Sarah Kempson was the inaugural winner of the Beach Soccer Worldwide women’s player of the year award, ahead of Brazilian Leticia Villar and Netherlands’ Grytsje van den Berg.
The Lewes midfielder won the Euro Beach Soccer Cup with England and finished runner-up in the Euro Winners Cup with Portsmouth.
Kempson, who travelled to Dubai for the ceremony earlier this month, said: “This is equivalent of the women’s Ballon d’Or, so I’m quite shocked to have won it.
“It’s been a great year for myself and the teams I’ve played for in beach soccer, so to win this just tops off what has been a crazy year.”
