Arena hosts local sporting ‘Oscars’

Sports Leader of the Year Halima Begum and Mr Eryl Hughes, Projects Manager North-West, Sports Leaders UK

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Middleton Arena was the host this year for the Rochdale Borough Community Sports Awards which saw more than 60 nominees in 10 categories gather to hear who would walk away this year with the coveted prizes.

Watched by an audience of nearly 300 seated in the brand new, purpose-built auditorium, the 'Oscar' style ceremony was presented by MC and comedian Julian Daniel.

Welcoming guests to the evening, Link4Life Managing Director, Craig McAteer, focussed on the importance of volunteers in sport. He said: “The huge number of hours devoted to community sport is clear from the many people here tonight and we recognise the valuable contribution made by coaches, teachers and parents who freely offer their skill and time.”

The stylish glass awards were presented by invited guests that included Rochdale AFC Director, Andrew Kelly, CVS Rochdale’s Sheila Pilling and Sheila Acton, Paul Rowen MP, Councillor Ted Flynn, Cabinet member for Community Safety and Leisure, the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Robin Parker and three times Gold paralympic champion, Simon Jackson OBE who presented the Disabled Sports Achiever of the Year award.

The winner of the award was Jamie Kelly who has successfully passed trials in the North West Special Olympics Squad in swimming. He achieved three gold medals representing Great Britain in the Sardinian special Olympics this year. Highly commended was future paralympic London hopeful, Emma Jones, a senior member of the British Goalball squad for visually impaired.

The winners of Sports Achiever, Volunteer of the Year, Coach of the Year, Unsung Hero and Club of the Year awards were then presented. Competition was fierce and sports represented included swimming, karate, rowing, yachting, gymnastics, athletics, rugby, lacrosse, football, climbing and horseriding, alongside specific disability sports.

Organisers of the event, Link4Life introduced two new awards this year. The Innovation in Community Sports Awards was presented to acknowledge the excellent community sports projects that take place across the borough delivered by non-traditional sports agencies. Sports development officers nominated one project winner in each township with the overall winner going to Pennines Swimming Project, a project delivered by volunteers from tenants and residents groups, and resulting in over 1800 attendances every summer as well as training in pool qualifications for some young people that has resulted in them gaining employment on the scheme.

Other nominees were Rochdale’s ‘Sport for All’, a voluntary group set up by young British Muslims, Heywood StreetGames, a multi-agency school holiday programme and Middleton’s Demesne Community Centre for their work in promoting sport and health to local residents.

A new Sports Leader Award was also presented to the one person who had gained a community sports leadership qualification and gone on to inspire local people and communities. The winner of this award, Halima Begum, had mentored several ladies from the Asian community, helping them to gain confidence and go on to take their own qualifications.

Link4Life also picked up an award on the night for their work in guiding more than 150 people of all ages into achieving a sports leadership qualification in 2008. They are one of only a few authorities in the county to be selected to become a local centre of community sports leadership having guided over 150 people of all ages into a sports leadership award in 2008.

Winner of the Achiever of the Year was Heywood’s silver Olympic medallist Keri-Anne Payne in the 10km open water swim. The award was collected by brother Mark and a live phone link was set up to speak to Keri-Anne who was in South Africa for a training event as part of her search for Gold at London’s 2012. Runner up was Under 9s Kata Karate world champion and Doryoku club member, Nathan Chin, one of the youngest black belt holders in the country and winner of over 40 titles this year.

A further international dimension to the evening came from the Angolan film crew who had travelled over from Africa to record the nomination as Coach of the Year of their former countryman, David Dias, who now runs his own football academy at Soccer Village. The award on the evening went to Ian Halliday of Rochdale Harriers with Highly Commended going to Irfan Ansari from Rochdale’s Doryoku Karate Club, considered to be the most progressive and successful martial arts club in the area.

Club of the Year was won by Castle Hawk Golf Club, recognised for their success in achieving the Golfmark award and their work in youth development with a dozen local schools. The Highly Commended trophy was collected by Rochdale and District Riding Club for their outstanding success in all equestrian activities this year for what is said to be the biggest and best riding club in the North West.

To recognise the excellent contribution to school sport, two awards were made to local primary schools. The winners were St John RC Primary School, part of the Cardinal Langley school sport partnership, and Belfield Community Primary School, form Heywood’s Siddal Moor school sport partnership. Collecting their award from Rochdale Council’s senior School Improvement Officer, Tony Lasan, he paid tribute to the hard work of the school staff in encouraging their children to get the most out of the opportunities available.

Volunteer of the year went to Aimee McGregor-Cheers for her work with young people on athletics, supported by Aswad Hamid, as an active volunteer on the Healthy Living Initiative and Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.

The award for Unsung Hero - given to the person who has made an impact over a number of years on people, club, school or within the community – went to Littleborough Sports Club’s Brian Hurst, an active club and committee member for over 20 years. Chair of Stansfield and Summit Tenants and Residents group, Louise Brazier, was runner up, collecting the award for her dedication for the last 10 years in using sport to improve the lives of local residents.

Rounding up the evening, Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Robin Parker, congratulated all nominees and winners. He also paid tribute to the faultless choreography of the evening and the quality particularly of the new Arena surroundings.