Members of various sporting clubs came together on Saturday for the second South Kintyre Sports Council Awards Dinner.
SKSC Chairperson Jane Gallagher welcomed over eighty people to the event, held in Stronvaar Bowling Club, to celebrate and recognise the sporting achievements of clubs and individuals in South Kintyre as well as the wonderful contributions made from so many volunteers and parents who work tirelessly behind the scenes.
After an excellent meal provided by Argyll Bakeries and enjoyable games of Heads or Tails and Irish Bingo, MC for the evening John Armour, with the aid of Councillors John Semple and Rory Colville, announced the winners of the five categories.
The Coach of the Year award, ,
sponsored by Wee Toon Sports, recognises the dedication and commitment of local volunteers in sport and was awarded to
Duncan McAulay of Campbeltown Pupils AFC and SKSC. Duncan truly deserves the recognition of Coach of the Year for his sheer length of service to a club. Since the age of 15, Duncan has played for the Pupils, performed the role of committee member and match secretary and for his unswerving commitment as a coach, never missing a training session. He also drives the mini-bus to all of the away matches as well as being an important member of the SKSC Committee.
The Team / Club of the Year award, sponsored by SKSC, recognised the hard work of coaches and volunteers who help to run a successful, well organised and welcoming club in which its members can enjoy participating and competing in the sport of their choice and was awarded to
Kintyre Amateur Swimming Club. The swimming club has grown and developed into a very successful & well organised club since its beginning 6 years ago. At present it has 48 keen members, ranging from age 6 to 18 years, with a waiting list of eager new participants. They have an excellent hard working committee of sixteen volunteer coaches, parents and helpers, which has enabled the group to successfully increase their training time over the years to accommodate the development of performance. The club has ensured the continued development of swimmers with a squad structure in place; young developing swimmers training for 2 hrs each week through to the performance squad training for 8 hours in the pool as well as a land based session each week. The swimmers are now recognised as some of the best in Argyll & Bute with swimmers from the Performance Squad reaching both finals in the Scottish Schools Team Championships this year, qualifying 4th fastest from all schools in Scotland in the S1 Freestyle Relay.
The Sports Person of the Year award recognises the achievement of an individual who has displayed great commitment and skill in their chosen sport & club.
The
Young Sports Person of the Year, sponsored by Active Schools, was awarded to
Liam McCallum who never ceases to amaze with his commitment and enthusiasm inspiring other young people that he works with. He continually challenges himself in many activities and always completes his training with such wonderful enthusiasm and a smile. Liam’s most recent challenge was to train for, participate in and complete the Mull of Kintyre 10k in June whilst at the same raising money for charity.
The Sports Person of the Year, sponsored by Mach Dunes, was awarded to
Katie Ferguson who is a keen member of Campbeltown Running Club, and an inspiration to all. Katie continued to train tirelessly, with a smile on her face whilst battling and beating a serious illness. Within a year of being diagnosed and treated for cancer she displayed great commitment and determination by entering and completing the London Marathon amongst other various running events, and raised over £5,000 for breast cancer care.
The Service to Sport Award 2012,
sponsored by Springbank Distillery, is designed for an individual who has made a notable contribution to sport over many years with one or more clubs or sports. To show appreciation to someone who has continued to go above and beyond their role and show dedication to sport throughout the years and was awarded to
David Paterson who has been a massive driving force behind two main sport related achievements for South Kintyre and has made invaluable contributions to many other sporting events and groups over the years. David continually lobbied and raised awareness of the need in Campbeltown firstly for a sport designated mini-bus and for over ten years for the magnificent All Weather Pitch. David has continued to go above and beyond his role and show dedication to sport, recently becoming involved with the re-structuring and coaching of youth football in the area. The Service to Sport Award was also recognised by the Scottish Association of Local Sports Council whose Chairperson, David Laing, presented David with their own Service to Sport Award.
On closing the evening Jane Gallagher thanked everyone for attending and supporting the awards and encouraged anyone with an interest in sport to come along and attend the monthly South Kintyre Sports Council meetings. The group, who are all involved in their own sports clubs, come together to support sport in the area and annually organise the MOKRUN Ceilidh, raise money and donate to member clubs. They also run the Sports Council mini bus and Jane was delighted to announce that after receiving a new bus in April 2008 the Sports Council took receipt of a brand new mini bus on Tuesday highlighting the business model to replace the bus regularly had worked.
Award winners with members of the SKSC Committee
Liam McCallum, Young Sports Person of the Year
Katie Ferguson, Sports Person of the Year
Duncan McAulay, Sports Person of the Year
David Paterson, Service to Sport
Kintyre Amatuer Swimming Club, Club of the Year
