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sportMoray Recognition Awards 2010 The 2010 sportMoray Recognition Awards took place on the 26th of November at the Eight Acres Hotel, Elgin. The Categories for Nomination were as follows:- The Scottish Association Of Local Sports Councils - SALSC Local Service to Sport Award. Moray Council - Junior Sportswoman Award. Moray Leisure Centre - Senior Team Award. Diageo - Club Level Award. Campbell & McConnachie - Sports Person Of The Year Award. Moray College - Junior Sportsman Award. Northern Scot - Junior Team Award. sportMoray - Coach Award. Elgin Rotary - Special Achievement Award. Active Schools - School Sport Volunteer Award.
SHORT-LIST PORTFOLIOS 2010 SALSC Local Service to Sport Award This Award is for an individual administrator, coach or official for their voluntary contribution to local sport over a lengthy period of time (minimum 10 years). Three individuals were short-listed for this category. Warren De-Vry, Forres Sport – Tang Soo Do Warren is a prolific competitor and instructor in both freestyle kickboxing and Tang Soo Do Martial Arts. He himself has achieved the status of World, British, Scottish Champion and various other titles on numerous occasions. He has also produced students within the club who have gone on to claim World and National titles through the years. Warren has been involved in the sport for 24 years, 21 of which as both instructor and competitor. Through the years he has delivered extra curricular sessions, club sessions for juniors and adults, advanced sessions for his elite members as well as organise numerous competitions and seminars. Warren is one of a very rare breed of people in the world, one who has a total endearment for his students, young and old, and to Tang Soo Do as a whole.
Ronnie Taylor, Elgin Sport – Football Ronnie has a long service history in developing women’s football in the Moray area. He has been a coach, co-ordinator and has assumed many committee member positions throughout his twelve year involvement with Moray Girls Football Club. He started coaching at ladies level and helped take them from third division to premier league on consecutive years which was the first club to achieve this feat. Following on from this success, he started to build up the youth structure of the club in 2001, and was at one point running 3 teams. This meant Ronnie was coaching teams every night of the week and taking teams the whole weekend! Ronnie is still involved with the club at under 17 and ladies level and has put in endless voluntary hours over the past 12 years to establish the club and provide opportunities for girls/ladies to play football. Some of the players to come through the club have also reached elite level by either being part of the Arsenal Academy or gaining a scholarship in America. It is true to say that without Ronnie’s dedication and commitment it would be surprising if Moray Girls Football Club would still be in existence. Roy Wright, Keith Sport – Tennis Roy joined Keith Tennis Club in 1985 and for the past 25 years, he has had an active role in the running of the club. He became President of the club in 1987 and held the post for 13 years. Fourteen years ago, he became involved in junior coaching and gave up two nights per week helping coach the juniors and providing sufficient competition. Under Roy’s direction, the girls from the club went onto win the Highland District under 16 league two years running. In 2002, Roy suffered a minor heart attack and although he had to stop playing tennis, he could not stay away from the juniors for long. Whilst recovering from a heart bypass operation, Roy decided it would be great if regular tennis competitions for juniors could be organised in the area. Several weeks later when Roy had started in his recovery walking exercise program, he appeared at a Committee member’s door after having walked two miles! He had with him a plan for regular junior tennis competition and from there the ‘Monthly Medal’ was born! Roy organised and refereed all the Monthly Medals which was a great success and subscribed by junior players from across the Highland District. Some of these junior players now play at district and county level. Roy also encouraged more adults to get involved in tennis by getting parents involved in refereeing at these monthly medals. Roy then became the Highland District League Secretary for two years and spent many hours working out a computer program to make the planning of matches easier and avoid clashes. This was no easy feat as many clubs have more than one team entered in the leagues but are restricted with court availability. It is generally accepted that the 2 years that Roy was League Secretary had the least ever problems with all matches running smoothly. Roy was always willing to give up his time to support junior players and has given up an immense amount of time to the sport of tennis.
Junior Sportsman Award This award is presented to a male sports person who has achieved excellence at regional, national or international level. Nominees for this category must be 12-18 years of age. Four individuals were short-listed for this category. Fergus Richards, Elgin Sport – Squash Fergus, 14, has developed as a squash player at lightning speed considering he only took up the sport when he was 11! It is down to his own determination and hunger that he has established himself as No. 1 under 15 player in Scotland and is current National Champion at this age group. Fergus is part of the Scottish Squash Performance Programme Academy and represented Scotland at the Home Internationals in both 2009 and 2010. He also competed in the European Championships in 2010. He will step up to under 17 level towards the end of this year and hopes to again be selected for Scotland for the 2011 European Championships. Fergus looks set to be the next Peter Nicol! Andrew Barr, Forres Sport – Orienteering Andrew was introduced to the sport of orienteering in 2007 whilst at Dyke Primary. Progressing through local club and school competition where he became school champion, Andrew burst onto the national scene at the end of 2009 and has gone onto become one of the top under 15’s in Scotland. Andrew came to the attention of the national selectors when he came 8th in last years Scottish under 13 championships and as soon as he reached his 12th birthday, he was invited to train with the Scottish Junior Squad. Despite being one of the youngest competitors in his age class, he has won 4 of the 6 races held so far in this year’s Scottish Under 15 League. At the end of May he was 3rd placed Scot at the National Under 15 Championships at Kinloch Rannoch. He represented North District where he won the Inter District Under 15 race in June. He then came 6th overall and 2nd placed Scot in the Inter-region Championships in Wales. In the prestigious Junior Home International race at Perth he was 2nd placed Scot Under 15 and 6th overall against the best orienteers in the four home countries. Locally, Andrew is the leading junior in the league with only 5 senior runners ahead of him. Not content with competing, Andrew is also a willing helper at club events and has organised junior training sessions and designed courses for local events. Andrew is certainly a star of the future. Dominic Melia, Elgin Sport - Kickboxing Dominic has been a member of Sansum Black Belt Academy for a number of years and has trained regularly throughout these years to ensure he reached his full potential. Last November, Dominic entered the Scottish Championships which were held in Glasgow and attended by over 300 fighters. Dominic was in sparkling form at the event taking first place in the light contact and semi contact in his category which resulted in him being crowned under 13 Scottish kickboxing champion in his weight category. Dominic continued to attend local and national tournaments following this event to add to his haul of medals. Unfortunately, 2010 has not been such a successful year as Dominic has been out injured for the past 8 months. Due to this he was unable to retain the Scottish title in his category at the recent championships. Dominic will no doubt return to top form once he has recuperated from his injury. Josh Cruickshanks, Duffus Sport - Tae Kwon Do (Olympic) In January, Josh competed in the British Championships, he lost in the quarter finals to the eventual silver medallist. In February, he competed in his first overseas competition in the Swedish Open which is an A-class international event. He took a silver medal at this event, narrowly missing out on the gold. In the Scottish Open in March, he took 2 gold medals in the -41kg and -45kg category, beating the current British Champion in the final. His commitment to the sport was obvious in July when he trained for four weeks at a club in Turkey that has two Turkish National Champions. In August, Josh was invited to a special training day in Glasgow along with athletes and coaches from Korea and Norway. This was followed up with an invitation to join the Scottish team. He has now gained his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is the current Scottish Champion in his weight division. Josh’s aim for next year is to compete in the European Championships.
Junior Sportswoman Award This award is presented to a female sports person who has achieved excellence at regional, national or international level. Nominees for this category must be between 12-18 years of age. Six individuals were short-listed for this category. Danielle Wilson, Forres Sport – Air Pistol Danielle became a member of the Scottish Pistol Squad Development Team in 2009. Due to her success at competitions in 2009, she was invited to compete with the full squad at one of the major international events in The Hague, Netherlands. Although competing against adults in this competition, she impressed her squad coaches and is showing great promise for representing Scotland at Glasgow 2014. Danielle has taken 3 out of 3 golds in the Scottish Nominated Air Pistol Grand Prix’s this year, taking gold and silvers in the Scottish Colmsliehill series. She also took silver in the 10m Air Pistol Team at the Junior International in Bisley, Surrey. Danielle became involved in air pistol shooting through pony club tetrathlon, a sport which involves shooting, running, swimming and horse riding and when time permits Danielle helps coach young tetrathletes within her branch and is a great role model for these youngsters.Jodie Henderson, Elgin Sport – Kick Boxing Jodi has had a very busy and successful year in the sport of kickboxing. Last year she took a gold and bronze medal at the W.K.A. World Championships in Spain which enabled her to be crowned world champion at her age and weight category. She continued this excellent run of form by taking 2 silvers at the Watford Open Nationals, 2 gold’s at the WKA 2010 World qualifiers in Wishaw, 2 silvers at the Golden Gloves Competition in Birmingham, 1 gold at the WKA full contact Qualifiers, 3x gold’s at the W.P.K.A World Championships in Greece and therefore crowned ‘1st Triple W.P.K.A. World Champion in Scotland’. She was then crowned CIMAC World Cup Champion in her age/weight category following a gold and silver medal. In the CIMAC Scottish Open she claimed 1 gold and 2 silver and then took 2 gold and 1 silver in the W.K.A. Scottish Open. In September she has also passed her black belt test for 4th Junior Dan. Her success this year has ensured she qualified again to represent Scotland at the 2010 World Championships which were held in Edinburgh. At the Championships which were recently held, Jodi won 3 World Titles in Full contact, Semi contact and Light Contact Sparring. A great achievement for Jodi who moved up an age category to the 13-18 years. She has now 8 World titles and a World Cup Title to her name! Kirstie Rogan, Forres Sport – Hill Running Kirstie is a dedicated athlete who specialises in cross country and hill running. Over the past year Kirstie was selected as one of three Scots to run for Scotland in the World Mountain Running Association’s Youth Challenge which took place in the Italian Alps. She finished 1st under 17 in the North District Cross Country League. Kirstie was also selected to run for Scotland at the Hill Running Home Internationals in Dublin. She finished 11th overall and helped her team take bronze, missing out on silver on count back. Kirstie is a member of the Grampian Regional Endurance Squad based in Aberdeen, her training consists on 10 sessions per week. Over and above this, Kirstie assists at both Jog Scotland Forres and Forres Harrier sessions and events. An excellent young role model who will continue to rise through the rankings. Emma Bowie, Orton Sport – Athletics Emma, whilst only 13 and competing at under 15 level, has had a successful year in the sport of athletics, and in particular throwing events. In January, she came first in the shot putt at the Highlands, Islands and Grampian Indoor Championships. At the same outdoor championships in May, she took 1st in the discus and 4th in the shot putt. In June in the North Scotland Schools Championships she took 2nd in discus and 6th in shot putt, Emma was then selected for the Inter Regional Schools Championships and then the Scottish Schools Championships where she took 1st place in the discus at both. In August at the Scottish Open Age Championships, she took 4th at the discus and 6th at the hammer. In September, she took 2nd place at the Scottish Hammerama and was selected for the Scotland’s Got Talent Silver Grade Hammer Squad. In October, Emma was selected for the Bank of Scotland Potential Athlete Talent Squad. She is currently ranked 2nd in Scotland for both the hammer and discus in the under 15 age group. Emma is definitely Moray’s female version of the next Mark Dry! Dionne Milne, Orton Sport – Athletics In early 2010, Dionne was chosen to represent the North of Scotland cross country team to run in Edinburgh and was placed 25th. Shortly after she was diagnosed with a badly ruptured cruciate ligament which stopped her running for 3 months. When the athletics season started in April, she was able to concentrate on her athletics where she is ranked in her age group; number 1 in Scotland for discus and number 2 in the UK, number 4 in Scotland for shot putt and 34th in the UK, number 7 in Scotland for javelin and number 1 in Scotland for hammer at under 13. Dionne also holds the Moray Road Runners record for 150m, shot putt, discus and hammer and is the current Junior Club Champion. At the Balmoral 2.5k she was 15th for Secondary Aged Girls, won shot putt and high jump at Nairn Highland Games and was second overall in her age group. At Forres Highland Games she was 2nd in 400m and 800m and 3rd in 100m and 200m. At Abernethy Games she was 2nd in 100m, 200m and shot putt (using the full woman’s weight shot putt). At discus she was first in North District Schools Championships and 2nd in Scottish Schools Championships, Dionne has also won the Buckie Fun Run for the past 2 years and the Pinto Series Races for the last 3 years and was first lady at the Baxters Loch Ness Fun Run against thousands of runners. It’s a wonder Dionne has had the time to attend school with all these achievement under her belt! Kimberley Clarke, Elgin Sport – Tae Kwon Do Kimberley has had a very busy year travelling the length and breadth of the country competing in events as well as undertaking her weekly training sessions. She competes in the black belt division and took 4th place in her category at the British Poomsae Championships, 2nd place (individual) in the UTA International Championships and helped her team take 2nd place as well. Again, she took 2nd place at both individual and team events at the Northern Ireland and Scottish Poomsae Championships. Due to these above successes, she has been picked for the Scottish Team for the Commonwealth Tae Kwon Do Championships taking place in Delhi, India in January 2011. A very talented individual who will continue to rise up the ranks.
Junior Team Award This award is presented to a team that has achieved excellence at either a regional, national or international level. Four teams were short-listed for this category.
Kaizen Elite Junior Squad Sport - Kick Boxing The Junior Team (comprising of 7 members) came back from the World Championships in Spain last November with the biggest gold haul, 5 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. In 2010 the team also participated in the Superleague Cimaic in Birmingham returning with 4 golds and 3 silvers, the Golden Gloves Competition with 6 golds, the Judgement Day with 5 silvers and 3 bronze and finally the Scottish Nationals with 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze. This year the team travelled to the World Championships which were held in Edinburgh and returned with 15 golds, 10 silver and 10 bronze medals. Kaizen helped Scotland take over 100 medals at these World Championships which was a third of the total medal haul! An excellent squad of youngsters that continue to excel in their sport. St Geraldines Primary School P5 Football Team The ten boys in the team have worked together through all weathers since their first year of primary school. In 2010 they won the Seafield and St Gerardines football tournaments in June. They also competed in the Buckie P5 league of twelve teams and finished tied with two other teams for first place. Due to their success the team was invited to play in the SFA North of Scotland Regional Tournament in Dingwall. As it was a 4-a-side tournament they competed as two teams, with one team qualifying to the National Finals with the other team missing out on qualification by one point. The National Finals took place in Edinburgh and the St Gerardines team won 8, drew 1 and lost only 1 match. The boys were a great credit both on and off the pitch with their overall behaviour and were a credit to both the school and the Moray area. Moray Girls Under 15 Football Team The Moray Girls Under 15 Team comprises of 17 players from across the whole of Moray. The team has just completed a successful season having won the North Region Girls Football League which comprises of teams from across Grampian. The team was unbeaten throughout the duration of the league up until the very last game of the season when they were beat 2-1! The girls are dedicated to their sport and travel extensively for training and matches across the region. The team spirit of the squad has been a contributing factor to the success of the squad with every member seen as an important player. Over the league campaign they have scored 71 goals and conceded only 8. Their only disappointment of the season was losing in the Scottish Cup to Glasgow Girls having lead 2-0 at half time finally succumbing to a 4-2 defeat after extra time. However, they bounced back from this disappointment the following week with a comprehensive 10-0 win against Deveronvale. A number of the girls have been recognised for their talents and are members of the Regional Squad. Almost the entire squad will move up to under 17’s next season and hope to continue their domination in the league. West End Primary Badminton Sportshall Challenge Team The Badminton Sportshall Challenge is a National Schools Competition devised by the National Governing Body. It involves a number of challenges such as obstacle courses and target hitting using badminton skills. Ever since this event started, West End Primary has come out on top in the regional heats and travelled to take part in the National Finals. In 2009 they won the National Finals which had a total of 161 Primary Schools participating in this event. Remarkably for the second year running, West End Primary came out with first place at the 2010 National Finals. This year the competition was even greater with over 180 Primary Schools competing. This is a fantastic achievement which is credit to the dedication and enthusiasm displayed from school staff towards developing badminton and to the youngsters themselves.
Senior Team Award This award is for a team that has achieved excellence at either regional, national or international level. Three teams were short-listed for this category. 2009/10 saw RAF Lossiemouth Rugby Club enjoy its most successful season for over a decade. As a rugby union side, Lossiemouth went unbeaten from the first league fixture in early September until the last week of January. In all, the side won 13 out of 14 league fixtures and were crowned champions of SRU Caledonia 2NW. From February onwards, the side focused on the RAF Inter-Station Knock Out Comp, eventually winning through to the final in May. Here they comprehensively beat a determined side from RAF Odiham 40-12. RAF Lossiemouth is the only Scottish RAF base to have won this prestigious trophy in its 90 year history. During the summer months, Lossiemouth Rugby Club hosts the ‘Moray Eels’ Rugby League side. The Eels are a combined RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Kinloss and civilian side and they emerged winners of the Scottish ARLC Shield this year due to the fact they came third in this national league. A number of players from both the league and union sides have played RAF and International Representative Sport over the past year as well which is an additional achievement to the club’s success. Atlantic Challenge Moray Gig This year’s Atlantic Challenge Great Britain Team comprising of 19 members, 10 of which hail from the Moray area had yet another great achievement. The team were the overall winners of the International Contest of Seamanship which was held in Ontario, Canada in July 2010. The team competed against twelve other gigs from all over the world. The contest lasted a week and involved sailing, rowing, rope work and navigation. The team gave 100% commitment to both their training and during the contest which was both physically and mentally demanding. The ten Moray team members hailed from Findhorn, Forres and Keith with the Coxswain of the 19 strong team being Robert Hunt from Findhorn. Forres Harriers The past year has been a very successful year for Forres Harriers. By mid February, the senior men had achieved a clean sweep of all North District XC Competitions, XC relays, XC Championships and XC League. There were also notable performances from the juniors and ladies teams. This year, the club were given the honour of staging the Scottish Masters XC Championships which took place at Grant Park. This event turned out to be an excellent day due to the commitment of the club and generosity of the local community. Forres Harriers throughout the year also staged the Benromach 10k (which doubles as the final race of the Northern Scot series), the Glenmoray 10/10 road race, the Califer viewpoint race and the Dyke 10k. The training nights of the club are structured and tailored to suit all standards regardless of ability and attract between 40-70 athletes depending on the season. It is testament to the excellent set up of Forres Harriers that over the past year no fewer than 8 athletes represented either Scotland or Great Britain at cross country, hill running or on the road. Forres Harriers are most certainly ‘A Club For All’.
Club Level Award This award is presented to an individual sports person who has made a valuable contribution at club level. Three individuals were short-listed for this category. Ronnie Taylor , Elgin Sport – Football Ronnie has a long service history in developing women’s football in the Moray area. He has been a coach, co-ordinator and has assumed many committee member positions throughout his twelve year involvement with Moray Girls Football Club. He started coaching at ladies level and helped take them from third division to premier league on consecutive years which was the first club to achieve this feat. Following on from this success, he started to build up the youth structure of the club in 2001, and was at one point running 3 teams. This meant Ronnie was coaching teams every night of the week and taking teams the whole weekend! Ronnie is still involved with the club at under 17 and ladies level and has put in endless voluntary hours over the past 12 years to establish the club and provide opportunities for girls/ladies to play football. Some of the players to come through the club have also reached elite level by either being part of the Arsenal Academy or gaining a scholarship in America. It is true to say that without Ronnie’s dedication and commitment it would be surprising if Moray Girls Football Club would still be in existence. Stella Grant, Fochabers Sport – Bowling Stella has been the treasurer of Fochabers Bowling Club for the past 10 years. Stella has also been the workhorse behind the club for well over 10 years. She helps out in every aspect of the clubs duties including work in the kitchen, landscaping, painting, bar duties and cleaning. All the tasks she has been involved with over the years is endless. Without Stella’s commitment to the club, it certainly would not be as well run and tidy a club as it is now. A real gem of a lady! Alan Campbell, Aberlour Sport – Curling Back in 2008, a Come and Try Curling Event was held at Moray Leisure Centre. This event generated enough interest to form junior curling training on a weekly basis. These sessions continued throughout 2009 with over 40 juniors attending. Up to this point, the approach to these sessions had been pretty ad-hoc and it was at this point that Alan and his team decided to devise a structured plan for junior curling. Alan and his team formed a junior club that became affiliated to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club (the mother club of the sport) which enabled them to compete in local and regional competitions. Alan has organised all the training, skills award training, matches and competitions for these youngsters and recently the under 13 and under 15 team played in a Regional Team Competition in Forfar where the under 15 won and will be now going forward to the National Finals in March. Alan has been the lynchpin in setting up this successful club from introducing curling to the junior community of Moray, through the initial idea of forming a club, getting a committee, gathering and training the coaches to seeing one of the teams win a competition. Many hours and long nights have been spent in developing this club and Alan is very well respected by both the juniors and their parents.
Coach Award This award is presented to an individual who has contributed locally to the development of sport through coaching at their chosen level. Three individuals were short-listed for this award. Kayleigh Robinson, Elgin Sport – Kick Boxing Kayleigh although still young herself at 23 years of age has been the vital cog in the success of the Kaizen Elite Junior Squad by way of lead coach. She has taken the junior team to all national and world championships over recent years. She delivers training sessions to juniors, adults and the elite squad six days a week and certainly goes above and beyond what her students expect. She has given up endless hours to give the elite team extra training in the lead up to competitions and she travels to Glasgow on a monthly basis to help further her coaching ability. Kayleigh’s love of the sport is evident from the commitment shown to get the best out of all her students. Kayleigh was very much behind the success of the 10 medal haul of the Kaizen Junior Elite Team at the World Championships in 2009 and the 35 medal haul at the recent 2010 World Championships. Over and above ensuring that she coached all the 12 Kaizen representatives at the World Championships, she also competed herself at the event and took a silver and bronze medal which was a great achievement. Mark Bean, Lossiemouth Sport – Rugby League Sergeant Mark Bean has been the driving force behind the establishment and continued success of the Moray Eels Amateur Rugby League side. For over 5 years, Mark has welcomed both serviceman and civilians with an interest in the sport to come together which helps to remove some of the perceived barriers that exist between the local and service communities. The Moray Eels are the only side playing in the Scottish ARLC not located in the Central Belt so every away game is a minimum 8 hour journey! Mark is tireless in his commitment to the side whether it is running training sessions, organising team selection and arrangements or coaching on a Saturday afternoon. The Moray Eels won the 2010 Scottish ARLC Shield – essentially finishing third in this National League which is a fitting testimony to the hard work put in by Mark. The fact that he managed to achieve this around his work which included a 4 week detachment to North America and an operational tour in Afghanistan makes it even more impressive. There are even rumours that Kandahar may emerge as the next hot bed of rugby league as the “rugby league gospel” is spread further afield. Warren De-Vry, Forres Sport – Tang Soo Doo Warren is a prolific competitor and instructor in both freestyle kickboxing and Tang Soo Do Martial Arts. He himself has achieved the status of World, British, Scottish Champion and various other titles on numerous occasions. He has also produced students within the club who have gone on to claim World and National titles through the years. Warren has been involved in the sport for 24 years, 21 of which as both instructor and competitor. Through the years he has delivered extra curricular sessions, club sessions for juniors and adults, advanced sessions for his elite members as well as organise numerous competitions and seminars. Warren is one of a very rare breed of people in the world, one who has a total endearment for his students, young and old, and to Tang Soo Do as a whole.
School Sport Volunteer Award This award will recognise the dedication of an individual, whether it is a parent, teacher or other, who has made an outstanding contribution to an extra-curricular activity. Sponsor is Active Schools. Seven nominations were short listed for this category. Kevin Bushell, Lossiemouth Sport – Football Kevin initiated a junior football team in 2005 when his younger son started Primary 1 at St Gerardines Primary School, Lossiemouth. Although all the other original volunteers are no longer involved, Kevin has soldiered on through wind, rain and hail on a Saturday morning for over 5 years. As well as giving up his Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings he also arranges extra matches for the team to gain experience such as their recent match against Caley Thistle Under 12 squad. Following their match, Kevin had also organised tickets for the players and parents to take in an SPL match. Kevin’s commitment etc was rewarded this year when the team (mentioned earlier in the Junior Team category) qualified for the SFA National 4s final in Edinburgh. The school is very fortunate to have Kevin as a dedicated and resourceful coach. Thanks to his hard work and many hours of volunteered time, a group of boys have had unforgettable experiences on the school team.Paula Gray, Elgin Sport – Netball Paula started netball sessions in 2009 at Elgin Academy as a parent volunteer. The club is one of the healthiest clubs currently at the school with over 30 girls attending on a weekly basis. It is widely publicised that getting secondary aged girls to participate in sport can be a difficult challenge and it is credit to Paula that she has such a healthy club. The enthusiasm and effort that Paula has put into the netball club has also resulted in her recruiting another volunteer to help with the sessions. She has organised all the matches between other schools and also the team strip. She has enjoyed delivering these sessions so much that she attended the Level 2 Award in Community Sports Leadership Course in the summer. Paula is a very valuable volunteer at Elgin Academy.John Sargant, Lossiemouth Sport – Cricket For the last four years John has been instrumental in developing Kwik Cricket in Moray. In the lead up to the annual Moray Kwik Cricket Festivals, schools are offered coaching blocks to develop pupils skills in this sport. Over the years, John has delivered literally hundreds of hours worth of voluntary coaching sessions in schools across Forres, Lossiemouth and Elgin. In the build up to the 2010 festivals, John was delivering on average 10 hours per week of cricket coaching in the schools over and above his full time work at RAF Lossiemouth. He has also attracted fellow RAF personnel to volunteer their services as coaches in schools. His commitment to developing his knowledge to ensure juniors in Moray receive the best coaching was proven last year when he travelled down to England to gain his Level 2 Cricket Coach Award. Due to the numerous hours he puts in coaching cricket at the schools, the Elgin Cricket Club junior section is now thriving well. John’s efforts and dedication has certainly contributed to the positive outlook of cricket in Moray. Phil Buckle, Elgin Sport - Football Phil has been coaching the Bishopmill Primary Girls Football Team for the past two years. He also takes the team to compete in the regular Moray Girls Football Festivals. He initially went along to assist these sessions as a parent volunteer but shortly stepped up to lead the sessions and has been there ever since. Over the past 2 years, Phil has attended a range of coach education qualifications to further his knowledge which demonstrates his commitment to develop his coaching skills. Phil also managed to attract another volunteer coach to help him out and recently sourced sponsorship from a local company to fund strips for the team. He has continued coaching these sessions despite his daughter having now moved onto secondary school. The sessions would not be possible without his efforts and it has been greatly appreciated by everyone at the school. Pippa Weir, Carron Sport - Orienteering Pippa has been the catalyst, motivation and inspiration behind a catalogue of achievements that have led to the establishment and great success of the Speyside High Orienteering Club. In February and March, Pippa approached Active Schools to notify them of her interest in starting a school club. Following some promotion and a feasibility meeting a club was established with 10 regular members. Between April to August, the club membership grew to 20 members. Pippa negotiated and secured funding to have the High School and surrounding area professionally mapped for orienteering. In June 2010, the club along with Active Schools hosted a highly successful whole school orienteering event. During last term the membership has continued to grow and in September, the High School Club planned, hosted and executed Aberlour’s first ever orienteering event as part of the Moravian Saturday League with over 100 participants. Eight members of Pippa’s High School Club have now joined Moravian Orienteering Club and compete regularly in local competitions. Pippa has demonstrated and exemplified the power and tremendous value of volunteers in sport and is a credit to the sport and school. John Gerrard, Elgin Sport - Badminton Having coached and played badminton in the South of England for more years than he would like to admit, John retired to Moray several years ago. He soon made contact with Badminton Moray and offered his services as a voluntary coach as he wished to continue to put something back into the sport he has enjoyed for so long. Initially he started coaching a group of youngsters in Fochabers but due to facility access issues, these sessions came to an end. In January 2008, he started delivering sessions in Lossiemouth in conjunction with Active Schools. His efforts over the past 3 years are clearly evident as some of the children are now involved in the development squads. More importantly, the children turn up week in week out with a smile on their face and this shows just how much they enjoy John’s coaching. Back in August 2009, John also liaised with Active Schools in Elgin, and has been coaching in a local Primary for over a year on a weekly basis. His commitment to coaching in Moray is even more remarkable considering he has had some serious health problems which required a major operation at the end of 2009. However he is back where he belongs now – running around a badminton court! Ann Rossiter, Forres Sport – Various Although part of Ann’s role within Forres Academy is that of School Sport Co-ordinator the amount of voluntary time she gives towards the school sports clubs over and above what is expected is truly outstanding. She organises all the school football teams after school and on Saturday mornings all year round. This includes organising buses, accompanying teams on occasion, organising pitches, training sessions and strips. She also organises inter-house football for first years and gives up her lunchtimes to supervise this activity. She has set up after school badminton on a Friday night for Primary 3 – Secondary 6 pupils and volunteers at this club every Friday night. She also organises holiday camps in badminton for school pupils and undertakes all the paperwork relating to this. Another lunchtime is also given up to supervise inter-house badminton. In sailing, she organised for a group of pupils to do their able crew award on the Moray Gig six years ago. This is still going strong and she gives up many a weekend day to go out on the Gig as she has passed her Level 2 Safety Boat Course. In tennis, she organises the annual Secondary Schools Tennis tournament as well as ensuring Forres Academy are always represented. In swimming, she has set up early morning swim sessions and has organised for 5th and 6th years to undertake Lifeguard training to assist with the running of these sessions. Ann has also organised school teams, accompanied school teams, arranged training sessions and planned school sports competitions in athletics, golf, rugby and basketball. Every waking hour in the day Ann is either thinking, planning or volunteering in school sport and without her, the majority of the Forres Academy sports clubs would not have been created.
Sports Person of the Year Award This award is for an individual who has achieved excellence at a regional, national or international level. Nominees for this category must be 18 years of age or over. Six individuals were short-listed for this category. Jo Cardwell, Buckie Sport – Mountain Biking Jo is a stalwart member of Moray Mountain Bike Club. She won the silver medal in the veteran’s category at the 2009 Scottish Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships at Fort William. Despite being hampered with a viral infection in early 2010, she has been crowned ‘Queen of the Mountains’ awarded to the best all-round female mountain biker in the UK. This title is awarded to the individual who is placed highest in 3 different mountain bike discipline events – enduro, downhill and cross country. The three events were 1st vet lady on a 10 hour endurance race in the Scottish Borders, 1st vet lady on the world famous downhill track at Nevis Range in Fort William and 1st vet lady at a gruelling 60 mile cross country race held in area around Ben Nevis! This year Jo along with a fellow club member was also first Veteran Ladies pair in the Ten Under the Ben endurance race and 2nd veteran lady at the National Scottish Cross Country Association race in Contin. A tough and determined competitor, Jo excels in what is often perceived as a male sport and is an excellent role model for girls and young women in the area. Karen McBeath, Forres Sport – Swimming 2010 has been a year of outstanding achievement for Karen, who excels in the sport of swimming. Karen competes locally and nationally with distinction for Forres Bluefins Swimming Club in the Masters 45-49 years age category. She has built a formidable reputation as not only one of Scotland’s but also Britain’s elite 50 metre butterfly swimmers. Over the past year, she has worked on her strength and endurance and has produced some outstanding results at National Level producing gold medal winning performances in distances ranging from 50m to 800m in all 4 swimming disciplines. This breadth of talent and sheer determination has ensured she is currently lying in 2nd place (out of 1184 Masters swimmers) in the 2010 British Masters Swimming Decathlon which comprises age adjusted results from 10 swims throughout the year. The highlight performance of the year was when she set the new British and Scottish record in the 200m Freestyle race in Glasgow (not half bad for a 50m specialist!). Karen has participated in the Darlington Masters, Scottish National Masters, Carlisle Masters, British Gas Masters, Inverclyde Masters and North District Sprint Meet achieving 27 gold medals along the way. A truly committed and phenomenal athlete who also gives up time to train the junior swimmers of the future! Dominique Sutherland, Forres Sport – Tang Soo Do Dominique is a well known and accomplished ambassador for sport in Moray yet is still only 19 years of age. This year Dominique achieved a gold, silver and bronze medal at The Highland Championships in Inverness. Within her interclub competition in Forres, she obtained 2 golds and 1 silver medal. Dominique unfortunately has been injured for part of this year but she still continues to teach local youngsters at her club and helps organise fundraising events. Dominique’s highlight of the year has to be when she was presented with the News of the World Bighearted Scotland National Sports Person of the Year Award. She beat cycling legend, Sir Chris Hoy, to claim this Award which was hosted by Lorraine Kelly. A truly inspirational young athlete. Meg Sievwright, Buckie Sport – Golf Meg has been the Ladies Club Champion at Keith Golf Club consecutively for over 20 years. She has also been the Buckpool Ladies Club Champion for the last few years also. Over the years, Meg has held course records across most of the golf courses across the North East of Scotland. She has also played at International Level and for Northern Counties throughout her golfing years. She has gained a lot of recognition over the years for her hard work and dedication to golf but this year she took it one step further by playing four complete rounds of golf at four different courses on one day in torrential rain. She undertook this challenge to raise money for Colin Montgomerie’s “Maggies Appeal” raising over £5,000. This appeal was close to her heart as she lost her own mother to cancer. The list of competitions and medals that Meg has won this year is too endless to mention however, it is fair to say that even on holiday to St Lucia she couldn’t put her golf clubs down and ended up winning the Ladies Open there! Definitely the female version of Colin Montgomery! Douglas Cowie, Forres Sport – Running/Duathlon Douglas is a well known sporting figure in the Forres and Moray area. At the relatively young age of 57 he is even more committed to his sport than ever before and trains everyday with 5 of the 7 days containing two training sessions! In February 2010, he was winner of the Cross Country in his age group in the Scottish Masters. He followed this up in March by winning his age group in the Scottish Duathlon Championships. In September he was 15th in his age group for the World Duathlon Championships and was 5th placed Brit in this event. In November, he is representing Scotland in the International Cross Country Championships in Dublin. More locally, he has won numerous races across the North East, too many to mention! He organises and delivers training sessions and events through his local Forres Harriers Club. A great role model and a very sprightly 57 year old! Sean Cattanach, Aberlour Sport – Tae Kwon Do Almost three decades of training, study and dedication to Tae Kwon Do paid off for Sean Cattanach when he reached the pinnacle of his martial art and attained the rank of Master in September 2010. Master Cattanach – only the third Scot to reach the rank of Master within the UK Tae Kwon Do Association has trained continuously for 28 years rising through the ranks of white belt to his current grade of 7th Dan. He was promoted to the rank of 7th Dan following an exemplary grading in front of the European Father of Tae Kwon Do, Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha. An unassuming and modest man, Sean truly embodies the five tenets of Tae Kwon Do – courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit. Master Cattanach has devoted his life to the art, passing his knowledge to scores of students at his schools in Aberlour and Keith. His almost encyclopaedic knowledge of Tae Kwon Do was recognised by the UKTA in 2008 when they presented him with an award for his educational and technical contribution to the Association.
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