A new award for club stars

Troon Thistle 2011s have honoured a former star with a special award in his memory.

The prize was handed out to recognise the hard work of players over the last 12 months. But this was to be a special and emotional ceremony and with all the achievement medals given to the boys, there was an extra accolade to be presented by the father of an ex- Troon Thistle player, who sadly took his own life. This award was the Alan Ritchie Award – an award of inspiration for players who have showed a great deal of respect and motivation and also needed and found a little confidence on and off the end pitch. Coach Darren Sneddon said: “When I heard this award was to be put forward to the club by Alan’s father, Frank Ritchie, I nominated one of my players, Patrick Robertson, for it as he measured up to all aspects of the accolade for his conduct towards the team but also to the central club of Troon Thistle. “I met with Frank before the award ceremony and chatted with him on a number of subjects from when Alan played with Troon Thistle up until his passing. “Depression and anxiety is something close to my heart, and before Alan’s death he was battling with depression. “Frank and I spoke about the stigma that still exists surrounding depression and anxiety we spoke about how it’s overlooked on so many factors from the workplace to social environments and how there is disappointment and shame attached to the illness.” Frank presented the award in remembrance of Alan, who took his own life in June 2015 at the age of just 31. Alan had been a star player with Troon Thistle in the 1990s, under the inspired leaderships of John Collins and Tommy Devlin. Frank spoke of Alan’s struggle with depression and anxiety over many years. He told the Club of Alan’s love of playing football, and supporting Blackburn Rov e r s, even naming his wee dog “Shearer,” after the legendary striker Alan Shearer. The prize was awarded to Patrick, a player judged to be the most deserving for exhibiting such qualities as hard work and dedication to the club as well as reliability, punctuality, honesty, pride in the red and white strip, combined with a positive attitude and an optimistic nature. Darren added: “At Troon Thistle me and my fellow coaches teach respect and install positive attitudes in the children who play for us. “We don’t pressure them for a win at weekends, we just simply take back everything to the training ground as we say every day is a school day not just for the players but the coaches also. “Life is one big learning curve and we always keep in mind that we are these children’s role models so we strive to be exactly that we work as a team we achieve as a team.”