Sports council awards
Sporting stars honoured at ceremony
It was yet another glamorous affair at the Cambuslang and Rutherglen Sports Award dinner as guests celebrated the best sportsmen, women and teams in the local area.
More than 150 people packed out Rutherglen Town Hall on Thursday night for the 18th annual ceremony which was the best attended in its history.
The evening, hosted by Stonelaw High School pupils Alex Smith and Lewis Gemmell, began with sports council chairwoman and Asda Toryglen Champion Liz Arbuckle reflecting on events that happened throughout 2016.
Guests were treated to a photograph presentation showing pictures of some of the nominees before the prizes were handed out.
Cambuslang golfer Craig Ross was named male individual of the year for winning the Salom South African Championship title and representing his country in the Home Internationals.
Rutherglen’s Marie Anne Smith claimed the female individual of the year award after taking up taekwondo just 18 months previously.
The 36-year-old mum has competed in various local and international competitions, receiving two golds individually at the British and Scottish championships.
And after getting her hands on the gold at the Taekwondo International TAGB World Championships, which hosted over 3500 competitors, she was delighted to add Thursday’s trophy to her collection.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “I came into martial arts as an adult so you don’t really expect things like this.
“I took my boy to the class Little Ninjas and saw there was an adult class so I decided to try it out. Martial arts has really changed my life so it’s really nice to get something for the sport you love.”
From a gigantic list of phenomenal young sportsmen and woman, gymnast Alex Morgan and netball champion Bethan Goodwin were celebrated for their achievements.
Despite not being there to collect her junior female of the year award, Bethan was given a rapturous round of applause after receiving three firsts in three British and Scottish championships and was voted player of the tournament twice in two European championships.
This was the second year in a row she has won this award.
Rutherglen teenager Alex on the other hand was overjoyed to be crowned young male individual of the year. The 13-yearold from Trinity High, who won a gold at the Scottish Gymnastic Invitational, said: “I started doing it competitively in early 2016 and I’ve been doing gymnastics for four and half years. In March I was the Scottish champion at my level, grade three mixed pair with my partner Eildh, and we are going down to the British in May.”
After picking up his award on the night, he added: “I’m very pleased and it boosts my confidence a little bit and makes me want to stay on and keep doing gymnastics.”
It was not surprising that this year’s team and junior team of the year was collected by Cambuslang Harriers.
It has been another fantastic year for the club who continue to go from strength to strength and athlete Ian Reid was on hand to pick up both gongs.
He said: “We’re really happy. The team have had another good year. Just after winning the same award last year we won the national road relay. It was a sixman team and we won the over 40, 50 and senior categories. We won the treble which has never been done before.
“I’m quite confident we’ll win it again because we’ve done great as a team over the year.”
The sporting primary school of the year went to St Mark’s who had also won the School Sport Gold Award by Sportscotland during the past year and qualified for the finals at the South Lanarkshire Tennis Festival. Rutherglen Tennis Club’s Cedric Decuyper collected coach of the year prize while David Boan, of Cambuslang Rugby Club, was named volunteer of the year.
While coaching the p6- 7 team and taking up the role of junior section conveyer, David rebuilt the junior scene at The Cambus and has seen an increase in the amount of youngsters playing the sport at Coats Park.
He told the Reformer: “It’s fantastic. It’s very unexpected but I’m delighted. There is a lot of good guys doing a lot of good work. It’s really a team effort to be honest. It gives a lot of kids a good chance to play rugby.
“I started playing minis myself for
Cambuslang and ended up first XV captain up there so we’re hoping some of the kids we have every weekend will maybe replicate the same journey and follow on from guys like Jonny Gray and Duncan Weir who are now playing for Scotland.”
The young volunteer of the year award went to Connor Flannigan who has been an Active Schools volunteer for four years. He works 10 hours a week and volunteers at many clubs including the EK Table Tennis Club and EK Rolls Royce Junior Team.
James Byrne, 60, who has been lauded for his commitment to the sports council over the years, was given a warm reception when he stepped up to receive the SALSC/ Sportscotland service to sport award. James has contributed to sport in the Cambuslang and Rutherglen area through coaching and administration.
He said: “I’m overwhelmed but really proud. I’ve worked with the sports council for over 10 years and I’ve worked with some great people who have received this award. And for people to think I should get this award is a humbling experience.”
Gareth Ellor, who was not able to make it on the night, received the Brian Logue Award from Brian’s son Christopher for his services to tennis in the area.
The award is named in honour of former Reformer photographer Brian Logue who sadly passed away in 2013.
I took my boy to a class, Little Ninjas, and saw there was an adult class so I decided to try it out. Marie Anne Smith