On Friday 5th June 2009 the winners of this year Kirklees Service Area Volunteer Awards were presented with their awards at the Huddersfield Giants Vs Hull KR Engage Super League match at the Galpharm Stadium.
The Kirklees SA Volunteer Awards are here to recognise the efforts of volunteers in 4 main categories: Coach of the Year; Volunteer Coordinator of the Year; Young volunteer of the year and Volunteer of the Year.
This year’s awards saw an increase in nominations from all areas of the community game. The judging was extremely hard and the Service Area would like to thank all of those people who sent in nomination forms.
This year’s winners are:
Darren Hardaker. Coach of the Year.
Darren has been involved with Shaw Cross sharks for the last 5 years now. He has guided his current age group from Division 3 to Division 1 and to various local cup finals. Darren has acted as a coach, friend and taxi driver to many of the lads, all of which put him forward for this award. Darren’s willingness to develop players of all levels as well as his hard work, commitment and willingness to go above and beyond for all of his players make him a worthy recipient of this award.
Jane Pullein. Volunteer Coordinator of the Year.
Jane is the Volunteer manager at Newsome Panthers. Jane is an excellent communicator, ensuring that essential information is passed on to all volunteers at Newsome as well as feeding information back to the service area and the RFL, ensuring the views of many volunteers are heard. Volunteers are the life blood of our sport and Jane has been responsible for the recruitment and retention of many volunteers within our sport, making her a thoroughly deserving winner of this award.
Paul Carlos. Volunteer of the Year.
Paul has been involved with the service area as a coach for a number of years now. This year Paul has taken on a great deal of responsibility in the organisation of the service area and has put a great deal of time in ensuring that the players in Kirklees receive the best opportunity. Paul always has the interest of others at heart and thoroughly deserves recognition.
Jamie Johnson. Young Volunteer of the Year (Supported by v)
Jamie is a player at Newsome Panthers, playing regularly at under 16s level. Jamie has shown his true club spirit by assisting with the coaching of the under 9s prior to his own training sessions on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Jamie has also completed his Mini/Mod Match Officials course and helps out refereeing many junior games at the club. Jamie’s maturity and club spirit have ensured that his local community club continues to grow and he is a positive example for many young people to follow.
All winners were presented with their awards on the pitch at half time by Giants second row/centre Jamahl Lolesi. Jamahl commented: ‘It is a pleasure to present the awards to these volunteers. The game relies on volunteers at all levels and I certainly wouldn’t be playing at the level I am now if I hadn’t had the support of countless volunteers.’All the winners will be put forward for the National RFL Volunteer awards, which will be announced in July, with the winners spending the day in a hospitality box at the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final at the new Wembley stadium, and will receive their award on the pitch at half time.
Ryan Bradley, RFL Volunteer Coordinator, stated, ‘I would like to say a big thank you, to all volunteers involved within the game and especially the winners of this year’s awards. They deserve every honour we can possibly give them. We must keep on encouraging more people to volunteer and let them know they can get enjoyment from being involved in Rugby League. Without Volunteers in our game, there would be no game’
If you would like to get involved in volunteering in Rugby League, please contact Ryan Bradley – Regional Volunteer Coordinator ryan.bradley@rfl.uk.com
Picture, L-R: Ryan Bradley, Darren Hardaker, Jane Pullein, Jamahl Lolesi, Jamie Johnson, Paul Carlos
