Haxby netball queen Val Kennedy will be rubbing shoulders with golden Olympic stars Kelly Holmes and Matthew Pinsent on Sunday.

She won the BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award for Yorkshire at York Racecourse.

Now she will represent the county at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme with the chance of lifting the national award.

"It is absolutely amazing," said 56-year-old Val, who has been at the forefront of York-area netball for more than 25 years.

She first picked up a netball at Poppleton Road Junior School in 1955 and has been hooked on the game ever since.

In 1980 she helped launch Haxby netball team, who now have six sides. She is on the York and District Netball League committee, runs the York Youth League, annually organises a tournament to raise funds for York District Hospital's intensive care unit and umpires matches four times a week.

North Yorkshire's other big winner was equine ace Attraction, who was ridden to the English and Irish 1,000 Guineas by Sheriff Hutton jockey Kevin Darley and took the Special Performance Award.

Sheffield's James Toseland, the world superbike champion, won the Yorkshire Sports Personality and Motorsport awards. Easingwold's sidecar world champion Steve Webster was short-listed for the latter.

Yorkshire cricket legend Fred Trueman was inducted to the Hall of Fame.

Updated: 10:47 Tuesday, December 07, 2004