Terry Dixon: the ecstasy and the agony

THOSE of us who were in the Mansion House last Wednesday week can still feel a lingering warm glow from our National Junior Sports Stars awards ceremony.

And, no, it’s not just the effects of a liquid lunch.

Nor is this another exercise in trumpet-blowing, just a sincere acknowledgement of the special buzz that is always in the air at this annual event, as some of the best and brightest young sports people in the country gather for what, for many of them, is the first major recognition of their talents and achievements on the national stage. It is also about their hopes and dreams because, by its very nature, the awards are as much about what one hopes is to come as what has gone before.