Rochdale Borough Sports Awards

Volunteer of the Year Jaman Chowdhury collects his award from Kathy Shaw from the Council for Voluntary Services

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Hundreds of people gathered together this evening (Friday 9 July 2010) for the Rochdale Borough Sports Awards.

The prestigious ceremony was held at the Middleton Arena and a host of awards were presented to some of the borough’s hardest working sports members, coaches and volunteers.

Managing Director of Link4Life Craig McAteer described the event as ‘an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate achievements in sport in the borough over the last year.’

He said: “The commitment and dedication of the many people of all ages and backgrounds whose contribution is being recognised tonight is once again an inspiration.”

This year has seen more nominations than ever before, 134 nominations were made for the eight award categories.

Awards were presented to winners from a range of sporting personalities and local authority representatives including the MP for Middleton and Heywood Jim Dobbin, the Mayor of Rochdale Councillor Zulfiqar Ali, Great British Handball Captain Ciaran Williams and Rochdale Football Club’s Centre of Excellence Manager Tony Ellis.

The winners of the 2009/10 Rochdale Borough Sports Awards were:

• Volunteer of the Year - Jaman Chowdury
• Leadership Academy Award - Jessica Lynch and Bethany Halliday
• School Sport Partnership of the Year: Primary School - Norden Community Primary, St Mary’s RC Primary School and St Michaels CE Primary School
• School Sport Partnership of the Year: Secondary School - Springhill High School and St Cuthbert’s RC Business & Enterprise College
• Coach of the Year - Dervish Dervish
• Disabled Sports Achiever - Simon Jackson MBE
• Sports Achiever of the Year - Matthew Mee
• Club of the Year - Bridge Football Club
• Unsung Hero - Warren Schofield

Mayor Ali summed up the evening when he said: “This evening is one of the most memorable evenings and I am sure we will all remember it for many years. Today has shown all of the talent within the borough and it shows where there is a will to achieve there is always a way.

“I often say that volunteers make a difference to our lives our society and our world. We often hear about the bad news but volunteers aren’t bad news. We should be proud of everyone here especially the youngsters.”