Your Sports Awards 2024 Wrapped
Students, staff and coaches across UoB Sport enjoyed an evening of celebrations and recognition at the Sports Awards 2024!
Introduced by Andy Allford, Director of Sport, we saw the event was hosted by Helen Coy, Participation Development Manager, and Amy Preston, Club Development Manager.
With 13 award categories this year, the evening was full of celebrations across our sportspersons, clubs, and coaches.
Read on for a breakdown of our winners!
SPORTS COLOURS
Sport Colours are non-performance-based and awarded to individuals based on a member’s contribution beyond their established role, going over and above for their club or for sport across the University.
Presented by Gary Bilham.
Well done to:
Josh Woods (Athletics), Jack Kadansky (Boxing), Asia Abadie (Fencing), William Clark (Handball), Duncan Gladwin (Hockey), Lucy Dawson (Hockey), Paddy Walton (Hockey) and Sophie Flint (Hockey), Joe Quelch (Men’s Rugby Union), Abi Turner (Netball), Halee Robinson (Netball), Holly Gaiger (Netball) and Maisie Stearns (Netball), Daniel Rhymer (Snooker & Pool) and Jonathan Mulvey (Snooker & Pool), Caitlyn Byrne (Women’s Basketball), Sophie Jarrett (Women’s Rugby Union) and Susannah Chitnis(Women’s Rugby Union).
We then moved on announce our individual and team awards….
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
This Award recognises individuals who have committed themselves to a cause, activity, or event for the greater good of their club, University, or wider community.
Presented by Jon Elsmore, Director of Student Affairs.
The winner of this award is Jethro McGraw! A dedicated alumnus, Jethro has voluntarily coached two individual athletes to silverware-earning Great Britain debuts – Tyler Bilyard and Zoe Hunter – in addition to seeing those two athletes win individual medals for UoB at BUCS indoor athletics championships and team medals at BUCS Cross Country Championships.
CAMPUS LEAGUE TEAM OF THE YEAR
The Campus League Team of the Year award aims to recognise and celebrate the teams that best embody the Campus League ethos of participation, good sportsmanship and enjoyment of the game.
Presented by Sophie Mallinson, Participation Development Officer.
MFL Society Netball were crowned the winners! This year saw the club achieving its first win, after several years of straight losses in Campus League.
REGIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
The Regional Team of the Year award aims to celebrate the achievements of some of our stand-out University teams that compete on a regional level within BUCS.
Presented by Matt Bridge, Deputy Head of the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences.
Congratulations to Squash Men’s 3s, who completed the double this season, winning the BUCS Squash Tier 2 League and crowned BUCS Midlands Conference Cup Final Winners.
CLUB OF THE YEAR
This award is based on the overall success of a club across a number of areas. This can include – but is not limited to – committee and/or performance achievements, developments and innovation within the club, member engagement and connection with the wider sporting community both in- and external to the university.
Presented by Luke Gunn, Head of Performance.
Birmingham Squash excelled as the country’s top team for overall BUCS Squash Points 23-24 – an improvement from last year’s 2nd place – and both Men’s 1s and Women’s 1s were crowned BUCS National Champions. Women’s 2, Men’s 2 and Men’s 3 – each won their league with Men’s 4 runners-up (behind Men’s 3). Off the court, the club secured two sponsorship deals worth £2000 – the biggest ever sponsorship deals which has seen the development of a new social squash programme, offering 3 committee-led sessions per week, Pay-as-you-go social squash memberships and the continuation of three teams in Warwickshire League, providing opportunity for our lower team players to have more regular competitive match play.
GRADUATING SCHOLARS
This year we will see a number of our most successful, highest profile and longest serving scholars graduate.
Amelia Quirk Amelia has consistently excelled on both the international and national stage during her time studying Biomedical Materials Science followed by postgraduate research within the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences. Highlights include a 5th place finish at the 2021 European Indoor Championships, along with several stand-out performances as part of the Great Britain Cross-Country team at European and World Championships. Amelia has also been an integral part of the club’s endurance squad winning multiple individual and teams medals, including the BUCS Cross Country title this year.
Lily Walker In 2022, at the end of her second year of study, Lily officially moved from Great Britain Hockey’s Elite Development Programme into the senior full-time setup, before gaining selection for her first World Cup held in Spain and the Netherlands. Her meteoric rise continued that summer when, as the youngest member of the squad, Lily won Commonwealth Gold for England in front of Old Joe on the Bournbook pitches. Lily was crowned University of Birmingham Sports Person of the Year in 2023. With over 50 combined caps for GB and England, Lily now has her sights set on selection for the 2024 Paris Olympics as she graduates from Social Policy.
Lachlan Moorhead Following a stellar junior career, Lachlan has since become an established senior international athlete as part of British Judo’s World Class Programme. Career highlights, alongside his Business Management studies, include Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Gold and 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Bronze. The GB number one has competed at numerous European and World Senior Championships and recently missed out on Paris 2024 qualification by the narrowest of margins.
Yasmin Javadian Yasmin graduates from Dental Surgery with the 2022 Commonwealth Games Bronze medal capping off five fantastic years at Birmingham. During this period, she has exemplified the definition of a dual career student-athlete, balancing international judo alongside Dentistry. Yasmin’s long list of achievements include two European Junior Championship medals, British Junior and Senior titles, BUCS Gold, alongside the Bradnock Prize in Behavioural Science as part of her degree. Thank you to each of you for all that you’ve done for the University, Sport, the Elite Dual Career Athlete Pathway scholarship programme and your Clubs during your time with us. We wish you all the very best for your future endeavours. |
HALF BLUES
Half blues are awarded to those who have achieved either a BUCS individual medal or a BUCS Team Championship gold medal during the 2023-24 academic year.
Presented by Adam Witt, BUCS Administrator.
We saw nearly 40 students awarded their half blues across Archery, Athletics, Fencing, Hockey, Judo, Karate, Netball, Powerlifting, Rowing, Snooker & Pool, Squash, Trampolining, Waterpolo, Weightlifting and Rugby Union Women’s
FULL BLUES
Full Blues are awarded to those individuals that have competed internationally at a senior championships.
This category was presented by Olympian and UoB Sport Hall of Fame Inductee, Hannah England.
Well done to our award winners:
From Lacrosse, Lottie Davies and Jessica Westwood….
and from Squash Elliott Morris Devred, Moustafa El Sirty and Nika Urh
STUDENT COACH OF THE YEAR
This award aims to recognise current students who are regarded as having made the most outstanding contribution to club sport through their role as a coach, working closely with their club committee to direct the development of the club and support members’ personal and performance development.
Presented by Cat Hardiman, Sports Officer
Congratulations to Alex Barker (Women’s Football) for winning this award. Alex’s guidance this year has contributed greatly to the progression and success of the 3s team going the season unbeaten and winning their league.
Working with players on and off the pitch, Alex has supported the entirety of the club by stepping up and supporting the 1s and 2s on matchdays.
COACH OF THE YEAR
The Coach of the Year award is for an individual who is regarded as having made the most outstanding contribution to club sport through their role as a coach.
Presented by Colette Thompson MBE, UoB Sport Hall of Fame Inductee
This year Dean Miller (Athletics) takes the crown. He has grown the Endurance team into a record 150 club members, plus another 50+ alumni and associates that train with us locally.
The University also had a record 4 participants at the World University Cross Country Championships in Oman this February all of whom came home with team medals. Dean was the GB Team Leader for this trip – which is once again the first time a UoB coach has held such a role. In ParaAthletics, Dean led in school outreach and development of a para programme at the University alongside the Birmingham Athletics Academy which caters for 8-16year old beginners in the sport. Dean will be on the GB team staff for the Paralympics this Summer in Paris.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
The Outstanding Contribution award celebrates outstanding contribution made by an individual towards the continued improvement of UoB Sport & Fitness and the instances in which they have gone beyond expectations.
Presented by Simon Bray, Director of Campus Services.
Tara Hayes-Pankhurst (Active Residences) was announced as the winner. Tara has been working as part of the active residence’s activators team for 18 months. She has then supported the participation team in running Social Tennis, Social Badminton, and the delivery of kid’s camps. Her efforts have made a positive difference to students living in halls, Sport & Fitness members, students accessing the social sport sessions and wider members of the community.
NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
The National Team of the Year award aims to recognise and highlight the stand-out successes of a select number of our University teams that compete on a national level within BUCS.
Presented by Victor Ubogu, Hall of Fame inductee.
Well done to Cross Country Men’s, who were selected for a number of incredible achievements:
This year, the club have had their most successful year as a team, contributing to the most ever medals by any university at BUCS competitions and in a 150 strong competition. The men’s team this year completed their first ever clean sheet on the podium with Will Barnicoat taking GOLD, Tomer Tarragano Silver and Ollie Smart Bronze achieving Team GOLD in the BUCS Cross Country Long race. The Cross Country Short Team did not disappoint either with Elliot Morgan winning Silver, Sam Burkitt securing Bronze with overall Team Gold. Nine current students have also been selected to compete for GB at European level.
SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR
This is the highest individual accolade awarded by the University of Birmingham, in recognition and celebration of the very highest sporting level.
Presented by Deborah Longworth, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education.
The nominees for this prestigious award were:
Para-Sport champion Didi Okoh, who is the all-time BUCS points scorer for UoB Athletics, with realistic aims of competing at the upcoming 2024 Paralympic Games.
England U21 Hockey captain and UoB Hockey captain Evie Wood, who is currently training with the senior Team GB squad following in the footsteps of the university’s strong hockey alumni.
GB Senior Swimmer and triple British Champion, Ollie Morgan who’s two gold medals at the Aquatics CG Championships secured his qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games.
GB Senior Athlete and U20 and U23 European Cross Country Champion, Will Barnicoat, who made his senior debut at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.
Congratulations to Ollie Morgan who secured this years title of Sportsperson of the Year!
Thank you to everybody who attended our evening of celebrations and made it so special! The Sports Awards always serve as an excellent reminder of just how much incredible sport and achievements take place across the year- and raise the bar for next year!
Event photo credits: Mark Assinder
