Sport Woking Awards 2011

Sportsmen and women, budding stars of the future and the cream of local coaching staff were honoured at a prestigious awards ceremony on Wednesday 21 September, attended by Deputy Mayor of Woking, Cllr Michael Smith, at the Holiday Inn, Woking.

Image of award winners

The Sport Woking Awards 2011 provided a fantastic opportunity to recognise and reward talented local sports performers, coaches, volunteers, teams and clubs for their outstanding achievements over the past 12 months.

Nominations were received from those living, attending a school or were members of a sports club within Woking Borough. Speaking about the awards, Cllr David Bittleston, Woking Borough Councils Health and Well-being Portfolio holder said: These awards provided a fantastic opportunity to recognise the local sporting talent in Woking. The twelve winners are very deserving and place emphasis on the importance of physical exercise and maintaining fitness.

The winners of each category were presented with a commemorative trophy by Deputy Mayor, Cllr Michael Smith, and will be put forward to potentially represent the Woking Borough at the Surrey County Sports Awards, which will be held on Friday 25 November at G-Live, Guildford.

The Sport Woking Awards is collaboration with Woking Borough Council and Sport Woking.

The Winners

Sports Personality of the Year - Andy Pike

Andy has been part of Woking Hockey Club for the past eight seasons. Their successful league campaign was a highlight for Andy. In the 22 game campaign, Andy scored 25 goals, finishing as the leagues top scorer. As well as his ability to score goals, Andys personality won him the respect of his peers as he won the 1st XI Players Player of the Season award. Andys attitude has also made him an inspiration to the Boys Under 18 team he has coached for the past four seasons, resulting in them winning the Boys Under 18 National Plate.

Young Sports Personality of the Year - Katie Sheil-Rankin

Katie started her running career while in Year Six, when she represented the Marist School in the Woking Area Primary Schools Cross-Country event. She came 3rd and was inspired to train in athletics, become National Under 13 Cross Country Champion two years later. Katie has broken several local, school and district records for her 1500m performance and ranks in the top under 15 athletes in the country. Her energy and enthusiasm knows no bounds and despite the hard work she puts into her training, she still gives up a lot of her free time to support her school sports teams. Katie is also a member of Woking Swimming Club, and frequently swims for the club in team galas.

Team of the Year - Woking Blackhawks Ladies Team

Woking Blackhawks embarked on a journey to introduce womens basketball five seasons ago. The objective was to build up a squad of players who were capable of competing and winning against the best teams in the South of England. This year, the ladies played 25 games, winning 22, in Wessex Division 1 and ended up champions by four clear points. After years of domination from teams from Basingstoke, Winchester and the Solent, they are the first Woking Blackhawks Ladies Team to be crowned Wessex Divisional Champions.

Young Team of the Year - Woking Hockey Club Boys U16 Team

The transformation in the fortunes of the Woking Hockey Club Boys Under 16s during the course of last season makes them stand out as the Young Sports Team of the Year. After suffering defeat in their opening game of the season, things didnt look good. However, steady progress was made and they ended up winning their area league with five wins out of six. After making it through to the play-offs, the team beat Oxted 2-1 and then Oxford Hawks by 4-3, qualifying for the Finals Day. After a fantastic 3-1 victory over Canterbury, the final was against Wycombe. In a tense game, Woking raced to a 3-0 lead at half time, and by the final whistle had wrapped a fantastic 5-2 to be crowned League Champions! Founded in 1979, this is the first time a Woking team has won the Mercian Colts League.

Young Volunteer of the Year - Natasha Holden

Over the past three years, Natasha has regularly helped out at Woking Swimming Club. Not only has she become the youngest time keeper in Surrey at the age of 14, she is now one of the youngest swimmers to train as a swimming judge. She has constantly given up her Saturdays and many evenings, and if not required to swim, she helps the club in other ways. She is now in the process of taking her Level 1 training course to learn how to become a swimming coach so she can help the club and younger swimmers even more.

Youth Coach of the Year - Joy Thornton-Brown

Prior to this season, Joy had no hockey coaching experience, but she started coaching at the beginning of the season and found she not only loves it, but has a real aptitude for it, becoming lead coach for the Under 6 age group at Woking Hockey Club. The children have all loved Joy, and Joy has loved them, particularly seeing how they have developed over the season. The excitement amongst her players when they had their first match against another club was immense and they won as well.

Coach of the Year - Rob Dannatt

Rob, of Park Tennis, has given a lot of his coaching for free to a wide range of groups from schools and summer courses, right through to over 50s groups. He has worked with talented children at his club to ensure they develop and have good competitive opportunities. He has also coached players to two county titles and two regional titles and completely changed the way community tennis is run in the Borough, providing training to over 220 children on a weekly basis.

Disabled Sports Award - Surrey Youth Games Boys Football Team

The team is built on playing with the right attitude. They often play against much better players and teams, but due to their terrific attitude, the team are always positive. With players with wide ranging and often severe disabilities, it is amazing how these individuals have come together to form a wonderful team.

Volunteer of the Year Brian Hamill

Brian has dedicated much of his life to weightlifting. Not only has he competed for over 25 years, Brian has coached many young people to a high standard on a voluntary basis, running a national scheme for school children encouraging precipitation in the sport. He also runs his own weightlifting club in Woking

Outstanding Services to Sport - Jan and Graham Messenger

Without Jan and Graham, Valley End Cricket Club would simply cease to run as a club. They work well as a team and are involved in a range of activities from managing the clubhouse to organising colts coaching to playing in the social sides. Willing to help in anyway to support, encourage and develop the club, they are the foundation of Valley End Cricket Club and enjoy a huge reputation, not only in the cricket club, but also in the wider community.

Club of the Year - Woking Hockey Club

The Trotman Trophy awarded each year since 1971 to the person or club felt to have achieved the most in a single year, was presented to Woking Hockey Club. Woking Hockey Club has enjoyed an incredibly successful season both on and off the field. The club has nine mens teams, six ladies teams and a range of youth teams, making them one of the largest hockey clubs in the country. They have enjoyed great success on the pitch in the 2010/11, with the mens 1st XI winning the Surrey/Hampshire league, gaining promotion to South Premier Division 2, while the ladies 1st XI comfortably held on to their league position in the South Premier Division 1 (one league below National League).

Surrey Youth Games Team of the Year - Swimming Team

Awarded for their tremendous efforts during the Games, coming in first place overall by one of the largest margins of points at the competition.

Surrey Youth Games Team Manager of the Year - Irene Holden

Irene is very well respected and is a well organised team manager. She ensured everyone was welcome, that there was a good team spirit and made sure that children who werent normally selected for their club were given the opportunity to shine at the Games and participate fully. She also coached the team to victory!

Surrey Sports Awards 2011

Congratulations to Katie Shiel Rankin, who also won the Young Sports Personality of the Year at the Surrey Sports Awards evening that took place on 25 November at G-Live in Guildford. For more details and to watch an interview with Katie please click here.

For more information please contact Matt Glazier on 01483 743804 or matt.glazier@woking.gov.uk