STIRLING'S Amanda Hiddleston has had her tireless work in sport recognised after she was named as a finalist at the sportscotland Year of Young People Awards 2018.

The 18-year-old coaches at Shell Twilight Basketball in Stirling, an initiative delivered by Scottish Sports Futures in conjunction with Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities and Shell.

The project has grown into a national programme which provides free basketball sessions in a safe setting.

Since joining as a player, she quickly became a role model for the other players and has since become a Twilight Young Ambassador with her work leading on to her doing an incredible 500 hours of voluntary work with Active Stirling and Active Schools last year.

The dedication of the former Stirling high pupil, who is now in the first year of a sports studies degree at the University of Stirling has not gone unnoticed.

She was nominated in Aspiring Leader category for the inspirational awards night at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow on Friday, January 26.

She joins fellow Stirling Twilight Basketball finalists Vincent Connelly, Dylan McCormick and Duncan Watson on the event’s shortlist.

sportscotland, the national agency for sport, is teaming up with Scottish Sports Futures to host the national awards to showcase how sport can be used for positive social change and to celebrate the incredible dedication of the young people who give selflessly to sport in their local communities.

Despite her notable achievements, modest Amanda is reluctant to take much praise for the sacrifices she makes to introduce kids to sport.

She says seeing the enjoyment in the faces of children playing a sport she has helped introduce them to is reward enough.

She said: “I love being able to coach and interact with young people.

"I like to see the improvements in them and encouraging them each step of the way.

“That’s when it really hits you, when someone comes along and doesn’t like it or is really struggling and you help them get to a place where they are enjoying it and are so motivated to keep going.

“I originally started at Twilight as a participant. I used it to gain confidence and do more sport.

"That led onto me being a Young Ambassador and now my aim in to be a PE teacher.

“Through Twilight I got involved with Active Stirling and Active Schools.

"They allowed me to go in and do voluntary work, I’ve managed to do around 400 or 500 voluntary hours with them last year.

“I’ve now got a part-time job with them and I’ve had constant coaching experience on top of what I do at Twilight.”

On January 26, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow, 10 awards will be handed out that honour the contribution of the young people who engage in sport through SSF and those who have supported them throughout the year.