The Junior Sportsperson of the Year category will be hotly contested at this year’s Medway Sports Awards.

An impressive array of young sporting talent has been nominated for the award with the winner announced at the ceremony this Friday, December 16.

The Medway Sports Awards sponsored by Bellway are organised by Medway Council and supported by the Medway Messenger. The awards cover achievements during the period October 1, 2018 to October 31, 2022. Special guest at the awards this year will be former England footballer Chris Waddle.

Here’s some of the nominations for Junior Sportsperson of the Year, with the winner being revealed on the evening along with all the other award winners.

Seventeen-year-old Enriko Itauma has been boxing since aged nine. He has won every domestic and international competition he has competed in, including several national titles and three European gold medals and a world title last month.

His coach said he had “seen first-hand, the commitment, determination, dedication and sacrifices that he has been through to achieve what he has in the sport of boxing”.

He represented England early in the year at the European Youth Championships and was nominated as boxer of the tournament, finishing each bout up to and including the final inside the first round. The super heavyweight was then selected for last month’s World Youth Boxing Championships in Spain - where he once again clinched victory.

Brooke Turner has emerged as one of the south region’s best under-13 girl basketball players.

Having been selected to attend the Super South basketball camps, she was then picked to represent the area at the national All-Star tournament in Manchester, where the team finished runners-up.

At Kent Crusaders she was voted MVP for the under-12s and also enjoyed success playing up in the under-14s. Described by her coach as “a talented player who is committed and passionate about her development,” she was voted Young Crusader of the Year at her club, from 150 members.

Swimmer Callum Farrow, 16, has been nominated for his exceptional achievements over the season, securing two podium places in the 2022 Swim England National Summer Championships, winning silver and bronze medals for 50m and 100m breaststroke with new personal best and club record times placing him 15th and 16th in Great Britain.

He has broken a number of all-time club records at the Black Lion Swimming Club while leading by example as vice-club captain. It took two attempts to get admitted into the Medway club, but by showing passion and drive, he has worked his way up from county level to British level. He is also a qualified lifeguard.

Ella Bahamondes-Tedham, 13, has shown total commitment to her trampolining, training eight times a week! She is part of the GB development squad and national success led to her competing for the British team at the World Age Group Championships last month.

She trains at the Jumpers Rebound Centre after moving there three years ago from Ashford and the family have recently moved to the area.

They were travelling for each two-hour session before her mum purchased a camper van to sit in the car park whilst she was training to save the trip back and forth as she has twin siblings.

Zak Kirnon, 11, is ranked in the top-20 for the UK in his age group and is a leading player in the county, winning through to the top-16 in the National Championships in Nottingham this year. He has been winning competitions throughout Kent and the south east. He trains at the Avenue Tennis Centre, where he has been since the age of seven. He gets up early every morning to stretch and exercise as well as training in the early hours with his twin brother.

Sean Barwick, 19, regularly sets personal bests, competing from 5k to full marathons. Sean has been a sportsman for many years, including football, and in recent years took up running.

Some of his recent achievements include a third-place at the Saxon Shore Half- Marathon despite an injury, multiple parkrun wins, a top-500 finish at the Brighton Marathon, third at the Bedgebury Half-Marathon and first overall at the Medway Sport 5k series.

BMX racer Reuben Smith has been a regular in the pages of the Medway Messenger for his exploits, competing at national and regional level, as well as representing Great Britain at the World BMX Championships.

He supports local community events and helped with organising the opening of Gillingham’s Pump Track. Reuben, racing since the age of seven, is passionate and trains very hard.

He’s had several fractures and setbacks - he is recovering from a third broken collarbone - and despite having several medical conditions he has carried on making amazing progress.

Cameron Arnold is 17 and has made great progress since joining the Medway Roller Dance Club aged six, now going on to represent Great Britain.

She was placed second in the UK National Championships for her age group in 2022. This success has resulted in her representing GB at the European Championships in Andorra and in Argentina at the World Roller Games.

Elliott Cole, 14, quickly showed an affinity to the sport of Jiu Jitsu and has achieved a great deal of success, competing at home and abroad, learning his techniques at the Combat Sports Academy in Strood.

While achieving medals he has been a great team-mate to help others, becoming a teaching assistant. He is the club’s highest-level junior BJJ athlete and has embraced taking on the adults.

Matthew Bell captained the Invicta Colts under-18s’ ice hockey team during the 2021/22 season as they won their league title, encouraging his team-mates with his positive attitude.

He was named coaches’ player of the year and claimed the Danny Terry Personality Award, given to a player that demonstrates pride, passion, commitment and teamwork, while doing it with a smile.

Now a senior with the Invicta Mustangs, the defenceman agreed a two-way contract with the Dynamos this season and made his first appearance for them in the NIHL South Division 1 this term.

Swimmer Albert Branch, 17, has been accepted on the Swim England Diploma in Sporting Excellence at Loughborough College, in addition to training for 15 hours a week, including early morning training sessions before school at Holcombe Grammar.

He’s a regular competitor at national events, attending his first British championship aged 14. His journey began as an 11-year-old at Black Lion SC, showing his determination by winning a place in the team nine months after his first trial was unsuccessful.

He has swam heats alongside Olympic gold medallist James Guy and been ranked in the top-10 for Britain for his age group in the 200m butterfly and 11th in 100m butterfly.

Gymnast Oakley Banks, 17, trains between 24 and 34 hours a week and even more before competing, while still managing to fit in schoolwork and studying for his A levels at The Howard School in Rainham.

He is currently on track to be considered for the 2028 Olympics after a long list of success. Starting out at the Gillingham Gymnastics Club, Banks is now at the Pegasus club, training alongside some of Britain’s top athletes. He picked up a bronze team medal representing Great Britain at the Junior European Championships in August this year and a silver at the European Youth Olympics in Slovakia.

Ten-year-old triathlete Kate Yepez was selected to represent the South East at the London Cycle Park for the Interregional Competition last month after a year of consistent success.

The Tunbury Primary School pupil only started out in the sport in August last year and is now part of the Medway Tri club, looking to improve on all three disciplines, having previously swam for Black Lion SC. From captaining her school to success at the Mini Youth Games, she has gone onto pick up numerous medals including first places at the Brighton tri and aquathlons at Ashburnham and Billingshurst.

Powerboat racer George Elmore is already a three-time British champion at the age of 17.

He missed out on a podium finish only once in 2022, taking third place in the British Championship while securing this year’s GT30 British Sprint Championship, to accompany his 2021 British GT30 championship title and 2018 GT15 British RYA Championship success. Only recently he was competing for British and World record speeds during the Coniston Powerboat Records Week.

Lauren Mitchell, 15, is another successful athlete from the Medway Tri club and has been selected for the England Next Generation performance academy.

She is the British Triathlon Super Series 2022 overall Youth A champion, a stunning achievement after a remarkable season where she picked up number of wins and was a European Youth silver medallist at the European Triathlon Youth Championships representing Team GB.

Junior head coach at MedwayTri, Dean Painter, described her as a “special athlete,” adding: “For sure she has her own fair share of natural talent. But what sets her apart is her work ethic together with an insatiable desire to do and be her very best.”

Sophie Molton picked up a rugby ball for the first time four years ago and has made a rapid progression, culminating in an appearance for Premiership side Harlequins at the age of 18. In September she was called up to the England under-20 training camp.

She came through the ranks at Medway RFC, starting out in the under-15s and representing Kent while going onto co-captain the under-18 Medway side and picking up the 2021/22 coaches’ player-of-the-year award. An invitation to play in a summer sevens tournament opened up the door to join Harlequins, as her coach then, Amy Turner, took over a women’s team coach at the top flight side and invited her in.

The Medals have been non-stop for 13-year-old gymnast Natalie Pieno.

During this year, the Fort Pitt Grammar School pupil has competed in numerous events and was a winner at the Acrobatic Swifts event in October having earlier in the year taken third and fourth placed finishes and a second at the Acrobatics Hollington competition in February. At the Mike Walker Invitational she finished fourth in Grade 5 WG balance and WG Dynamic.

Another Fort Pitt Grammar School pupil enjoying notable success is Cara Neal, also 13.

A qualified open water swimmer from the age of nine, during 2021/22 she qualified for the English National Swimming Championships in two events, claiming a podium place in the 200m breaststroke. She has also been selected as one of the Swim England National Age Group talent pathway swimmers.

She was the winner of the 13-year-old MVP award at the World School games swimming competition, qualified for Kent County swimming championships in every event she swam, was the winner of the age group cup, the Junior Medley Cup and joint winner (with a 17-year-old boy) of the open 200m breaststroke trophy at the Sevenoaks Club championships. Additionally she has qualified for Winter Regional Championships (short course) in six events.