VOTE for our Magnificent Seven – the seven big names shortlisted for our Sports Personality of the Year Award.
They are Blades star James Beattie, athletics girl Jessica Ennis, Olympic gold sailor Paul Goodison, Owls boss Brian Laws, boxing's Comeback King Ryan Rhodes, Olympic taekwondo medallist Sarah Stevenson and golf's Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood.
And YOU decide who wins.
The one getting most of your votes by deadline - Tuesday, September 30 -will receive the Edge Telecom sponsored accolade at The Star and St John Ambulance Sports Awards 2008.
Our glittering, inaugural awards night, with celebrity guests, entertainment and four course dinner, will be THE sporting event of the year at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, on Thursday, October 9, 2008.
The Awards will acknowledge unsung community heroes and superstars of all ages, in professional and amateur sport, throughout The Star's circulation area.
There's also categories to honour individuals, teams, organisations and local sporting companies.
So who will you vote for to win Sports Personality of the Year?
James Beattie: Sheffield United's Player Of The Year 2007-08, with 22 goals – including a stunning 30-yard free kick in his first Steel City Derby, in April. The fan favourite was signed in 2007 in a deal worth £4m, potentially rising to £4.5m – the most expensive transfer fee ever paid by the Blades. Beattie, aged 30, is a former Coca Cola Championship Player of the Month.
Jessica Ennis: Sheffield's heptathlon superstar won the European Athletics Rising Star Award after an amazing season – fastest in all three track events at the 2007 World Championships, with a 100m hurdles personal best of 12.97 sec. She finished ahead of legendary Carolina Kluft in the World Combined Events Challenge. But the 22-year-old was then cruelly robbed of a place at the Beijing Olympics with a fractured ankle in June.
Paul Goodison: South Yorkshire's Olympic hero sailor won gold in the Men's Laser Class. Sheffield born, living in Rotherham, the 30-year-old helped Team GB to finish fourth in Beijing – their best performance in 100-years. The great haul of China included 19 golds, 13 silver and 15 bronze.
Brian Laws: Sheffield Wednesday boss Laws, 46, is one of sports' true personalities – appointed for his Brian Clough management style, the colourful character raised thousands of pounds for Sheffield Children's Hospital with a recent parachute jump. He managed Grimsby and Scunthorpe, before taking over at Hillsborough, where he saved the Owls from the drop and is pushing for promotion.
Ryan Rhodes: Boxing's Comeback King, Rhodes, 31, knocked out Gary Woolcombe on April 18, 2008, to win the BBBofC British light middleweight title – ELEVEN-years after he first won it. He has managed to roll back the years and is set to take his place amongst the sport's elites, says David Haye, the world cruiserweight champ who plans to rule the heavyweight division promoted Rhodes' successful defence at Hillsborough Leisure Centre on September 20.
Sarah Stevenson: The Doncaster 24-year-old won Britain's first ever taekwondo Olympic medal – with a bronze in Beijing. Many believe she was robbed of a real chance of winning gold when judges initially failed to put her through to the semi-finals. The decision was overturned but she only had minutes to mentally and physically prepare for her +67kg heavyweight clash.
Lee Westwood: A member of the 2008 European Ryder Cup Squad, Worksop born Westwood, 35, is one of the few professional golfers to have won tournaments on every continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. A former Player of the Year and Order of Merit winner, he has represented Europe for the last six Ryder Cups.
Our sports writers and sponsors will judge all your other nominations for other categories. Sponsors include main sponsor Edge Telecom, category sponsors Team Action Management (TAM (UK) plc), Williams Fasteners, Outokumpu, 4funding, Sainsbury's, City Taxis and Fluid, supporters The Ivory at Harrisons, Sugarcane, Creative Sheffield, Pro Sheffield, Bravura Marketing, Maserati, Sport England Yorkshire, a public body which backs sport development, and South Yorkshire Sport, which promotes activity and highlights the work of volunteers and coaches.
* So who gets your vote for Sports Personality Of The Year?
You can vote by text, email or post. Deadline is Tuesday, September 30, 12 noon.
Text STARSP and leave a space followed by the initials of the finalist you want to vote for (either JB, JE, PG, BL, RR, SS or LW) then your full name, house number and postcode. Send to 81800. Texts cost 60p plus your standard network charge. This will be charged to your mobile phone bill. Get the bill payer's permission. Do not text after deadline as you may still be charged and your vote will not count.
E-mail us, with STARSP in the subject field, then send us a message giving the name of who you want to vote for, along with your name, address, phone and email contact details, to promotions@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk
Post the name of the personality you are voting for, with your details, to Sports Personality of The Year, Promotions Department, The Star, York Street, Sheffield S1 1PU
You can text as many times as you like but you can only vote ONCE by email or post. You must include your full details.
* Tickets are £65 each, including VAT. Contact Katrina Bagshaw on 0844 811 1360, visit www.bravuraevents.co.uk, e-mail bravura@swy.sja.org.uk or promotions@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk
For more information about St John Ambulance visit www.sja.org.uk or call 08700 10 49 50.
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READ MOREBlades Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarOwls Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarWatch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much moreFootball headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 1121 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
