Female cricketer Anisa Mohammed bowled over the Ministry of Sport's Spirit of Sport Awards (SOSA) on Monday night at the Hyatt Regency Hotel ballroom in Port of Spain, grabbing three awards out of six nominations.
The West Indies off-spinner—who went toe to toe with the night's other big winner, sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste, in five categories—ran away with the Breakthrough Athlete, Record Breaking Performance and Most Consistent Performer accolades in front of a packed audience at the Hyatt, as well as television viewers.
Baptiste also took home three awards from her six nominations, including Best Team—shared with her Trinidad and Tobago 4x100-metre relay teammates for their fourth place finish in the 2011 World Championships in South Korea—and the most coveted Sport Performance of the Year category, along with the Best Female Athlete prize.
Cricket was another big winner on the night.
Apart from Mohammed, T&T and West Indies batsman Darren Bravo picked up the Male Athlete of the Year award for his impressive showing in Tests, while fellow West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons got the nod for Comeback Performance of the Year.
West Indies women's cricket manager and T&T women's coach Marjorie Thomas was chosen as Best Coach/Manager.
And Brian Lara edged out ex-T&T cricket captain Daren Ganga and footballer Kenwyne Jones as Athlete Philantropist of the Year.
The public went with St Anthony's College's football team for their record-breaking, perfect 2011 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season in the Sport Personality of the Year (People's Choice) award, ahead of Baptiste, Mohammed and blind powerlifter, Carlos Greene.
However, Greene returned to lift the award for Best Athlete with a Disability (Physical), while the Best Athlete with a Disability (Intellectual) was equestrian's Shaddai Simon, T&T's first ever Special Olympics gold medallist.
Atlantic edged out two other heavyweights, Republic Bank and First Citizens, for top Corporate Champion.
The SOSA officials also took time to acknowledge the contributions of former weightlifter Rodney Wilkes—T&T's first Olympic medallist—with a Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Ultimate Fan award went posthumously to renowned broadcaster Allyson Hennessy, who led by example with her unwavering enthusiasm for local sport and culture.
Lara, also a close friend of Hennessy's—he presented the award to her sister Rosemary Hezekiah—also paid tribute to the former Community Dateline host with a chant of "Bravo Allyson", which was enthusiastically echoed by the crowd.
The award will be renamed for Hennessy in subsequent SOSA editions.
Roxborough Police Youth Club (Best Community Group), Waterloo Institute of Soccer Players (Best Community Programme) and Allan Ramjass (Community Champion) all earned plaques for contributions to their respective communities.
Among the media, CCN captured both Best Journalist awards, with TV6's Paul Montano (electronic) and Express assistant editor Kwame Laurence (print) receiving the honours.
The Best Sport Photograph was shot by Trinidad Guardian's Anthony Harris, his winning shot entitled "Going for Goal".
2011 SOSA Honour Roll
Breakthrough Athlete - Anisa Mohammed (Cricket)
Record Breaking Performance - Anisa Mohammed (Cricket)
Comeback Performance - Lendl Simmons (Cricket)
Corporate Champion - Atlantic
Best Athlete with a Disability (Physical) - Carlos Greene (Powerlifting)
Best Athlete with a Disability (Intellectual) - Shaddai Simon (Equestrian)
Athlete Philanthropist - Brian Lara
Best Community Group - Roxborough Police Youth Club
Best Community Programme - Waterloo Institute of Soccer Players
Team - 4x100m Women's relay team
Male Athlete - Darren Bravo (Cricket)
Female Athlete - Kelly Ann Baptiste (Athletics)
Fan of the Year - Allyson Hennessy
Sport Personality (People's Choice) - St. Anthony's College football team
Lifetime Achievement - Rodney Wilkes
Sport Performance of the Year - Kelly Ann Baptiste
Community Champion - Allan Ramjass (Carapichaima)
Best Journalist (Print) - Kwame Laurence (Trinidad Express)
Best Journalist (Electronic) - Paul Montano (CCN TV6)
Best Sport Photograph - Anthony Harris ("Going for Goal"—Trinidad Guardian)
Best Coach/Manager - Marjorie Thomas (Cricket)
Most Consistent Performer - Anisa Mohammed (Cricket)
By Kern De Freitas
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com