Warrington's amateur sports stars honoured (From Warrington Guardian)
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Warrington's amateur sports stars honoured
8:00am Monday 18th March 2013 in Sport
WOLVES stars Chris Riley and Tyrone McCarthy watched the cream of Warrington’s amateur sportsmen and women honoured at the Warrington Sports Awards at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub.
Wolves’ chief executive Andy Gatcliffe, Cllr Terry O’Neil and 80 other guests were also in attendance to watch numerous individuals and teams pick up their prizes, with seven of the eight winners going on to represent the borough at the Cheshire and Warrington Sports Partnership Awards in April.
Club of the Year
North Cheshire Clarion
The club was formed just three years ago by the three founder members, and since then has had over 300 members join.
As well as weekend rides and the weekly skills sessions, the club has organised a number of successful cycling events, including the national Go Ride Games which was covered by Sky Sports News.
The junior section is the biggest Go Ride club in the north west, while the clarion section is the largest in the country.
Coach of the Year
Geoff Prince
Geoff coaches at the North Cheshire Clarion cycling club and was also awarded Coach of the Year award by British Cycling.
Usually coaching the adults, he has recently taken a lead in setting up the highly successful junior section.
Geoff has been an advocate not just for the club, but cycling in general after appearing on Radio 5 Live to give a talk and take part in a discussion on the sport.
He has worked hard to obtain funding for the club and was successful in receiving a Sport England grant towards assistance with indoor winter training costs.
Disabled Sports Achiever of the Year
Leigh Walmsley
Leigh is a keen archer with a dedicated, rigorous training and competing regime and suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.
Since winning Gold at the IPC World Championships in 2009 she has progressed to the highest honour of representing Team GB in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, where she reached the last 16 in the Women’s Individual Recurve and 7th in the Women’s Team Recurve.
Leigh has self-funded all her training and gave up her job in order to train full time.
She also finds time to support and mentor others be coming a keen advocate for the sport and serving as an inspiration to countless others.
Special Recognition
Tom Reid and Tony Spruce
Tom and Tony are local PCSO’s in the Warrington area.
They are extremely influential within their local area and they organise and support a whole host of activities that benefit the community they work in.
They are the driving force behind the annual Victoria Park Xperience, a summer holiday activity during August which engages young people and families in sports and other activities.
The event itself grows year on year and involves a number of partners that help Tom and Tony fund, plan and execute a successful event.
Originally set up as an anti-social behaviour tool, it has worked to great effect for this but also it works excellently as a signpost service to sport by allowing attendees to try out a variety of sporting activities.
Junior Sports Achiever of the Year
Stephen Clarke
Stephen plays Handball for Salford Men’s Handball Club, trains with them three times a week and additionally at his local gym.
He is an extremely committed and motivated individual and it is this drive which has earned him selection in the National Handball squad and Men’s GB (Olympic) team, playing in two games against France.
Stephen previously represented England at every level from under 15 to under 23, a superb achievement considering he only took up the sport 3 ½ years ago.
Volunteer of the Year
Craig Harris
Craig volunteers for the Positive Futures programme in Warrington.
He has been very influential in getting his peers into sport, acting as a fantastic role model and promoting the sessions.
He has gained some qualifications in coaching football and has helped the project staff to deliver football coaching in the community.
This has helped him to grow in confidence, develop his knowledge and develop as a person.
Young Volunteer of the Year
Tom Stokes
Tom volunteers at Padgate Basketball Club, where he coaches the Padgate Pythons.
Alongside this, he volunteers his time at William Beamont High School, where he is also head boy.
Tom is seen as an approachable young man who is calm and handles challenging situations with maturity and professionalism.
A highly motivated indivudual, he is committed to his team and supports them wholly, being pivotal in his team’s success
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