BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013: Unsung Hero Award

Nominations for the 2013 awards have now closed. Regional winners will be announced and published by the respective BBC services from mid-November.

Do you know someone who inspires people to get involved in playing sport in their communities?

It could be a person who for no personal reward gives up their time to encourage others to take part in sport.

It might be someone who could be helping to unearth a champion of the future or who is just keeping a local team or club going behind the scenes.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2013, the Unsung Hero awards recognise the remarkable achievements of people from all across the UK.

From disability sport to swimming, boxing to basketball, our winners all have one thing in common - the passion and commitment to inspire others to enjoy sport in their communities and make sport accessible to all. In many cases, their clubs and even their buildings would not exist were it not for their hard work.

Following the nomination period, which runs from 29 August to 16 October, panels will meet in each of the BBC's 15 Nations and English Regions and a winner from each will be chosen.

The overall winner will come from those 15 and will be announced on the night of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme, which this year will be held in Leeds on Sunday, 15 December.

Some of the 150 Unsung Heroes who have been honoured over the last decade include:

•Rowing coach Bobby Platt was the 2009 Unsung Hero for BBC Northern Ireland. Bobby gave more than 60 years of service to Bann Rowing Club as oarsman, cox and coach. Thousands have benefited from his expertise, and he nurtured several rowers to Olympic standard at Coleraine Institute

•Lisa Jones, a coach and crucial cog in the wheels of Penydarren Boys and Girls Club, Merthyr Tydfil, was the BBC Wales Sports Unsung Hero 2010. Having been involved at the club for the past decade, Lisa has lived and breathed football, coaches three teams in her spare time and works with more than 100 children a week

•Sab Bham was the BBC London Sports Unsung Hero 2012. He set up and runs Salaam Peace, a community programme on the streets of East London among hard-to-reach communities, which promotes the positive aspects of Islam and the effect British Muslims can have upon their communities of all backgrounds.

Full terms and conditions for these awards can be found here.

There is a continuing need for more unsung heroes in sport. If you have been inspired and want to get involved in helping grassroots sport in your community and developing the champions of the future, there's lots of information on our Get Inspired pages.