Guildford Celebrates Sports Awards 2017

Published on: 7 Nov, 2017
Updated on: 8 Nov, 2017

On Thursday, November 2, local athletes, sports coaches, teams and clubs celebrated their successes at the annual Sport Guildford Awards at a ceremony which recognises and rewards outstanding sports achievements over the past year.

Sport Guildford, the independent Sports Council for Guildford, hosted the awards at George Abbot School in Burpham, with Lewis Mason from Eagle Radio acting as compere for the evening’s celebrations, and local sponsors presenting the awards.

The Mayor of Guildford, Nigel Manning, with some of the Sport Guildford award winners.

Winners included:

Ben Harmsworth from Guildford City Boxing Club – Coach of the Year award, for his exemplary commitment to the club over the last twelve months.

Jesse Englebrecht from the Surrey Sports Park – Outstanding Services to Sport award, for his coaching, mentoring and volunteering services to squash development in Guildford.

Anne Dickens from Wey Kayak Club – Disability Sports award, for her inspirational services to the community since her win at the Rio Paralympics 2016.

Dave Culver from Guildford Sub Aqua Club – Volunteer of the Year award, for his efforts in the training of able and disabled scuba instructors.

Alfie Gates – Young Volunteer of the Year award, for his voluntary media services to football in the local area.

G Force Touch Rugby Club – Team of the Year award, as a result of their ladies and mixed team successes in the Surrey and Hampshire leagues.

Howard of Effingham Secondary School’s Year 11 Rugby League Team – Youth Team of the Year award, with their success in the South East of England Rugby League for the fifth year in a row.

Anne Marie Wilson, swimmer – Young Sports Personality of the Year award, for securing her position as number one in the UK for her age in the 200m this year.

Liam Heath MBE – Sports Personality of the Year award, for his outstanding gold medal performance at the Canoeing World Championships this year. Liam added to his Rio 2016 Olympic success to make his Canoe Sprint Grand Slam, taking home his second gold medal in the K1M 200m.

The Wey Kayak Club – Sports Club of the Year 2017. The club’s 2016-17 season has been their best yet in terms of race achievements, coaching and connecting to the community. This success is a testament to the club’s hardworking volunteers, high numbers of coaches and established community and talent pathway programmes.

Guildford Borough Council supports Sport Guildford and its awards. Councillor Iseult Roche, Lead Councillor for Health, Safeguarding and Sport said: “It’s wonderful to see so many sporting achievements in our local area – I applaud the dedicated coaches and volunteers who have won awards.

“Without their help, sporting opportunities would not be accessible for the local Guildford community. I commend our elite athletes and upcoming stars for their achievements at this year’s awards ceremony. Guildford is lucky to have such great representation in elite sport – many congratulations to all our winners.”