A BUCKS athlete and Hazlemere pupil has been named a Sports Student of the Year by Sky.

Shaquille Jack, a pupil at Sir William Ramsay School, has been awarded the Sky Sports Living for Sport Student of the Year Award 2011 for the South East.

Sky Sports Living for Sport scheme in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust is an initiative that encourages teenage sporting stars to come up with teaching programmes to help young people boost their involvement or performance in sport.

Shaquille, 15, from High Wycombe, won the award for his athletics programme, Speed for the Future.

A county athlete and rugby player, Shaquille spent six weeks using his knowledge of sprinting to teach promising athletes aged 12 to 14 ways of increasing their speed and boosting their times. Excited by Shaquille’s achievements, Ian Thomas, Director of Sport at Sir William Ramsay School said: “Shaquille’s enthusiasm for his chosen activity was infectious and he has inspired his peers and me to continue to develop the programmes.

“His project has been hugely successful. All 12 of the pupils he taught have improved their sprinting times.”

The nominations, which were made by schools, flooded in from across the South East, but Shaquille stood out because his county achievements showed how sport can be used to challenge young people and his successful programme demonstrated his ability to inspire and educate peers.

Joining 11 other regional finalists, Shaquille will attend the UK awards ceremony at Wembley Stadium on January 19, where Olympic gold medal sprinter and Sky Sports Living for Sport Ambassador Darren Campbell will present the overall Sport Student of the Year Award.