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ABERDEENSHIRE SPORTS COUNCIL – SPORTS AWARDS EVENING
2004
Detailed below are just some of the achievements
of the shortlisted nominees. These details are taken
from the information supplied by the nominator. The
amount of information given varied considerably. As you
will appreciate, the task of shortlisting and choosing a
winner was a very difficult decision due to the
exceptionally high quality of the nominees for all
categories. All those nominated - 86 nominations for the
various categories - are a credit to their sport and to
Aberdeenshire and we wish them continued success for the
future.
Junior
Sportswomen
Claire
Birnie (14) Cults Tennis
Club
Tennis
Claire had
a tremendous year in 2003. Results include-
Feb
2003 Won Scottish U14 Indoor Singles Title
(Scottish) for a second time.
Won Scottish U14 Indoor Doubles
Title (Scottish) for a third time.
May
2003 Qualified for U15 British National
Championships Main Draw (British)
July
2003 R/U Scottish Open U14 Singles
(International)
Winner Scottish Open U16 Doubles
(International)
Nov
2003 Daily Telegraph Grand Prix Singles Winner
U14 at la Manga (British)
She is a
member of the Grampian Institute of Sport and plays for
Cults LTC where she plays for the ladies 1st
team in local and Scottish competition. She is a member
of the North of Sctland County & NE District U18 teams
despite her age. The results show she has the potential
to go a long way in the sport. She currently trains with
North County Performance Coach, Kris Soutar.
Claire
Brownie (15) Turriff Netball
Club
Netball
National
Squad Trials for Netball ; Scottish Schools Finals for
Back Crawl.
Claire is a
real all-rounder and excels at most sports. She is
currently in the Scottsih netball team that is away to
European Championships in Bath. She swims for Garioch
SC and qualified for the finals of the Back Crawl at the
recent Scottish Schools Championships. She has
represented the school at Athletics, Badminton, Cross
Country and Road Relay.
Kerry
Buchan (16)
Upper
Deeside ASC/South Aberdeenshire Swimming
Swimming
Kerry Buchan is a dedicated and motivated
young women who travels every day from her home in
Finzean to Westhill in order to train with South
Aberdeenshire Swimming, and coach Gary Paterson, a trip
which entails leaving home at 4.45am on four mornings
per week.
Kerry is a
member of the Scottish Youth Squad and Scottish Champion
in the 15/16 age group for 100m Breaststroke, 200m
Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley. She also
became Scottish Junior Champion for 100m Breaststroke
and Scottish Junior & Senior Champion for 400m
Individual Medley. Kerry moved on to the British Age
Group Championships in Sheffield & reached the finals of
the 100m and 200m Breaststroke , and the 200m and 400m
Individual Medley.To culminate a brilliant season she
also broke the longest standing Scottish Junior Record -
the 1500m Freestyle - which she shattered, bringing the
record down by 14 seconds to 17:09.99 which had stood
for 22 years.
Chantel
Clark (13)) Aberdeen &
Elgin AACs Athletics
Chantel represented Scotland in April 2003 when she ran
in the mini marathon in London. She is currently ranked
fifth in Scotland for 1200 metres. She qualified for the
final in U13 Bank of Scotland championships with a time
of 2 min 38.8 at only eleven years old.
She
was selected to represent Aberdeenshire at the 10th
spar European cross country championships and had a
storming run and came in 15th out of over one hundred
girls. Her other teammates came in 38th, 49th
and 82nd which was enough to take 7th team place overall
out of 42 regions.
Chantel has
had a lot to cope with this year and she never gives up
even through illness and injury, she is also a young
carer for her younger brother who is disabled. Not only
does she find time for running but her after school
clubs that she participates in running to Gymnastics,
Swimming and most recently Nordic Skiing, which after
only a couple of times on skis, she has been asked to
join the Youth Development Squad, as they say she has a
talent that they could tap into.
Lisa
Ferguson (17) Ellon Amateur Athletics
Club Athletics
Lisa is an
all round athlete and competes in combined events and
also sprints, hurdles and jumps. She is coached by
Miller Mathieson a renowned combined events coach and
also has special coaching sessions with the Bank of
Scotland Talented Young Athletes jump squad, the
Scottish Schools squad and the Rover Combined Events
regional squad.
Internationals - Represented Scotland in January 2003
against Belgium, competing in the high jump. Competed
for Scotland in high jump at the British Schools
International, Scotstoun, Glasgow, and in Cardiff in
July 2003 where she won the gold medal with a jump of
1.70metres. Competed for Scotland in the Celtic Games,
Dublin and in Belfast in August 2003 where she won the
gold medal. In the British Schools Penthathlon
Championships held in the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow in
December 2003, Lisa produced another personal best
performance point total of 3,299 to win the bronze medal
(the only Scottish athlete to win an individual medal)
National
Titles and Records - Current national titles include
Scottish East District Champion in High Jump and 100
metres for Under 17 Women: Scottish Schools High Jump
Champion with a personal best clearance of 1.73 metres;
Scottish Under 17 Women Long Jump Champion with a
personal best jump of 5.71 .
Rachel
Hardman (16) Findon Riding
Club
Equestrian
Rachael
qualified for the British Riding Clubs Horse Trails
Championships as part of the Findon Junior team. The
other team members put up a good show at the
Championships but had various misfortunes, which meant
that the team was unplaced. Rachael on the other hand
was able to continue as an individual competitor and
produced a lovely dressage test, and was in the lead in
her arena going into the show jumping, where she jumped
a clear round. Her cross country round was faultless
and she finished the competition on her dressage score
to win in her arena. This was no mean feat as she was
competing against the best junior competitors from
Britain and Ireland.
The next
British Riding Club Championships we attended were for
dressage, riding test, show jumping and equitation
jumping at Lincoln Shground. Rachael had qualified for
all the classes she entered, but this time with two
horses. Rachael had individual success too coming
second in riding test & second in one of her dressage
tests.
The year
rounded off with the Caledonia Championships at the end
of September at Scone Palace. Rachael picked up
individual glory as well as being part of successful
teams. She had a very good season in 2003. She is very
focused, determined and with a will to win. At the same
time her attitude is exemplary.
Kirsten
Jack (16) Alford Judo
Club
Judo
Kirsten has over the past 12
months attended a host of Tournaments throughout Britain
in her chosen sport of Judo returning with a very
impressive haul of medals and placings. These include –
1st
places at the Scottish Nationals (U16s), Scottish
Schools (U18), North of Scotland and Central Scotland
Opens (Youth) and Youth Internationals events.
She
is a member of the National Youth Development Squad
which requires her regularly to attend sessions in Ratho,
and is due to be awarded the coveted 1st Dan
Black Belt , noteworthy because of her age and all her
sporting & academic commitments.
Kirsten is balancing her Judo commitments with her
longstanding commitment to gymnastics, where she
competes and coaches, winning medals in that sport also.
She is a very good ambassador for sport, her positive
attitude is a good reflection of her character and she
gives full commitment to whatever she undertakes.
Nikki Kidd
(16) Bon Accord MBC Ladies
Hockey Club Hockey
Nikki takes
part in numerous sports including football, athletics,
golf and most importantly hockey.
She is a
member of the Grampian Institute of Sport receiving
specialised coaching for hockey including training
schedules, coaching, career and dietary advice. During
2003 Nikki was selected for the North of Scotland Under
16 district team and captained them at the national
championship where she scored several goals.
These
successes resulted in selection for the Scotland Under
16 squad and regular training sessions at Inverclyde
Sports Centre in Largs.
She was
then an ever present in the Scotland Under 16 team
during the 2003 internationals. In this series of
international matches she played in all 9 matches and
the team were undefeated. As a result of this success
she joined Bon Accord MBC Ladies Hockey Club for season
2003/2004 where she has been a prominent member of their
team who play in the National Woman’s Premier League.
She played
for the North District Under 18 team in 2004 and has now
been selected for the Scotland Under 18 National Squad
and is hoping to feature in the international series of
matches in June 2004.
She is
dedicated to her sport spending many hours training and
perfecting the skills required to play at the highest
level. In school she takes time to help younger pupils
by becoming involved in coaching junior teams. She is
very ambitious hoping to continue her International
career at under 18 levels, assist her club and district
to progress and develop her own career to the highest
level.
Hannah
Miley (14) Garioch Amateur Swimming
Club Swimming
Youngest
ever Scottish Senior Squad Member competing in
Minneapolis, USA January 2004.
Squads:
In addition
to being selected for the Scottish Senior Squad Hannah
is also part of the World Class Potential Programme,
which seeks to develop a core of young swimmers with top
international potential.
National
Achievements:
Hannah was
multiple Scottish National Champion in the 13 years
age-group in the 2003 Scottish National Age Group
Championships. At the prestigious ASA Championships in
the summer of 2003, Hannah became the overall BAGCAT
winner in the 13 years age-group, winning golds in 200m
Butterfly and 400m Individual Medley.
Recent at
the Scottish national Short Course Swimming
Championships Hannah set a new Scottish Junior record in
the 400m Individual Medley, winning bronze in the open
section of the competition. She also won gold in 200m
Butterfly in the open section, whilst in the youth
section of the competition Hannah won a further gold in
the 400m Individual Medley and silver in the 50m
Freestyle.
District
achievements:
Hannah was
winner of every event in the North District
Championships in February 2004, setting eight new
district records in the process.
Also
nominated in the Junior Sportswoman category were:
Hannah
Mackay (9) Garioch Gymnastics
Club Gymnastics
Emma
Mitchell (?) Stonehaven ASC
Swimming
Katherine Ward (16) Aberdeen &
Stonehaven Yacht Club
Sailing
Lauren
Ward (11) Fraserburgh Sea Cadets
Various
Junior Sportsman
Fraser
Clarke (12) Banchory & Cults Tennis
Clubs Tennis
Fraser had
a successful 2003 adding to his haul of Scottish level
titles and gaining representative honours at every level
up to Scottish. LTA Rating system, currently joint
number 1at U13 level.
In April he
played for the North East of Scotland at the annual
Inter District competition in Kilgraston, playing number
1 singles in the U13 age group. In May he moved on to
play for the North of Scotland County (taking in
Highlands right through to Linlithgow) at the U13 county
cup where again he played number one singles against
British opposition. He ended the year playing for
Scotland against Ireland.
Results
include -
February
2003 Runner up Scottish U12 Indoors
Singles and Doubles (Scottish)
July
2003 Won Scottish Open U12
Singles (International)
Winter
2003 Played for Scotland against
Ireland
Fraser trains under the direction of North of Scotland
performance coach Kris Soutar and travels all over the
UK to gain appropriate level of competition, even
travelling abroad.
Duncan
Coombs (15) Mar Orienteering
Club
Orienteering
Duncan had
an exceptional year including the following major
results. Winner of all 6 UK selection races for the GB
junior Start squad at the M16 age group.
Won both
the two most prestigious GB events in the UK: namely the
two day Jan Kjellstrom International Trophy (held in the
Forrest of Dean) and the British Championships.
Member of
GB squad that travelled for a two week tour to Halden in
Norway and the winning Scotland relay team that won the
Home Internationals Relay. Member of the same team that
won the Junior Inter-Regional Relay & member of club
senior team that took 3rd in the Men’s Open
Relay at Scottish Championships
Jordan
Findlay (15) Fraserburgh Golf
Club
Golf
Played for
Scotland against the English schoolboys (& for Scotland
U16s against England U16s) and was the only player to
win both matches in each competition. Got to the 3rd
round of the British boys championship at Royal
Liverpool Golf Club. Played for the North East of
Scotland 5 times and went unbeaten both in singles and
foursomes.
Finished in
the top ten in both the Scottish boys and the Scottish
youths championship. Reduced his handicap from 5 to
scratch in 4 month. Won the North East boys order of
merit with four wins around the junior circuit and a
second place. Got picked for the Scottish under 16s
elite squad, which is a group of 6 players around
Scotland that receive coaching from the Scottish golf
union over the year 2004 every 2 weeks.
Ben
Kilner (15) British Snowboarding
Federation Snowboarding
Ben will be
based in France for training for the duration of the
2003/04 season.
22nd
– 29th March 03
– British
Championships. Achieved four gold medals and took the
title of British Champion in all disciplines
21st
– 25th Sept 03
– “Totally Board X Games” Kiev, Ukraine – took 2nd
place in an adult field of elite European riders.
10th
– 17th January 2004 – Burton European Open
competition, Livigno, Italy
– took 6th
Place in half pipe junior jam and 9th place
in slope style final, excellent results in a competition
of such a high standard of riders.
19th
– 20th January 04
– Orange
British Slopestyle, Les Duex Alps, senior event, took 4th
place.
Craig
Smith, Head Coach of the British National Team says, ‘I
first Ben Kilner 3 years ago. Since that time Ben has
attended my training camps and is now training with me
full time on the World Cup Team. The reality of Ben
making it to the 2006 Olympics in Turino, Italy are very
high, he is half way there now. Ben will train full
time this year and until the Olympic Games’.
Jan-Michael Kochalski (18) Gordon
Skiers
Skiing
Jan Michael at
the age of 16 made the decision to leave school and
pursue a full time programme in Europe. In 2002 he was
selected for the British Home Nations Development Team
and is now based at the British Olympic Association base
in Lofer, Austria. Having been chosen as a potential
Olympic athlete he was given an Olympic silver card in
2002.
In February 2003 he was selected to
represent Great Britain at the European Youth Olympics
in Slovenia. He achieved some excellent results against
the best in the world and some much older athletes and
continued this good form to score to some good FIS
points during the season.
At
the British Senior Championships in France he won the
U18 Downhill. He also gained first place in the Junior
1 category for Super G and Giant Slalom. At the British
Junior Championships in Austria he gained a further 2
silver medals and at the end of 2003 he won the Giant
Slalom at the BARSC Championships in Austria. The next
season will be critical as he pursues his Olympic
dreams.
Lyall
Paterson (14) Stonehaven Squash
Club Squash
Lyall
became the current Under 15 Scottish Boys Squash
Champion in February 2004.
Apart from
this success, this season has seen Lyall win the Nordic
Junior Open in Malmo, Sweden on 3rd October.
He then reached the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Open
in December 2003 and finished 14th in the
British Junior Open a week later.
Lyall
captained the Boys Under 15 team on 9th April
in the Home International Championships in Cardiff.
The
Highlight of 2004 will be in August as he has been
invited to participate in the Junior World Championships
in Pakistan in August. It is assessed this experience
will be invaluable when he returns to the next World
Championships two years later in New Zealand.
Currently
Lyall has a European Ranking of 6 which he hopes to
improve upon before turning 15 in July.
Greig
Ryan (17) Ellon RFC
Rugby
Greig has
had a busy season. At the young age of 17 he has forced
his way into the Ellon RFC 1st XV team. No
mean achievement with plenty of older and more
experienced players all competing for the same position,
in a team that is riding high, gaining promotion to
National Division 1. His other achievements have
included captaining the Caledonia District team, in this
seasons District competition. He was invited to a
Scotland training session at Christmas 2003 and from
this training session Greig was selected to represent
Scotland U18A. This has meant playing other national
teams from within the home nations and also
participating in the U18 tournament in Italy.
Not content
with these achievements Greig has also embarked on a NVQ
Community Coach Course.
He is an
example of someone who is dedicated to his sport and who
is willing to put in the extra work and training to help
him achieve his maximum potential. He also manages to
go out of his way to help very young people and give
them a chance to try a sport, which they may otherwise
never have an opportunity to become involved with.
Also
nominated in Junior Sportsman category were:
Eddie
Baird (13) Fraserburgh
Sea Cadets Football
John
Calder (15) Dyce
Football Club
Football
Aeden
Cormack (10) Aberdeen Ice
Hockey Club Ice Hockey
Darren
Morrison (17) The Gordon
Schools CSU Swimming
Andrew
Musgrave (?) British Nordic
Ski Squad Nordic Ski
Chirs
Nelson (?) Ellon AAC
Athletics
Gregor
Thurlow (15) Stonehaven ASC
Swimming
Senior
Sportswoman
Emma
Cole-Hamilton Bon Accord Rifle
Club Target Rifle Shooting
Air Rifle
Shooting - She won a
silver medal at the GBR Junior International in August,
is the current Scottish Women’s Champion, and the
Scottish Junior Champion. British Junior Women’s
Champion, putting up a record score in the process. She
shot in the Scotland women’s team at the British
Championships contributing to the new record team
score. Represented Scotland at a full international in
Holland, including a PB score of 384.
3 Position Rifle -
Three Position Shooting includes Standing, Kneeling and
Prone with 0.22 Cartridge rifle, and Emma continues to
lead the way here for junior Women in Scotland as well.
Prone Rifle
- Scottish Junior 50 m prone champion. She won her
class at the National Scottish meeting, and was selected
to shoot in the Scotland Women’s team for the Home
International.
General
- Member of the GBR junior (under 21) squad for 3P and
Air Rifle, promoted from the Scotland Under 25 squad to
the full A-squad in 2003, for 3P and Air Rifle. She has
her eyes firmly set on a place in the Scotland team at
the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Katherine
Grainger Brithish Rowing
Team
Rowing
Katherine, a
rower from Maryculter competes in the Women’s Coxless
pairs at the highest level, a discipline that is both as
technically and physically demanding as any. Having
won the silver medal at the Sydney Olympics, she and her
partner Cath Bishop upgraded their status by winning
Gold in the World Championships in 2003. They will
travel to the Olympics in Athens this Summer with high
hopes of a gold medal.
Joanne
Pitt British Horse
Society
Equestrian
Joanne has
shown not only achievement at the highest level but also
total dedication and commitment to her chosen sport.
She has
represented GB in Internationals at home and abroad,
including Team Gold and Individual Silver and Bronze
medals in Madrid in June 2003 and has trained with
single-minded determination to reach the very top.
Last year she
travelled, with her ever-supportive parents, over 15,500
miles TOWING A HORSE TRAILER to attend squad training
and competition.
She has
been selected as a member of the Short list for the
Paralympic Equestrian Squad for Athens this summer.
Kate
Robertson Scottish Endurance Riding
Club Equestrian
Kate started
in endurance riding in 1991 with her Icelandic ponies
but later switched to riding other breeds of horses. In
2003 she achieve her aim to have two Gold Series
horses. Her first was an Arab called “Crystal Firedance”
who achieved Gold Thistle in 1997 and Platinum in 2002
and went on to compete for Scotland at the Home
International and also for Great Britain in France.
With her
new Anglo/Arab “Lady Bathsheba” she completed 10 rides
totalling 435 miles in Scotland, including three 50-mile
rides in 2003 and achieved Gold Thistle award. They
notched up no less than seven trophies last year,
including highest points in Grampian, highest points in
Scotland, the trophy for the most gold rosettes at each
competition in Grampian, top non-Arab in Grampian,
Branch team trophy at the Scottish Championships and
best result in the 50 and 20 mile classes at the
Scottish Championships. She and Sheba are now long
listed for the British team in 2004.
Also
nominated in the Senior Sportswoman category was:
Elizabeth
Goodbrand Fraserburgh Sea
Cadet Corps Various
Senior
Sportsman
David
Anderson New Deer
Bowling Club Bowling
David’s two
greatest achievements have been realised during the last
12 months.
First of
all, in July 2003 he became the first member of New Deer
Bowling Club to win a Scottish title when he became the
Scottish Bowling Association (SBA) National Singles
Champion. This is also the first time the singles
trophy has come north of Aberdeen in over 100 years.
Secondly,
he is a member of Turriff Indoor Bowling Club during the
winter season and he was selected as a reserve for the
Scottish Team for their home international series in
Perth in March 2003, and was honoured to earn his first
Scottish Cap when he was picked to play in Alex
Marshall’s team on the second day of the series.
Stuart
Corsar Grammar
FPS Rugby Club Rugby
This season
saw him No1 Choice at Premier Level 1 Rugby at his
position, Stuart can adapt to all front row positions
and has done it at International Level for Under 19’s
Scotland, Stuart has a good first half of the season
with Grammar and they were doing well at the top of the
league.
Stuart also
made his debut for Scotland V New Zealand U21 Districts
at Galashields in Nov 03 where Scotland earned a first
win over New Zealand. At the turn of the year Stuart
broke down in training. Medical treatment on his back
and leg put him out of action but now he is attending
training, working out, running and getting fit again,
for the possible change of making Scotland U21’s
Murray
Dingwall
COAST
Swimming
Murray has
continued to strive to maintain his regime under very
difficult circumstances and often without a coach to
guide him. Since the Sydney Paralympics athletes with a
learning disability have found themselves in the
unfortunate position of being disqualified from major
events because of anomalies in the classification
process.
As a result
the funding for the athletes at the very top, and their
training structures have been very seriously curtailed.
His 2003 – 2004 programme was totally guided towards the
World Championships in Hong Kong in January 2004.
His focus
on the World Championships in Hong Kong paid off because
he came home with a silver medal in 200m Butterfly (this
was the first time he had competed in this event in a
major competition) and a bronze medal for 100m
Breaststroke.
Also
nominated in the Senior Sportsman category was:
John
Ritchie Fraserburgh Sea
Cadet Corps
Various
Junior
Team/Club
Aberdeen Schools Rowing Association Junior
U18 Coxed Four Rowing
For
a record-breaking second year in succession the boys of
the Association captured arguably the blue riband of
British Junior rowing at the National Rowing
Championships of Great Britain at Strathclyde Park,
Motherwell on Sunday 20th July when Colin
Wallace, Ross Cruickshank, Kerr Neave, Micheal Anderson
& Cox Jamie Steel completed a gruelling programme of top
level racing to take a brilliant and stylish Gold in the
final of Mens Under 18 Coxed Fours.
At
the Scottish & Scottish Schools Rowing Championships at
Strathclyde Park on 14/15 June, the Association mirrored
the success of the Aberdeen Senior Clubs by bringing
back to the city a total of 8 Gold medals and 2 Silver.
ASRA Junior 18 Boys took the Junior 18 Coxed Fours title
for the second year running and the quartet also won the
Junior 18 Coxless Fours title.
Ballater Judo
Club
Judo
As a club
we have 48 members between the age of 5 and 14. We have
won 122 medals in competitions all over Scotland and
this year we are planning trips south of the border. We
have 9 Scottish medals and 4 of the club members have
been selected to go to the Scottish Judo Academy at
Ratho near Edinburgh to train as part of the Scottish
Development Squad with kids from all over Scotland.
The club
has a great affect on the commnunity as some of the kids
are doing so well they are like local heroes. We fund
raise to help subsidise traveling costs & the community
are always helpful.
Bennachie
Pony Club Dressage Team
Bennachie
Branch of the Pony
Club
Equestrian
Since 1999,
the Dressage Team has qualified for the National Pony
Club Championships every year, as either the winning
team or the second placed team at the Area Qualifying
Competition, held for branches in the North and Central
regions of Scotland. Expectations were therefore high
for 2003, particularly after coming second in 2002. The
girls all performed well with the team finishing in
fourth place, with Pippa winning her Arena and finishing
fourth overall individually. The team has now a
remarkable record of success at National level, quite an
achievement considering the distances that we have to
travel to compete at the championships – a round journey
of 900 miles, which adds a huge amount of stress on to
the horses. Their success is a credit to the team
members themselves as well as their trainers, parents
and the support of the rest of the branch.
L & Q
Bowling Club Lumsden
(Juniors)
Bowling
One of the
ongoing problems in lawn, long and short mat bowling is
in attracting young people into the game, and this
problem seems particularly acute in the North East.
Almost as
an experiment, we decided to ask our local primary
school if any pupils would like to learn how to play
bowls at times set aside for juniors only. The response
was so good that we decided to form our own club and
apply for financial help to buy bowls etc. In the
interim, bowls were gifted by the senior club, by
private individuals and by a private loan of money to
purchase bowls.
As there
are so few young players we have already played against
senior teams and are at present entering and playing in
a number of adult competitions in Aberdeenshire.The
reaction of the adult clubs has been positive and
encouraging. Although they see the odd fourteen or
fifteen year old playing in competitions with an adult
relative, to see pairs and triples teams comprising of
children aged 8 to 12 years has been a novelty and a
revelation because these children are quite able to
play competitively, and after seeing them, comments
range from "amazing" to "I never thought these wee
children would have the skill" to a common comment "Give
them another year and they will be giving us a real
hiding!"
A secondary
result of all this has been that our junior bowling club
is a source of local interest: older villagers who knew
none of the children now smile and talk in the passing,
and vica versa: lastly the parents, many of whom are
incomers are now involved in preparing teas, providing
transport, phoning each other for bowling information.
This is surely a good thing for community relationships.
Mintlaw
Academy Girls U14 Football
Team
Football
The team
won the National Coca Cola 7s competition following a
series of 15 matches played at Inverurie (1st
Round), Pittodrie Stadium (2nd Round), Lesser
Hampden (Regional Finals) and Hampden Park (Finals).
They were undefeated in the 15 matches played against
schools throughout Scotland, winning the trophy with a
4-1 victory over Hawick High School in the final.
These 10 girls also won the B.P 7s Cup at Livingston and
they were part of the Mintlaw Juniors squad which picked
up the North of Scotland Cup and the Aberdeenshire Cup
last session. They are a very talented group of girl’s
footballers, some of which should go on to gain
International Honours in the sport in the not too
distant future.
Stonehaven
Junior Squash
Club
Squash
Stonehaven
Junior Squash Clubs has had another great season. It
currently has one current National Championship, 5 other
Ex National Champions and a further four
internationalists in it’s membership, a total of 10
Internationalists. It is tremendous to see no fewer
than a further 5 of the younger players break into the
Regional Squads for the first time with a further four
just missing out on selection. It is the depth of
talent in particular that makes the Club so unique,
particularly with the boys where competition is fierce.
Three of
the girls aged from 14 have broken into the Ladies team
playing in the 1st Division this season & no fewer than
4 of the boys broke into the Adult Open League 1st
Division team.
The season
both the Under 15 and Under 13 teams won their
respective Grampian Junior League. Both teams are in
the finals of there respective Knockout Cup competitions
that will be played on Grampian Finals Nights.
Also
nominated in the Junior Team/Club category were:
British
Nordic Ski Squad
Nordic Skiing
Fraserburgh
Sea Cadets Unit Power Boating
Team Power Boating
Maroc
Juniors MAR
Orienteering Club Orienteering
Senior
Team/Club
Aberchirder
Bowling
Club
Bowling
After
playing local rounds, our team went on to beat Forres at
Buckie in the first round of the Scottish Tie.
Subsequently they beat Lossiemouth at Cullen. In the
third round they defeated Newpitsligo at Monquitter and
in the 4th round they ensured a victory over
Moray at Cullen.They then qualified for the national
finals at Northfield, Ayr. In the first round at Ayr
they beat Mount Vernon and in the second round similarly
defeated Gala Waverley. In the close fought match
against Queensferry they triumphed with a score of 14 to
Foggie and 13 to Queensferry. It was then that our team
were in the semi finals of the Scottish Championships
and defeated Clarkston, Glasgow a convincing 24 – 4.
Messrs.
Beaton, Beaton, Beaton and Bremner are now the Scottish
Championships on behalf of Aberchirder Bowling Club and
have put ‘Foggie’ on the map of British Bowling.
Ellon
Rugby Football
Club
Rugby
The season
2003/2004 has been another very successful year for
Ellon Rugby Football Club. Five years ago Ellon RFC
were in a regional league based in the North of Scotland
but with continuous promotion over the last 5 years,
they have risen to the level of National Division 1.
This is a great achievement and during that past 5 years
they have won their respective leagues as well.
This
achievement has been reached due to combined effort and
commitment of the whole Club, from the person who sells
match programmes to various managers of the teams. The
commitment and skills of the players and coaches are
without question and the reason for the success.
The Club
has been held up as shining example, by the SRU, of how
modern clubs should be set up, so as to encourage &
allow young people to fulfill their potential in their
chosen sport.
Laurencekirk Curling
Club
Curling
The
team of
Carolyn
Morris, [skip] Pat Lockhart,[third] Trudie Milne,[second]
Linda Lesperance, [lead]
have
combined to produce a team of considerable talent and
quality to win the silver medal at the Senior World
Curling Championships.
Having
qualified as the North East representatives early last
year, they then went forward to face a field of very
strong opposition from other parts of Scotland, putting
up an excellent performance to take the Scottish Senior
Championship title 2003-04.
A month or so
later saw them in Canada to represent their country, as
Scottish champions at the Senior World Curling
Championships in Winnipeg. Here they were to meet teams
from the USA, Italy, Denmark, England, Japan, New
Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland and Canada.
During the
round robin stages Carolyn and her team stormed into the
final stages, defeating every other competing nation,
apart from Canada in the progress. Having successfully
reached the last four of the competition, they narrowly
defeated their semi-final opponents in an extremely high
quality game, with a nail biting finish, before clashing
again with the pre-tournament favourites, Canada.
Despite the heroic efforts of every member of the
Scottish team, the Canadians managed to win through in a
tight and closely fought final.
Also
nominated in the Senior Team/Club Male Coach of the Year
category were:
Fraserburgh
Sea Cadets Unit Parents &
Supporters Various
Fraserburgh
Sea Cadets Unit Team of
Staff Various
Female
Coach of the Year
Pearl
Gray Turriff Boys
Club
Football
Pearl Gray is
a dedicated coach indeed. She has a P7 football team
that she made out of boys who did not make it into
Turriff Boy’s Club P6 team last year and has stuck with
them threw thick and thin where I do think other’s could
have given up. Two other players have improved with
getting experience of the game and are now promoted to
the top team.
She is a
single mother of two boys and also coaches the P1’s at
T.B.C. She is also the first coach there to enter P1’s
in the Grampian League at such a tender age but always
praises them and encourages them to enjoy the game most
of all. She has the biggest turn out of members in the
club, which I believe is over thirty-two in her P1 group
alone. She gives up all her weekends and a lot of
evening work too for the teams and is presently doing an
F.A. football psychology course. She has done many S.F.A.
courses including Goalkeeping & Goalkeeping
Intermediate, Early Touches, Coaching Young Footballers,
Development Activities course too as well as her Red
Cross first aid.
Gail
McKeitch Disability
Sport
Trampolining
Gail became
a trampoline coach for Disability Sport when looking for
an activity that would provide exercise and fun for her
own son who has autism.
Now many
children in the Ellon area benefit from her skills and
knowledge at the regular trampoline sessions. As well
as providing this specialised service with her own
unique insight from a personal perspective, she is also
an active member of both Ellon parent support groups for
families who have children with special needs, and is
currently working toward a post graduate certificate in
Autism.
She has
inspired other families in similar circumstances through
her determination to get the most out of life. Her
patient and intuitive approach to coaching children with
disabilities, using her own brand of humour, has enabled
many children to enjoy a sporting experience on equal
terms as those enjoyed by their peers. The additional
effect this has on parents, who see their children
actively taking part with enthusiasm and sheer
enjoyment, cannot be underestimated.
Also
nominated in the Female Coach of the Year category were:
Margaret Brand Marykirk Primary
School
Football
Joyce
Devlin Fraserburgh Sea
Cadets Canoeing
Male
Coach of the Year
John
Calder (Snr) Deveron
Boys FC
Football
John Calder
does so much for football. He is always coaching and is
an excellent Goalkeeper Coach. His two sons are a real
credit to him, John, and Michael Calder and both are of
a very high standard and looking towards international
honours for their age group. John (jnr) is being scouted
by a number of professional clubs.
John has
recently held a charity exhibition to raise money for
teaching kids football in India and went over earlier
this year to coach. I think John Calder is a great
person to know and a real dedicated motivator in
coaching football.
Alex
Duncan Ellon RFC
Rugby
Alex Duncan
as head coach at Ellon Rugby Football Club has steered
the senior 1st XV to promotion to National
Division1. This is the 5th year in a row
that he has helped Ellon RFC to gain promotion.
His
reputation, style and approach to Rugby is such, that
players who come to the North East want to play their
rugby under his guidance. While Alex would promote the
idea that rugby is obviously a team sport, it has to be
recognized that good teams need outstanding individuals
to make them better than average – Alex is one of those
people. He is an inspiration to all new and existing
coaches and his willingness to try out new ideas shows
others, that coaching is an evolving vocation that never
stands still. His abilities as a coach are well known
locally, but this season it has been recognized at both
national and international level. Alex has been
appointed backs coach to U18A Scotland squad, which will
be taking part in tournaments both in the UK and in
Europe. He has also been appointed the SRU technical
adviser to the Swedish Rugby Union and travels to Sweden
to advise on all matters regarding rugby.
Ian
Halliday Ballater Judo
Club
Judo
Five years
ago Ian started organising fund-raising activities to
buy mats so that he could start a judo club in Ballater.
He now has 48 members between the ages of 8 and 14, with
a waiting list. Ian is the only coach at Ballater Judo
Club.
Ian’s
commitment to judo and the children of Ballater Judo
Club is outstanding. He has helped ensure that judo is
accessible and affordable for all.
The
children have won 122 medals so far, 9 Scottish medals
and 4 of the club members have been selected to go to
the Scottish Judo Academy at Ratho near Edinburgh to
train as part of the Scottish Development Squad with
children from all over Scotland. These results are a
reflection on Ian’s coaching skills. Ian is probably
best known for his sense of humour. This is apparent in
his training sessions. Not only does he manage to train
the children to a high standard but the sessions are fun
and enjoyable.
Jon
Musgrave Mar Orienteering
Club
Orienteering
Jon
is the Development Group Head Coach and Assistant Team
Coach for the British Squad.
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