TALENTED individuals, teams and volunteers from across West Fife will come together in a celebration of sport this evening (Thursday).

From swimming to athletics, and from tennis to badminton, local success stories will be honoured by Dunfermline and West Fife Sports Council at their annual awards ceremony at the Carnegie Conference Centre.

The prizegiving, which will be held for the 41st time, is set to recognise the achievements of those who have excelled individually, within a team or in a coaching and volunteering environment throughout 2018 in 10 separate categories.

The top award that will be up for grabs on the night will be the Sports Personality of the Year, which in previous years has been won by the likes of 2016 Olympic bronze-medallist Eilidh Doyle, Commonwealth Games swimmer Mark Szaranek, former Scotland rugby international Craig Joiner, and the late badminton player, Russell Hogg.

Those in the running to win the 2018 prize include Pitreavie AAC member Ben Potrykus and Carnegie Swimming Club's Ellie Turner, who last month won a gold medal while competing for Scotland at the Geneva International Challenge meet in Switzerland.

The Dunfermline Press-sponsored Young Sports Personality of the Year, presented to a young person aged under 16, sees six names in the frame – with three of them coming from athletics.

Pitreavie AAC under-15 athletes Erin Macfarlane and Caleb McLeod, and under-17 competitor Sam Turnbull, have all been shortlisted, as has Queen Anne High School pupil Molly McHale, who was crowned the 2018 Scottish Regional Grade One champion at the Scottish Gymnastics Women’s Artistic WA Regional Grades 4-1 competition.

Badminton players Maeve Lawes and Brooke Stalker, the latter of whom won national under-15 singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles, as well as medals at competitions in Finland and Sweden, make up the shortlist.

The East Kilbride Sports Council Award is also set to be closely-fought, with seven nominees put forward for the accolade.

They include wheelchair racer Callum Sloan, a Queen Anne High School pupil who has competed in the London Mini Marathon; Scottish champion bowlers Billy Allan and Glen Livingston; athlete Carter Taylor; Woodmill High School's Connor Brown, who competes in several sports including athletics and karate; Fife AC member Owen Miller; and Michael Mellon, who won two silver medals and one bronze at the Invictus Games.

Other prizes that will be presented on the night will be the Benny Hutton Team of the Year and Junior Team of the Year; School Ambassador of the Year, presented to an individual who has given "exceptional service to their school" and who has helped foster and develop sport locally; Youth Coach of the Year, which is presented to a young amateur club coach that has "contributed to the advancement of sporting excellence in their chosen sport"; Coach of the Year; and the Services to Sport award, which is to presented to individual volunteers who have given exceptional service to their sport.

We will have a full round-up of the awards, and interviews with the prizewinners, in next week's Press Sport.