British Asian Sports Awards nominations open

Wednesday 16 Feb 2011
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The British Asian Sports Awards (BASA) nominees for 2011 have been announced, with several of Kick It Out’s ambassadors and champions in the running for various categories.

Taking place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 5 March, BASA will be celebrating 10 years of recognising the substantial achievements of British Asian sporting talents from across the UK.

Competing in the Junior Sports Personality of the Year category is A’aameer Kstantin Murphy. A’ameer won the Chelsea’s Search For an Asian Soccer Star in 2009, before securing a two-year professional schoolboy contract with Leyton Orient FC a year later.

Danny Baath is up for honours in the Most Up and Coming Sports Personality of the Year category. Danny started his football career with Wolverhampton Wanderers and has been with the club since the age of 10.

This season he made his Wolves debut in a 2-1 win over Southend in the Carling Cup. He works closely with the Punjabi Wolves Supporters group, one of the UK’s premier ‘ethnic’ supporter groups.

Also in the running for the same award is Krishnan Patel. Krishnan graduated through the youth team at Bury FC and has gone on to earn himself a professional contract. The Bolton-born midfielder captained the youth team in the 2009/2010 season and led them to an FA Youth Cup Final.

Challenging in The Outstanding Achievement Award is Rikin Shah. Rikin has overcome physical barriers to become the highest qualified wheelchair using football coach in the country.

He has earned himself a UEFA B football licence, as well as a Sports Science degree from Brunel University. Rikin works closely with the Rob Burton Soccer School, Jason Roberts Foundation and DASH.

Baljinder Singh Lehal is contesting in the same category. Baljinder is the only Asian football coach in the UK to hold The Brazilian Pro Licence. Last year, he led Team India to victory in the first ever Street Child World Cup.

Baljinder also facilitated a unique project in Hertfordshire which saw 14 coaches come over from Spanish football team, Valencia, to train over 100 youngsters.

Lastly, Cardiff City striker Michael Chopra is a nominee for the British Asian Sports Personality of the Year award. Michael was named in last season’s Championship Team of the Year after scoring 21 goals in all competitions, and continues to help the Bluebirds in their quest for promotion to the Premier League.

To find out more, please visit http://www.basauk.tv/ba/nominees

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