Joe Coyd was the toast of the Towns after winning the big prize at the Medway Sports Awards.

Coyd walked away as Sportsperson of the Year at the awards ceremony held at Rochester’s Corn Exchange on Friday night.

The 25-year-old has led the way in wheelchair rugby league, playing a key role in England’s win over world champions France in 2019 and producing a man-of-the-match display during the subsequent whitewash win in Australia.

Coyd spends much of his time working with young disabled athletes, is a match official and also supports the game around the county. Most recently, he was part of England’s wheelchair rugby league World Cup-winning team.

“I genuinely didn’t expect this,” said Coyd. “There’s so many great athletes from Medway, in the room and not just the other nominations in this category.

“I was here 10 years ago and got a silver so it’s great to win this award.

“Medway Council has been brilliant in supporting wheelchair rugby league, I’m from Medway so it’s really special.”

Coyd edged out Shaunagh Brown, who took silver after success on the rugby field with England. Triathlete Nicola Lilley, who represents Great Britain on the world stage, won the bronze award.

Sporting excellence across Medway was recognised by the awards, which were sponsored by Bellway and organised by Medway Council, with the Medway Messenger official media partner.

The awards were hosted by Danusia Francis-Reid with special guests Chris Waddle and Georgia-Mae Fenton.

The judges, who included Charlotte Evans MBE and EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, found the Junior Sportsperson of the Year category the hardest to decide on.

They eventually plumped for boxer Enriko Itauma, whose brother Karol won the same honour four years ago. Enriko has won every domestic and international competition he has competed in, including several national titles and three European gold medals.

“My brother set the path and I’ve got to follow it,” said Enriko. “I had no idea I was going to win - I was told my coach had won an award and I was going to watch him get it!

“I set myself high targets - I’m going to try and be the youngest-ever world champion and beat Mike Tyson’s record.”

There were two new Hall of Fame inductees. Trampolinist Gary Smith, who was seventh at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was joined by Isaac Newell, the Strood boy who took football to Argentina back in 1869 - quite apt given the World Cup was won by that country less than 48 hours later.

Smith said: “The first time I came to these awards I was named Sportsperson of the Year. It’s nice to come back and see everyone, I’ve never really been away from Medway and my parents still live here.

“When I look back at 2004 now the thing that stands out the most was that I did my best and I could walk away feeling proud of that.”

The loudest cheer of the night was reserved for the Unsung Hero of the Year award, which went to the popular Jon Rye for his commitment to local sport, including Holcombe Hockey Club.

Award winners:

Team of the Year sponsored by Medway Messenger

Gold: Tornadoes Korfball Club and Academy. Silver: Chatham Town FC. Bronze: Medway City FC.

Tornadoes’ David Buckland said: “It’s an amazing honour for the club. We’ve been going for 18 years and now we’re on the big stage with the team in Europe and performing well.”

Junior Team of the Year sponsored by Bubble & Scruff

Gold: Medway Rugby Club under-18s girls. Silver: Medway Assassins Roller Hockey under-19s. Bronze: Kent Crusaders Basketball under-12s.

Medway captain Molly Errington said: “It’s a very big achievement. I captained 44 girls and we were putting out two teams every Sunday so it made me very proud.

“It was a rollercoaster and we had some battles but we pushed through that and won a lot of our games.

“We came back off tour and were South East rugby champions, that was the last game for me as under-18s so it meant a lot.”

Primary School of the Year sponsored by Greenacre Sports Partnership

Gold: Swingate Primary School. Silver: The Academy of Woodlands. Bronze: Lordswood School.

Deputy head Mary Clarke said: “We insisted in making sure that the children were as active as possible. It’s about keeping the children as healthy as possible.”

Secondary School of the Year sponsored by A Better Medway

Gold: The Hundred of Hoo Academy. Silver: The Rochester Grammar School. Bronze: Brompton Academy.

Leanne Mortley, second in department for PE, said: “It’s been a big challenge in the last couple of years. We’ve looked at alternative sports to engage students. We go into primary schools and deliver sessions so some of the children already know us by the time they come in Year 7.”

Official of the Year sponsored by Medway Sport

Gold: Jennifer Jelf. Silver: Mark Baker. Bronze: Ricky Ellis.

The award was collected by Jennifer’s sister, Sherrilynne Elmore.

Coach of the Year sponsored by Bellway

Gold: Glen Isaacs (Medway Maritime Swimming Club). Silver: Steven Munday (Medway & Maidstone AC). Bronze: Tom Coyd (Wheelchair Rugby League).

“I had time on my hands,” reflected Isaacs, when asked about setting up a new club during lockdown. “It was a case of what can I do for my sport when the pools are shut, it was a big learning period.

“The highlight is seeing a young athlete improve, it’s magical.”

Club of the Year sponsored by Active Kent and Medway

Gold: Anchorians FC. Silver: Medway Rugby Club. Bronze: Chatham Town FC.

Chairman Leigh Willis said: “It’s about giving people the opportunity to participate.

“We’ve got children as young as three to seven coming to us, they can grow and come out of their shell, develop and enjoy themselves.

“We’re fortunate that we’re in the centre of our community. We’ve got 86 teams and 1,200 players and that will continue to grow.”

Junior Club of the Year sponsored by Child Friendly Medway

Gold: Medway Assassins Roller Hockey. Silver: Anchorians FC. Bronze: Medway Rugby Club minis section.

Farquhar McAllan, general manager and under-19s head coach, said: “A lot of clubs had players and kids drop out of sport for two years due to Covid so, like them, it’s been an opportunity to come back. We’ve had to start with the younger age groups and entice players back to get back into the sport.

“We’re a minority sport but seeing people come and have a go is what it is all about – every player in our team has a job, it doesn’t matter if they are the best player or not the most gifted.”

Unsung Hero of the Year sponsored by The Laurence Plummer Foundation

Gold: Jon Rye (Holcombe Hockey Club). Silver: Andy Brown (Anchorians FC). Bronze: Sue Beveridge (Medway Tri).

Rye said: “I’m very humbled to win the award. I didn’t expect the recognition but to give back to young people and adults is an amazing feeling. I’m really surprised to win as there so many strong nominations.”

Junior Sportsperson of the Year sponsored by Bubble & Scruff

Gold: Enriko Itauma. Silver: Reuben Smith. Bronze: Lauren Mitchell.

Sportsperson of the Year sponsored by Bellway Homes

Gold: Joe Coyd. Silver: Shaunagh Brown. Bronze: Nicola Lilley.

Hall of Fame: Gary Smith, Isaac Newell.