Milford's Andrew Pink admitted his decision to opt out of going to university had been vindicated after picking up a top prize at the star-studded 2015 UK Coaching Awards.

Pink won the Heather Crouch Young Coach of the Year Award on Tuesday evening, rubbing shoulders with the great and the good of British coaching at the iconic Midland Hotel in Manchester.

The 19-year-old cycling coach was singled out for praise by the judging panel after dedicating his time over the last year to developing athletes, other coaches and himself in every way possible.

The former Godalming College student opted to defer his university place to chase his dream of becoming a top level coach, offering up his services to Charlotteville Cycling Club, Wyndymilla bike company and Surrey Wheels for All, a group for people with disabilities.

And after his hard work and dedication was rewarded as he beat two other nominees to the award, Pink, who has now decided not to go to university to concentrate on coaching, was struggling to take it all in.

“It’s an absolute honour and really humbling to be around such amazing people and to win the Heather Crouch Young Coach of the Year award."

“I started coaching about five years ago now and it was something I just really loved doing."

“Deferring university was a big decision for me because did I follow the dream of what I really wanted to do or was that the best way to do it?"

“I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to be a performance coach and coach at the top level. And it was a case of how do I get there? I took a risk but it’s been paying off so far."

“I’m head coach of the WyndyMilla cycling club, that’s been brilliant for me this year as it’s just given me extra responsibilities and really given me the chance to be my own coach and see what kind of coach I am helping to develop."

“I also coach at the Charlotteville Rascals, I’ve been there right from the get go and I can’t thank them enough."

“And the Surrey Wheels for All disability hub which is a real eye opener because you just get to work with some fantastic people and some really inspirational people who you couldn’t meet anywhere else.”

The UK Coaching Awards honour sports coaches and coaching organisations who have demonstrated outstanding success over the previous 12 months.

Previous winners at the UK Coaching Awards include Jessica Ennis-Hill’s mentor Toni Minichiello and Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, and Pink insisted it was an honour to follow in such illustrious footsteps.

“The UK Sports Coaching Awards is just a great event, and it shows what talent there is around the country and it enables you to share the same beliefs that you’ve all got,” he added.

I’d love to do some more performance coaching. I love doing what I do, I want to carry on doing what but I want to do is also work with some higher level athletes as well, just to get a different spin on it."

“I want to see what it’s like really pushing athletes to the top of what they can do.”

The UK Coaching Awards 2015, hosted by sports coach UK is a chance to recognise excellent coaching and coaching organisations that have achieved outstanding success over the past 12 months. For more information visit:www.sportscoachuk.org