Sports Personality Awards 2005/6

Torbay Sports Personality of the Year 2005/2006 Round-up

Torbay’s sporting stars of 2005 received a fitting celebration of their achievements on the 28th March 2006 at the Torbay Sports Personality of the Year Awards at Torquay’s Imperial Hotel.

The annual sporting extravaganza attracted a large turnout which saw 12 winners honoured for their outstanding achievements and dedication to sport in Torbay for 2005. Chris Edgecome from Gemini Radio compered the evening and special guest England and Bath Rugby player Lee Mears presented the Awards and also provided an inspiring lesson in how to achieve a successful sporting career.

The Junior Sportsman of the Year Award went to Jay Thomson of Exeter Olympic Gym Club. Jay has only been involved in gymnastics for a few years but has already risen to the position of Devon County Champion, South West Champion and is currently British and National U10s Champion.

Jay trains for three hours every day in Exeter, his proud mother says “Jay is an amazingly dedicated little boy and loves gymnastics. His coaches have every hope that he will become an Olympic contender”.

World Class Sailing Cadet Erin Clark scooped the Junior Sportswoman of the Year Award. Erin, a pupil at Stoodley Knowle School and a member of the Torbay Royal Yacht Club, along with helm James Rusden, claimed first place at the World Cadet Class Sailing Championships in Spain last year.

Torbay Royal Yacht Club sailor Tony Jaffa said “Erin really enjoys sailing and works hard at it, she is a very quick learner and has the ambition to try her best and wants to win”.

One of the Bay’s most successful martial art s coaches, Grant Churchward was named as Coach of the Year. With more than 25 years of taekwondo training behind him, Churchward is an internationally qualified instructor and chief instructor at Paignton Puma Tae Kwon Do School.

The Puma set up contains a host of national champions at various weights and during one international meeting last year, the club received four call-ups into the England Taekwondo team – more than any other club in the country. Three of his students have also been selected to represent Team UK at the World Taekwondo Championships in Australia in September.

One of his many students Natasha Knapman said “Grant is always saying ‘win, lose, or draw – it’s the taking part that counts’, and as long as you do your best he is proud of you. I feel very privileged to have him as my instructor and coach and I also feel that no one could ever replace him”.

Having already won a host of medals at the National Special Olympic Games in Glasgow last summer, gymnast Michelle Treadaway has now claimed the Disabled Sportswoman of the Year Award, a fitting tribute to her hard work and determination.

Her progress at the Club, despite her disability, has made her an inspirational figure to other disabled gymnasts, providing fellow club members with an incentive to do well.

Sixth Former Kieron Palmer walked away with the Junior Volunteer of the Year Award after his many achievements in basketball. Nominated by both Churston Ferrars Grammar School  and South Devon YMCA, 16-year old Kieron’s dedication to the sport has seen him devote hours of his spare time towards helping others keen to be involved. Churston Grammar teacher Dan Greaves said “The devotion and time Kieron gives to both school and community basketball is exceptional and I genuinely feel that youth basketball in Torbay would suffer if not for the commitment he selflessly shows”.

One of the most inspirational sporting figures in South Devon, James Price was the recipient of the Disabled Sportsman of the Year Award. Price, broke his neck while swimming in the sea during a holiday in Majorca in 1999 and is now a tetraplegic. Having spent a year in hospital, he took up wheelchair rugby and has since risen to the position of player-manager of the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Development Team. He is now in line for a place in the 2008 paralympic squad.

He is the only national wheelchair rugby player from the South West and has campaigned to raise awareness of the sport in Devon and Cornwall.

The Volunteer of the Year Award went to veteran football enthusiast Fred Stapleton of South Devon Football League side Torbay Christians.

Stapleton, 74, has performed a variety of roles in his long association with the club, which he founded in his younger days and has guided through various obstacles, difficulties and triumphs ever since.

Club spokesman Paul Hayes said “Fred is passionate about football but he takes it to a deeper level by being passionate about people. He is more than sports volunteer of the year – he is sports volunteer of the century! He has shown what sport is all about. It is more than a game, it is about community, discipline, bringing the best out of humanity, and giving, not just taking”.

Winner of the Service to Sport in Education Award was Tony Callcut and no doubt schools across South Devon will agree that he is a worthy recipient.

The development manager of the Torbay Sport Partnership, Callcut has overseen a boom period in school sport ever since he founded the partnership, with the provision of sport in the Bay having more than doubled since its conception.

He was nominated by Paignton Community and Sports College coach Claire Blagdon, who said “ The achievements of the partnership have been so successful they are now to feature in a top ten of partnerships in a Youth Sport Trust video. Tony has allowed many disadvantaged and underprivileged students access too many sports”.

Foxhole Primary School teacher Trish Walker won the inaugural Primary PE

Co-ordinator of the Year Award having become an influential and popular sporting enthusiast at the school. Walker has been credited with raising the profile of PE and after-school sport at the school and has been a driving force in the promotion of sport in Foxhole.

Known as much for her enthusiasm and strong wills as for her hard work and tenacity, Walker is a fitting winner of the first ever primary school teaching award to be handed out at a Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, and seems to embody all that the award represents. School Head, Jo Tucker said “She encourages, cajoles and enthuses, which has had a very positive impact on the attitude to all areas of sport”.

Veteran swimming coach Don Roberts was the winner of the Senior Sportsman of the Year Award, a fitting tribute to a man who has dedicated his life to the sport. The head coach of Oddicombe Swimming Club, Roberts, 75, has been a part of the club for 50 years, dedicating hours of his own time towards evening and early morning sessions.

Last season, he oversaw one of the most successful campaigns in Oddicombe’s history as the squad won promotion to Division Two of the National Speedo League. Nominator and fellow Oddicombe swimmer Anne Felton said “Don has been a dedicated member of Oddicombe Swimming Club for nearly 70 years. Through his dedication and commitment the club enjoyed one of its most successful years in 2005”.

The Paignton Dragons Skater Hockey Team was the winners of the Senior Team of the Year prize – having set a blistering pace since their formation in October 2003. The team finished second in the South West Skater Hockey League in 2004 and then went one better last season to claim the championship, losing just one match throughout the campaign.

As team manager Sarah Ling explained “They have made outstanding achievements in a minority sport while holding down full-time jobs. Their commitment has been brilliant, and they also train and support the younger players”.

The all-conquering Westland’s School U16 Boys Football Team won the Junior Team of the Year Award, with the honour yet another big accolade for a team that have become an inspiration to their Torquay-based school.

The team are both the Devon and South Devon champions and sit among the top 16 school teams in the Country.

Coach Mick Mooney said “The team’s achievements have motivated the whole of their year group. They have shown that not only does ability count, but that attitude and commitment are key to any kind of success”.  

To mark the 140^th Anniversary of The Imperial Hotel, General Manager Mr Hines Skalnik presented an engraved Champagne Glass to this year's Winner of Winners. For his outstanding commitment to raising the profile of sport in Torbay for the last 50 years, Fred Stapleton was a worthy recipient.

A founder member of the Torbay Christians in Sport Football Club, Fred has been an invaluable volunteer and friend. To his Club he his more than a volunteer of the Year, he is the volunteer of the Century leaving his legacy in all those that he graces.

Torbay thanked Fred for his endeavours’, his motivation and his inspiration. His nominator Paul Hayes commented “Fred – you have taught us so much, you are our greatest volunteer! You will be sorely missed but always cherished and remembered”.

Organiser Kirsty Parker, Torbay’s Community Sports Co-ordinator would like to thank the Panel of Judges (Miss Jane English, Mr Roger Mann, Mrs Sue Cheriton, Mr Brendon Hanrahan and Councillor Gordon Jennings), the sponsors (AstraZeneca, Tony Pryce Sports, the Herald Express, and the Rotary Club of Torbay Sunrise), the Imperial Hotel, the compere Chris Edgecome, and the special guest, Bath and England Rugby player, Lee Mears. The continued support of such people allow for the sporting success of the Bay to be recognised.