RECOGNISING BROXBOURNE”S ELITE AT LAVISH AWARDS.

The 5th Annual Active Broxbourne Awards took place on Tuesday 14th May at Hertford Regional College sponsored by B3 Living.

Here is a run down of the evening:

Coach of the Year

This award is for any individual who coaches sport within the borough of Broxbourne. To shortlist this popular award, judges looked for examples of how the coach encouraged participation in their sport, helped people to increase their skills and were committed to their own personal development. The shortlisted nominations for Coach of the Year were: Geoff Taylor (Broxbourne Squash Club), Jennifer Page (Affinity Gymnastics) and Marcia Alcock (ASCO Netball).

Geoff Taylor is based at Broxbourne Sports Club and is described as an extremely welcoming and personable coach who can coach, at a high level, both the raw beginner and the experienced player. As Squash is a game of skill, technique and fitness, Geoff’s approach to each student is one of individuality and care. As well as individual training, Geoff organises training camps and competitions.

Jennifer Page is Head Coach at Affinity Gymnastics based in Hoddesdon. She is described by her students as encouraging, welcoming and patient, whilst developing them in both gymnastics and personal confidence. One nomination referred to how their daughter only joined the club last August but is already winning medals at regional heats. Those that cannot compete due to injury are encouraged to help coach and support the younger children. Jennifer is a Level Four senior club coach in general gymnastics and a Level Three coach in the disciplines of Women’s Artistic, Pre-School gymnastics and Cheerleading

Marcia Alcock has been Head Coach at ASCO Netball Club for a number of years, and has developed players from beginners to representing England. She is described as the driving force behind the club, managing over 8 teams as well as organising a primary school netball league. She also volunteers at both borough and county tournaments.

And the winner was….. Jennifer Page

Crofty (left) with winner Jennifer Page and sponsor Brian Cooke from B3 Living

Primary School of the Year

This award is open to primary schools within the borough of Broxbourne who can demonstrate a commitment to increasing participation in sport by their pupils as well as competing in and winning local sporting competitions. This award has been sponsored by A10 Active

The shortlisted nominations for Primary School of the Year were: Burleigh Primary School, St Catherines’s Church of England Primary School and Fairfields Primary School

Burleigh Primary School won the A10 Active primary school speed stacking competition and represented the borough in the Herts School Games, coming third – the best result for any school in the A10 Partnership. There have also been trophy wins for the school’s football and rugby teams. There are numerous afterschool clubs every day including netball. speed stacks, rugby, athletics, multi-skills and football

St Catherine’s Church of England Primary School won the A10 Active Year 5 & 6 Sports Hall Athletics competition earlier this year. They went on to represent the borough at the Herts School Games.

Last Month Fairfields Primary School won the Netball League organised by the Waltham Cross & District Primary School Sport Association, a network of 20 schools. They were runners-up in the mixed football tournament. They came second in the Basketball Bonanza organised by Ware Rebels.

And the winner was Burleigh Primary School

Crofty with Jayne and Marcia of A10 Active (far right and right) and winner Burleigh School

Volunteer of the Year

Grassroots sports cannot thrive without the dedication of those individuals who willingly volunteer their time to make sport happen. The Volunteer of the Year award is sponsored by the Mercury newspaper and is open to anyone of any age who volunteers at a sports club, school or sports related organisation within the borough of Broxbourne. The judges were looking for evidence of long term involvement, commitment to personal development and training, innovative ideas and those X-factor qualities that set them apart from other people in their interactions thus creating a positive image for sport.

The shortlisted nominations for the Volunteer of the Year award were: Carol Perrin (ASCO Netball Club), Gordon Briggs (Herts Young Mariners Base) and Lea Van der Niet (Herts Young Mariners Base)

Carol Perrin began volunteering at ASCO Netball Club eight years ago when her daughter joined as a youngster. In addition to managing several teams, she assists with administration and fund-raising. A sponsored slim last year raised over £1,000 to buy equipment for the club and to subsidise players attending a tournament at Pontins Holiday Camp.

Gordon Briggs has volunteered at the Herts Young Mariners Base in Cheshunt for over five years. He gives up his time to run the Saturday Morning Adventure Club as well as trips away and promotional events. He has a special talent in supporting disabled and special needs users, adapting activities to meet their needs and build their confidence.

Lea Van der Niet is chair of the Cheshunt Olympic Preparation Squad kayaking team based at the Herts Young Mariners Base, having previously been Club Secretary. She has actively raised funding to purchase new equipment so that a wider range of people with disabilities can participate in paddleability kayaking sessions. She has learned to kayak so she can provide more support to the paddleability programme and is working towards coaching qualifications. This is in addition to a full time job and being a parent of two children, one with additional needs.

And the winner was Lea Van der Niet

Disability Coach of the Year

This is open to any individual who are actively coaching people with disabilities or additional needs at a club, school or organisation within the borough of Broxbourne. The judges were looking for examples of innovation and commitment to encouraging more people with disabilities to participate in sport. This award has been kindly sponsored by B3Living.

The shortlisted nominations for the Disability Coach of the Year were: Janet Warrington (Special Olympic East Herts) and Peter Stannard (Broxbourne Badgers Boccia Club)

Janet Warrington is the Disability Sports Development Officer for Special Olympics East Herts which organises a variety of different sports for people with special needs. It covers both the East Herts and Broxbourne districts. Sports include athletics, football, swimming, dance, boccia, basketball and cricket. Janet has also been appointed Team GB’s Head Coach for Aquatics at the European Special Olympics’ Summer Games in 2014. Janet also plays a key role at both Hoddesdon Swimming Club and Hoddesdon Triathlon Club.

Peter Stannard is one of Hertfordshire’s leading coaches in the Paralympic sport of boccia. Originally with the Eagles boccia club in Hatfield, Peter began coaching in Broxbourne last year when he coached and co-ordinated the borough’s boccia team in the Herts Youth Games. He then set up the Broxbourne Badgers Boccia Club last autumn. The club is actively engaged with the community, providing free taster sessions at community events including the Council’s Supernova Disability Event on 12 May.

We couldn’t decide between them as both Janet and Peter are more than worthy of this award. So we decided to award it to them both.

London 2012 Inspiration Award Part 1

The first of 2 awards that recognise the special achievements made by local athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Active Broxbourne is delighted to award a special Inspiration Award to our very own double gold medallist and World Champion Laura Trott OBE.

Laura, who grew up in Cheshunt and attended Turnford School, won 2 Gold Medals in cycling at the London 2012 Olympic Games. On 4th August 2012 in the Velodrome, Laura and teammates Dani King and Joanna Rowsell won the gold medal in the final of the Team Pursuit competition, breaking the world record they had set in the first round. This added to the previous two world championships won in this discipline. A third world championship in the omnium was won in Minsk, Belarus in February 2013, Laura added a second Olympic gold by winning the women’s omnium on 7th August. She had also won the omnium at the Cycling World Championships in April 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Aged just 20, Laura was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cycling. Laura won the Active Broxbourne Sports Performer of the Year award in 2010 and 2012.

P.E. Teacher / Co-ordinator of the Year

Our final award before our interval is for the P.E Teacher or P.E. Co-ordinator of the year. This award is sponsored by A10 Active and seeks to recognise those who go the extra mile to enable their pupils to participate in sport and physical activity.

The shortlisted nominations for the P.E. Teacher or P.E. Co-ordinator of the Year award were: Chris Eley (the John Warner School), Maxine Kayim (Burleigh Primary School), Mete Rediff (St Mary’s C.of.E. High School) and Tara Haddock (the John Warner School).

Chris Eley has worked within the P.E. department at the John Warner School for five years, also working with local primary schools. Highly regarded by his pupils and colleagues alike, he has developed the schools’ rugby programme with the Year 8s winning the county championship. Chris has developed the schools’ hockey programme with the boys’ team being the only competitive schools team in the borough. Cricket has also increased in popularity with Chris leading a trip to St Lucia. He has also had success in both football and indoor rowing.

Maxine Kayim coaches a variety of sports at Burleigh Primary School, inspiring and leading the pupils to win recent tournaments in rugby, football and speedstacking. She runs numerous afterschool clubs every day including netball. speed stacks, rugby, athletics, multi-skills and football. She also arranges inspirational speakers, including Olympian triple jumper Chris Tomlinson, to come into the school to encourage children to participate in sport.

Mete Rediff was nominated multiple times by his pupils at St Mary’s Church of England High School. Described as a “cool teacher who can have friendly banter with students but establishes a line of respect that all students understand. He is constantly motivating students without seeming too pushy”. The pupils respected him for the time taken out to support their teams.

Tara Haddock is very focused and dedicated in all she strives to achieve in her role as Director of Sport and Head of the Faculty of Physical Education at the John Warner School in Hoddesdon. Under her leadership, strong relationships have been built with both the John Warner Sports Centre and with local sports clubs to give the pupils an extensive range of sporting opportunities. These include sports such as tchoukball, cheerleading, spinning, girls rugby, handball and speedminton. All of these activities sit alongside the more traditional sports such as football, gymnastics, swimming, hockey and trampolining.

And the winner was Tara Haddock

London 2012 Inspiration Award Part 2

Our second of our Active Broxbourne London 2012 Inspiration Awards goes to our good friends Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie.

Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott won gold medals in the C2 canoe slalom competition held at the Lee Valley White Water Centre as part of London 2012. Although they had won bronze medals at the Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2009 and 2011 and a gold medal for Team GB in the C2 team events at the European Championships in 2012, they were not fancied for the Olympic title. They qualified for the final in sixth place and so raced first in the final. Their time of 106.41 was not beaten and so they took Gold. Etienne is from Bedford and Tim is from Aberdeen. They were appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to canoeing. They were guests of honour and gave a presentation on the Olympic aspirations at the 2010 Active Broxbourne Sport Awards.

Secondary School of the Year

This award is open to any secondary school based in the borough of Broxbourne. The judges were looking for evidence of encouraging students to participate in sporting activities and embedding the Olympic values and legacy.

The shortlisted nominations for the Secondary School of the Year award were: The John Warner School, Sheredes Secondary School and St Mary’s C.of.E. High School

The John Warner School in Hoddesdon offers a wide range of sporting opportunities to its pupils. Pupils are able to choose their own activities on the PE curriculum from year 7 onwards, including sports such as tchoukball, cheerleading, spinning, girls rugby and speedminton alongside the more traditional sports such as football, gymnastics, swimming, fitness, hockey and trampolining  Sports are determined by a focus group of pupils. Pupils can also compete after-school in football, rugby, hockey, swimming, trampolining, badminton, table tennis, cricket, badminton, athletics, tennis and basketball. There are strong links with local sports clubs including John Warner Youth FC and the Broxbourne Table Tennis Academy. Earlier this year, a handball club was established in partnership with the council.

Since the London 2012 Olympic Games, Sheredes Secondary School have placed a greater focus on increasing participation in sport. New clubs have included Badminton, Rowing, Table Tennis, Futsal, Hockey and Sportshall Athletics. An early morning swim club has helped club swimmers improve their performances whilst non-swimmers have received beginner’s lessons. The schools’ Sports Leaders programme works closely with local primary schools.

St Mary’s Church of England High School have enjoyed recent success on both the pitch and the court. The boys football team reached the quarter finals of the English Schools Football Association Small Schools Trophy. The newly founded St Marys Thunder Basketball team were unbeaten as they became the Hertfordshire County League Under-18s champions.

The winner was The John Warner School

Club of the Year

For a small borough, Broxbourne has many outstanding sports clubs and the judges were very impressed with the quality of the nominations for the Club of the Year award. This award is sponsored by Hertford Regional College

The Club of the Year award is for those clubs based within the borough of Broxbourne that have sought to increase participation, especially from those who do not usually engage in sport, show innovation, link with other organisations or succeed at a high level of competition.

The shortlisted nominations for the Club of the Year award were Affinity Gymnastics,

Hoddesdon Boxing Club, Hoddesdon Swimming Club and Special Olympics East Herts.

Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games, Affinity Gymnastics has grown to around 200 members. Competitive squads have been expanded and the additional expert coaching has resulted in many medal wins. Some of these were presented to the gymnasts by Olympian Beth Tweddle in December. Relationships have been established with local schools to provide gymnastics coaching during the school day. Sessions have been introduced to encourage adults into gymnastics. The success of the club has seen the head coach recently elected as chair of General Gymnastics in the Eastern region. She’s also currently training with British Gymnastics as a coach tutor and assessor.

Hoddesdon Boxing Academy has seen the club’s reputation escalate this past year with champions at both junior and senior level, including boxers representing England in international tournaments. Ricky Crofty won a place in the England team in April after winning the Senior Elite Light Heavyweight title.

Hoddesdon Swimming Club is one of the oldest swimming clubs in the country having been established in 1895 but continues to develop and deliver a range of aquatic opportunities. It offers Bourne2Swim beginners’ swimming lessons whilst swimmers like Grace Harvey, Georgina Pryor and Lucy Charles are competing and winning at national competitions. The club has three UKCCL3 Aquatic Coaches, which is very rare. The club is fully inclusive with a Special Olympics squad of adults with learning difficulties competing in national tournaments. There are also growing Masters and Triathlon sections

Special Olympics East Herts was set up in partnership with Amwell View school in 2009. It organises a variety of different sports for people with special needs, irrespective of age. It covers both the East Herts and Broxbourne districts. Sports currently on offer include athletics, football, swimming, dance, boccia, basketball and cricket. The club hopes to establish more sports including tennis, netball, cycling and table tennis

And the winner was Hoddesdon Swimming Club

Disability Sports Performer of the Year

Our next award is the Disbaility Sports Performer of the Year award which is open to individuals with a disability who compete or take part in sport within the borough of Broxbourne. Examples of overcoming adversity were just as important to the judges as winning trophies.  This award is sponsored by the Mercury newspaper.

The shortlisted nominations for the Disability Sport Performer of the Year were:

Grace Harvey (Hoddesdon Swimming Club) and Mark Nickson (Herts Young Mariners Base – Cheshunt Olympics Preparation Squad).

Despite being unable to train for three months this year following surgery 14 year old Grace Harvey reached all three finals at the British International Disability Swimming Championships held in April 2013 in Sheffield and received bronze in the 50m butterfly. She is ranked number 1 in the UK and 4th in the world for the 200m individual medley. She is on the British Swimming World Class Talent programme with a target of competing in Rio in 2016.  She also coaches each week at the Special Olympics East Herts swimming session.

Mark Nickson has been paddling at the Herts Young Mariners Base for six years, joining the paddle-ability team three years ago. At the first National Canoe Sprint Regatta of 2013, he improved his personal best on the 200m by seven seconds, putting himself in the top time band. This builds upon medal successes in 2011 and 2012. Mark competes in a number of disciplines including canoe sprint, canoe marathon and wild water racing. He was part of the HYMB COPS team that won the Dick Grieves Trophy for an unprecedented fourth successive year.

And the winner was Grace Harvey

Service to Sport

The prestigious Service to Sport Award seeks to recognise those individuals who have dedicated their time to providing, supporting or developing sport for at least five years. Previous winners have included Maureen Ball, Doug Howell, Malcolm Norris and Annie Thomas.

Shortlisted nominations for the Service to Sport award were Dave Rudland (Edmonton Canoe Club), Dave Gadsden (Broxbourne Sports Club) and Derek Henley (Broxbourne Hockey Club).

Cheshunt resident Dave Rudland has spent over 30 years helping to promote the sport of canoeing to young people in Broxbourne and North London. Dave has performed a variety of roles at Edmonton Canoe Club, which he founded and which meets at Herts Young Mariners Base. These include club secretary, treasurer, cleaner, coach, mentor and event organiser. He provided support to Etienne Stott and Tim Bailie so that they could focus on preparing for the London 2012 Olympic Games. He also provided support at the Lee Valley White Water Centre during the Games.  Dave is also a scout leader and is currently teaching young people at Turnford School how to canoe.

Dave Gadsden has been Head Groundsman at Broxbourne Sports Club for fifteen years. He works 7 days a week to ensure that the grounds and playing surfaces are in top quality condition throughout the year. Whatever the weather condition, his philosophy is ‘ Sport Comes First’. His calm manner and prevailing sense of humour has made him a popular, respected individual who dedicates his life to ensuring that sport can be played.

71 year old Derek Henley has been an amateur sportsman for all of his adult life, only retiring from playing hockey at the age of 70. He continues to umpire and has coached many junior members. He has represented the club on the Hertfordshire Hockey Association where he currently sits on their disciplinary committee. As well as hockey, Derek was a keen local footballer and cricketer, scoring in excess of 10,000 runs as an opening bat for Bayford & Hertford Nondescripts Cricket Club. For the past fifteen years, he has been committed to the administrative side of Broxbourne Hockey Club and to Broxbourne Sports Club, where he has been on the management committee for the past 12 years including the role as Club Secretary. He was part of the team that developed the business case in 1998 for the Astroturf hockey pitch at Broxbourne, applying for Sport England and other funds. He helped design, construct and deliver the £400,000 project. He played a critical role in the £250,000 replacement Astroturf project in 2012.

And the winner was Derek Henley

Young Sports Performer of the Year

Our final award tonight is for the Young Sports Performer of the Year. This was the award for which there was the most nominations, all of which were for young people competing at a very high level in their chosen sport. This award is sponsored by B3Living.

This award is for young people, aged 18 or under, who live or play sport in the borough of Broxbourne. The judges look for examples of commitment & dedication as well as their sporting achievements. This category received the most nominations.

The shortlisted nominations for the Young Sports Performer of the Year were:  Amber Marshall (Broxbourne Squash Club), Ellie Newman (Turnford Netball Club), Georgina Pryor (Hoddesdon Swimming Club) and Rebecca Barton-Hagger (UKA Buckhurst Hill and Broxbourne)

12 year old Amber Marshall has been playing squash at Broxbourne Squash Club for six years. She has won county and regional titles and was ranked in the top 20 in England when under-11. She is currently ranked number 5 in the country at under-13 level.

Dedicated to netball 16 year old Ellie Newman is a key player for Broxbourne School, Turnford Netball Club and Mavericks’ NTL (Netball Talent League) side. She was called up for England Under-17 netball trials at Loughborough earlier this year and selected to be part of the England Under-17 netball squad. Ellie is captain of Turnford Netball Club’s Under-16s that qualified for the national finals in May 2013. Under her captaincy, Broxbourne School finished 9th at the National Schools Final. Ellie also coaches Year 7 pupils at Broxbourne School.

Georgina Pryor from Hoddesdon Swimming Club is currently ranked the fastest 14 year old in Great Britain for both the 50m and 100m butterfly (short and long course). Her times at the British International Swimming Championships in Leeds  in March broke the British record held by Ellen Gandy who competed for Team GB in the 2008 Olympics. Her recent race at Milton Keynes in the 100m backstroke ranks her as the second fastest 14 year old backstroker in Britain.

No stranger to the Active Broxbourne Sport Awards, Rebecca Barton-Hagger continues to win national titles in kumite (fighting) and kata (blade). The 17 year old won gold in kumite and silver in kata at the international open in Crawley in January. She won a gold medal in the team rotation event at the World Championships held in Serbia last October.

And the winner was Ellie Newman

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Nominations Pack 2013

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