Eight left in race for big youth sport prize in Chichester

Votes have been pouring in since we named the 16 youngsters who were in with a shout of winning the Dennis Polhill Youth Sport Achievement Award, open only to those who have represented their country in sport.

Past winners include water polo specialist Scott Martin, pictured.

Now we’ve discounted the eight with the fewest votes – although that’s not to underplay their achievement, and they will still be presented with a gold award certificate at the ceremony at Westgate Leisure on June 11.

Votes already cast for the eight left in the race, whose details are in the Observer today (see list below), will count towards their final total, but now we are open to further votes for them. Or perhaps you’d like to switch allegiance if you have previously voted for one of the sportsmen or women now knocked out.

To vote you need to use a new Observer form. You will find this on page 40 of today’s (May 26) paper - no photocopies please.

We’ll take votes right up until 9am on Friday, June 10 – the day before the ceremony. The awards scheme is run by Chichester District Council in conjunction with the Observer and Rotary Club of Chichester Priory to recognise the achievements of the district’s young sporting stars, volunteers and coaches.

There’ll also be prizes for coach of the year, volunteer of the year, young team of the year, young person’s commitment to sport, one-off performance of the year and outstanding contribution to youth sport.

Remember, you can vote ONLY by filling in the form above and sending it to us at the Observer.

The contenders... Stephi Orton, Abbie Page, Rob Dowling, Yasmin Cooper, Tess Allan, Ruth Allan, Alex Orton, Isobel Brown.