Awards Evening 2007

Held at the Silverhill Club on Saturday 14th July the awards evening gave parents, boxers, coaches and club officials the opportunity to join together and celebrate another fine year at the West Hill.

Club chairman, Colin Parsons who has been involved with the club for over 60 years got proceedings underway. Colin thanked the coaches and committee members for their continued efforts, stating that he felt the present committee was the best he had ever been involved with. He gave special mention to the efforts of fund raiser Denise Attrell and Dave Bishop, head coach and competition secretary, both whose continued commitment had been exemplary.

Colin shared ambitious plans that the committee were reviewing to ensure the club would grow and thus continue to offer the very best to the ever increasing numbers of young individuals who attend the club. The plans Colin detailed included an extension to the present gym that would add additional training area, changing rooms and a toilet facilities. The project will require an injection of £40,000, that the club must raise, therefore if you feel you could help the club to raise the required please do not hesitate to contact Denise Attrell or if you prefer to make a donation you can do so online through our support page.

After his very informative speech Colin introduced Dave Bishop, MC for the evening, who was responsible for detailing who had won individual awards and ensuring everyone remained entertained. Dave rose to the task superbly, offering a brief history of each award winners progress through the boxing season. Later in the evening Dave was to also prove himself a hit when participating in the karaoke.

The Karaoke itself proved to be a popular choice, especially with the boxers who by nature never miss an opportunity to shine. Club captain Barry Buchanan stole the limelight and would certainly have won the "King of the Karaoke" trophy had there been one, however no recording contracts beckon as he would have secured the title more for his enthusiasm rather than singing talent.

The evening concluded on a high note as club coach Ian Bourner, more than just a closet crooner, sung us out with "The green green grass of home".

The Award Winners

The 1st trophies awarded were for the "Best Club Members". These trophies are awarded to boxers who have shown the highest levels of commitment to training, the club, their coach and their fellow club boxers.

In the junior section the trophy was awarded to Ben White for the 4th year in succession. Ben's commitment to training is quite brilliant and his consistent support of his fellow boxers is second to none. Ben's commitment has paid off as he was also awarded the trophy for "Best Technical Boxing Display".

Dave detailed how less than a week after suffering the disappointment of prematurely exciting the Junior ABA's after a below par performance Ben showed his metal by bouncing back to defeat Ashley Whiting of Chichester ABC with surgeon like accuracy as reported in our newsletter at the time.

Winner of the senior trophy was Club Captain Barry Buchanan, who else!

Barry continues to lead from the front and holds the respect of everyone at the club. Barry, a very giving individual is found consistently motivating all the boxers under his wing at the club and is tireless in his efforts to lead by example.

"The Best Minor Boxer", award went to Jesse Smith who won the Southern Counties Minor Championships in his 1st season of boxing. Jesse has developed some very neat footwork and boxing skills during the season and will go far. Unfortunately Jesse was unable to attend the event so young Henry Bristow, a star of the future, agreed to receive the trophy of Jesse's behalf.

"The Most Improved" junior and senior boxer awards went to two very worthy recipients, both of whom have secured very exciting futures through the dedication they have shown.

In the junior section the award went to 16 year old Jake Towse who in his first full season won the Southern Counties Golden Belt U60Kg title and was unlucky not to go all the way in the competition losing out to the eventual winner.

The senior trophy was awarded to Fred Phelps whose improvement this season can only be described as outstanding. Fred was very unlucky in fact to lose his perfect winning record for the season as both defeats recorded, just 2 from 9 bouts where very tight decisions. Fred will soon be moving on, hopefully to Manchester University where he will commence a new chapter in his young life, we all wish him well and hope he continues his boxing career as he has tremendous potential.

The "Best Bout" awards for both Junior and Senior were very difficult to choose as so many of the boys had delivered the goods during the season and many had been involved in exciting contests, 2 bouts however, stood out.

The junior trophy was awarded to Ollie Bristow for his gutsy performance against Michael Price of Foley ABC in the Golden Belt Competition. Ollie had only just recovered from a heavy cold when he took on the more experienced Price in a bout that swung back and forth for the full 3 rounds, Ollie eventually losing on points.

Ollie known to never take a step backward came very close to securing a victory over the 2006 Golden Gloves semi finalist even though he wasn't at his fittest, he is another lad for whom great things beckon.

The senior trophy was awarded to Billy White for his bout with Danny Coates that took place on our home show held at the White Rock Pavilion in June. Bill a popular local lad, had incredible support and wasn't about to let his supporters down, but in Coates of New Addington ABC he found a foe that had no intention of making life easy. What in sued had the crowd on their feet for the full duration of the contest as the fight developed into a toe to toe battle of wills, with Bill eventually coming out on top. Unfortunately Bill was unable to attend the awards evening, so his award was collected on his behalf by Dave Warren, another boxer who himself had a near perfect record for the season.

The most courageous performance trophy was awarded to young Kyle Logan. Again on our June home show Kyle put on a fantastic performance to push a very talented Jack Glover of Liverpool's Kirkby ABC, all the way. Kyle was up against it having taken a standing count during the contest but refused to give in and rallied hard and began closing the points gap as the bout progressed, pushing Glover right to the last bell.

The next trophies to be presented were for furthest progression in a national championship. Frank Smith won the Golden Gloves this season and as such was awarded the junior prize, he was also awarded the trophy for "Best Junior Boxer".

Adam Haniver had made it to the Senior ABA 1/4 final before bowing out to the combined services champion and as such secured the senior trophy for furthest progression in a national championship. Unfortunately neither Frank nor Adam could attend the awards evening due to prior engagements and as such more stars of the future Enrik Rrukaj, Steve Hill and Dennis Buchanan kindly stepped in to collect the trophies on their behalf.

The final trophy of the night to be presented was the Best Senior Boxer trophy which was awarded to Shaun Attrell. Shaun has really started to fulfil his huge potential under the guidance of Dave Bishop this season, and has been motivated to train harder than ever before. Shaun lost just once during the whole season and took some notable scalps along the way including a former national finalist. Long may he continue in his rich vain of form as there are really no limits to what he can achieve given his present levels of dedication.