrying all my essentials in my hand instead of putting them in my pockets.

Made the train? Just. Managed to safely transport my headphones without dropping them en route? Nope.

Annoying, but at least the journey was a short one to Bradford Forster Square.

Or it would have been, had I not decided to celebrate changing at Shipley by heading to the wrong platform.

ALL the Shipley to Forster Square trains go from platform four, right?

Not this time, as I sat like a lemon wondering where on earth the 6:02 was, until I saw it pulling away from platform 5 while I was sat 200 metres away.

Sat in a huff at Shipley, knowing I was now likely to be late for the awards, the steam I was producing was enough to condense the windows of the waiting lounge,

It also meant having to pay for a taxi once I arrived at Forster Square, when I’d planned to walk to Life Centre Events for free.

And an unfortunate mix-up in planning meant my magnificent moustachioed colleague Bill Marshall and I were not given a table to sit on for the awards, so we were stood at the back of the room looking like a rubbish Men in Black tribute for half an hour.

But luckily a few seats were free on the table in front of us and the night picked up from there.

And just four hours after arriving in a funk, I left feeling on cloud nine, all thanks to a brilliant night celebrating the finest Bradford sport has to offer.

Bill and I recorded a host of interviews with the award winners, and I spoke to 15-year-old pair Gina Bene-Hamill and Siobhan Haley, winners of the Young Sportswoman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively.

Both have already competed on the European and world stage, but that’s nothing to do with having a silver spoon in their mouths.

Gina, who dedicates herself to hours of training at Horizon Taekwondo Keighley, has been one of the brightest young female talents in England at the sport for years now, and should be competitive at the Junior World Championships in Korea later this year.

Gina Bene-Hamill is one of Britain's biggest taekwondo hopes for the future. (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

But yet she is battling an injury that would be terrifying for anyone, let alone a youngster of 15.

She suffered a concussion last October and has not been able to fight since then.

Many would have called it a day after that, but not Gina, who has trained and trained despite her injury, doing whatever she can before she gets back to doing what she does best, taking opponents down on the mat.

As for Siobhan, she was feeling let down by her old boxing club, so showed some impressive initiative, at only 13, to pack her bags and head to Platinum in Queensbury to improve her skills.

And how they have improved, with Siobhan heading out to Bosnia next month to compete at the Junior European Championships for England.

If she wins a medal there, very doable given her track record, her trophy cabinet will be fit to burst, after national, British and European success already in her short career.

Siobhan is one of only two Yorkshire boxers to be representing England out in Sarajevo, and this young woman, from the little village of Tyersal, has all the potential to be a major player on the global boxing stage over the next two decades.

There were inspiring stories wherever you looked in BD3 last Friday, including for Bradford Keighley and Skipton Disability Athletics, winners of the Club Amateur Participation award, who finally have a proper training venue for their talented youngsters to shine at, having been turned down by places previously.

There were some joyous moments on stage when Bradford Keighley and Skipton Disability Athletics went up to collect their award. (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

And there was not a dry eye in the house when Ian Rose, chief medic at Beanland Taekwondo, who dedicates so much time and money to the sport both in Keighley and for England, was handed the Special Recognition prize.

His was the final award of the evening, and it was an emotional moment, with his victory coming just months after being diagnosed with cancer.

And then there was Nalette Tucker, the coach of the year, who gives her fellow Muslim women in Bradford an outlet to play sports, when that opportunity has not always been apparent in the city.

Bradford has its knockers, its doubters, its haters, but its sporting scene is in rude health and long may that continue.

Safe to say, my journey home at 11pm was far more enjoyable than the one in five hours earlier…