who will get a gold star?

Nominees for this year's Evening Herald School Sports Star of Year

TODAY, some of Ireland's best young sport stars gathered at the Aviva Stadium for the prestigious Evening Herald School Sports Awards of 2011-12.

While our School Sports section's first priority is to give all sports, all kids and all schools an equal opportunity to shine, it has developed a knack down the years for identifying some of this country's shining stars before they hit the national and international stages.

Luke Fitzgerald was one of the first during his days at Blackrock College.

Now St Patrick's Athletic's Christopher Forrester, an Evening Herald School Sports Star winner, is the latest to join the assembly line. The talented winger is not averse to scoring wonder goals and promptly delivered two goals recently in his side's 5-1 triumph over champions Shamrock Rovers. There is sporting pedigree in Forrester's family as his uncle, Joe Towell, was a Dublin senior hurler in the 1970s.

Annalise Murphy, formerly of Rathgar's High School, and a weekly winner of our award, will be an Olympian this summer, as the Dublin sailor will represent Ireland in the London games.

Ciaran Kilkenny, a multiple Star of the Week winner and Star of the Future recipient, will line out for the Dublin U21 footballers this Sunday in the All-Ireland final against Roscommon in Tullamore.

Listed on this page are the next generation, who justly earned their Sports Star of the Week Award this school year and are now in the running for the top prize -- Sports Star of the Year.