Nominations are officially open for the Suffolk Sports Awards 2014 – and the first time ever, a public vote will decide the winner of the top award.

The awards, now in their ninth year, will be held at Trinity Park near Ipswich on September 12 and honour individual and team achievements across a range of categories.

And, for the first time this year, the winner of the Suffolk Sports Personality of the Year – lifted last year by Ipswich international hockey star Harry Martin – will be decided by public voting.

The rest of the categories have also been reshuffled this year, with several new awards added. The full list is:-

- Young Sports Personality of the Year

- Unsung Hero

- Young Community Volunteer.

- Club of the Year

- Coach of the Year

- Lifetime Achievement

- Individual Performance/Achievement of the Year

- Team Performance/Achievement of the Year

- Most Active Workplace

- School of Sporting Excellence & Participation

Vicki Askew, Sports Development Manager at Suffolk Sport said: “I am pleased to announce the launch of this year’s Suffolk Sports Awards.

“I would encourage all members of the public in Suffolk, who know an individual or a team that you feel deserves to be recognised, to nominate them for an award.

“Without nominations, people who deserve to be acknowledged are kept unknown”.

The awards will also incorporate the inaugural Suffolk Corporate Games during the afternoon, which will see local workplaces pitted against each other in sporting competition and challenges.

If you want to nominate someone for an award or find out more about the Suffolk Corporate Games, go to www.suffolksport.com/awards.

Nominations close on Sunday July 20.