Olympic Champion Lisa Carrington has won the Supreme Award at the annual Bay of Plenty Sports Awards last night.

Hosted by Sport Bay of Plenty, at the ASB Arena, in Mount Maunganui the awards bring the region together to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievement by Bay of Plenty athletes, coaches and officials throughout the year.

Lisa's achievements for the year include gold medals in both the Women's K1 500m and K1 200m at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan, three gold medals in the World Cup series Women's K1 500m and K1 200m and qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Like always the competition was tight and the judges found it tough to separate some of the fantastic achievements. Sport Bay of Plenty Sport manager and judging convenor, Megan Cleverley says there was a high calibre of nominations this year.

'The calibre of nominations never fails to amaze me, and it is fantastic what Bay of Plenty athletes, coaches, officials and administrators are achieving.

'This year has highlighted the number of athletes performing on the international stage, and in particular the wide variety of sports and schools doing well,” Megan says. 'This makes the judging job even more difficult but I guess it's a good problem to have.”

Earlier in the evening Lisa was awarded the Holland Beckett Lawyers Sportswomen of the Year award, leading an outstanding field of category recipients including Kane Williamson who took out the Bayleys Real Estate Sportsman of the Year award.

Internationally recognised rugby referee Glen Jackson, was awarded the MOREFM Official of the Year for the third year in a row. The Farmer AutoVillage International Sportsperson of the Year was presented to Danny Lee, who was named in Presidents Cup Team and was runner up at the PGA Tour Championship.

The AquaPlus Club of the Year was awarded to the Harbourside Netball Centre which in the last year has delivered a wide range of weekly netball competitions to more thna 4200 players including a netball program for students with disabilities.

Sport Bay of Plenty chief executive Heidi Lichtwark says the Bay of Plenty has a depth of sporting talent and administrators and the sports awards are a great opportunity to recognise this annually.

'It is a privilege to be able to honour our top athletes and officials again in 2015. We look forward to following their continuing achievements in the future, while also celebrating their contributions to date. We are proud to continue to host the Bay of Plenty Sports Awards, which have been celebrating sporting excellence since 1969.”

The Dudfield Bryce Printers Service to Sport category acknowledged people who have been involved in their chosen sport for at least 10 years and have made a significant contribution at either regional or national level.

The 10 recipients came from a wide variety of sports, including athletics, football, canoe slalom, rugby, touch, hockey, netball, volleyball, water polo, tennis and basketball. The opportunity to recognise these stalwarts of the sporting sector is a highlight of the evening as they are unaware until the award is presented on the night.

The gala evening which combines both the secondary school sports awards, along with the open categories is a great celebration of the sporting prowess across all schools and codes. The six secondary school categories provide inspiration to the region's up and coming athletes.

Whakatane High School again showed their strength in rowing, claiming the Bay Office Products Depot Secondary Schools Boys' Team of the Year award, their coach Graham Watt winning the CodeBlue Secondary School Coach of the Year and Lenny Jenkins being awarded the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Secondary School Sportsman of the Year.