Olympians to administrators and veterans to exciting young talent were honoured at the 43rd Annual Government Sports Awards on Sunday night.

While boccia player Yushae DeSilva-Andrade won Female Athlete of the Year, the remaining top three honours went the way of the island’s swimmers with Jack Harvey winning the Male Athlete of the Year and Elijah Daley and Katharine Wheddon picking up the junior awards.

Daley, who won a gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Mexico last year and also competed at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest, was delighted at being honoured.

“I was told that I was nominated but I had no idea that I had won junior athlete of the year until my mum rang me,” Daley, who is at university in Canada, told The Royal Gazette.

“I was so thrilled and it is a really big honour. I knew I was up against some really big names in Bermuda and it feels like such a huge accomplishment to be recognised. All of these young athletes are so good and I was so proud to be honoured.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am now without my mum and my grandparents. They have done so much for me, while my auntie Pat [Gordon-Pamplin] always comes to support me internationally. Without them and my siblings I wouldn’t be here so all my thanks go to them and God.”

Ben Smith, national swimming coach, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister of Education and Sport, was pleased to see some of the athletes to have come through his programme pick up top honours.

“Obviously this is exciting for all the athletes winning awards but for me it’s important for the message it sends to all the athletes coming up,” he said.

“Jack came all the way from junior swimming and was part of the Warwick Academy programme that I was coaching before he went off to university and to have him win this award shows what hard work and dedication over that period of time can lead to.

“Both Elijah and Katharine were extremely strong swimmers through the junior ranks but seeing what they have been able to achieve in this last year and being rewarded for it will help them to springboard to what will hopefully be great senior careers.”

It is not only those in the pool and on the field of play recognised as leading administrators were also honoured. Among this year’s batch of recipients were Ann Lindroth, president of the Paralympic Association, general secretary of the Bermuda Football Association David Sabir and Trina Roberts, of the National Bermuda Archery Association.

Community programmes also featured with Manders Tennis Management given the Appreciation Award alongside Tabata-Ha Shotokan Karate-Do Bermuda, the first karate dojo to be recognised at the event.

Senseis Andrea McKey and Roger Trimm were among those to accept the prize and outlined their love of community.

“This win feels amazing,” McKey said. “We have 35 students now aged from 5 to seniors and we teach three classes three times a week. The dojo is in its fifteenth year and we charge only $25 a month with discounts for family members.

"We do a lot of community outreach in Hamilton Parish as we are based in the church hall there and we pick a lot of trash and do a lot of community work.“

Trimm was keen to point out how karate can help to produce well-rounded young people.

“Most people think karate is just about punching and kicking but it is all about the discipline,” Trimm said.

“It’s not a spectator sport and karate is not a sport with a set timeline, it’s a lifetime of learning. There is always something new, something different and you are always improving yourself. It’s not about quick, early wins. It’s about creating character, self-discipline, confidence and making the right choices as opposed to easy choices.”

Among the most excited winners on the night were the senior women’s volleyball squad, who were named Team of the Year, along with the Bermuda men’s cricket team.

Bermuda captain Sharri Weldon accepted the award along with three of her team-mates and head coach Gary LeBlanc, and she felt it was the right time for her sport to hit the limelight after they won a silver medal at the Eastern Caribbean Championships last year.

“We are a young team and never expected to do as well as we did,” Weldon said.

“I am so proud of the girls and our youngest player was just 16. I feel that volleyball is underrated as a sport in Bermuda but we have a great programme from juniors and seniors.

“It’s great to get results for Bermuda, so it was lovely to be recognised by the government and the department of sport and recreation.”

Veteran Devonshire Cougars forward Domico Coddington and PHC women’s player-coach Taznae Fubler were given the football award by Owen Darrell, the sports minister. St David’s spinner Derrick Brangman and Brianna Ray received the minister’s award for cricket.