British Canoeing Volunteer and Athlete Recognition Awards 2016

Orlando Sarabia-Hill – Young Volunteer of the Year

Orlando became involved in canoeing through an outdoor education program and hasn’t looked back since.

Since getting involved in canoeing at his local club in Leicester, Orlando has progressed through the Paddle Plus program and gone on to develop both his paddling and coaching skills from there. He is now a much loved volunteer and member of Paddle Plus Canoe Club, with club coach Andy Oughton adding, “The club wouldn’t be a club without members like Orlando.”

Hayley Clarke – Community Volunteer of the Year

Winner of the Ruth Holdway Community Volunteer Award is Hayley Clarke of Hinckley Canoe Club.

A self-confessed control freak, Hayley keeps the club going by organising sessions, gatherings, trips and courses week in, week out. “Without Hayley, there probably wouldn’t be a club,” says member Neil Smith, and it’s as simple as that.

A young volunteer in her early 20’s, Hayley has gained respect from all the members through her work and commitment to drive the club forward. Hayley is the backbone of the club, an unsung hero, who puts in hours of work for the benefit and enjoyment of others.

Allan Fitch – Impact on Disability Volunteer of the Year

A strong advocate of the PaddleAbility program, for over 20 years Allan Fitch of Blyth Canoe Club has helped snowball events for disabled canoeists. He now organises, with the help of the club, 3 events per year which have seen more than 2,000 disabled people take part in canoeing since the events began.

Allan helps people of all abilities get onto the water, showing them they can do the sport, when many other people have told them they can’t.

Mike Moffitt – Volunteer Coach of the Year (Male)

Mike Moffitt, a coach at Liverpool’s Friends of Allonby Canoe Club, has been in the coaching game for a long time. Although the club specialises in canoe polo, Mike also coaches in canoe slalom, river racing and sprint too.

“He’s always been there to support us and has shown us everything we know,” said Shivan McCutcheon, who was part of the recent U21 men’s canoe polo team when they claimed their world title.

“What he can do in a short amount of time is crazy,” added Amira Raoudi, part of the U21 women’s polo team.

Donna Vincent – Volunteer Coach of the Year (Female)

In 2015 Donna started a Junior Academy at Axe Vale Canoe Club. To make this Academy a reality she first needed to undertake her level 2 coach, 4 star open boat leader and 3 star white water awards.

Using British Canoeing Paddle Power and Discovery schemes Donna works with fellow coach Graham Baker to run weekend academy sessions for 11 – 15 year olds. Coaching is delivered through games and formal teaching on land and water. Her coaching style is sensitive to all ages, building a rapport with the children and letting them build friendships. This approach has yielded an impressive retention rate in excess of 80%.

Halifax Canoe Club – Club of the Year

Halifax Canoe Club is predominately a white water club with 4 coached weekly sessions during the main paddling season. All abilities are catered for from beginner to 4 star standard. The club runs a comprehensive programme of trips all over the UK as well as trips to Europe and the Alps. It has an active and successful slalom team in both juniors and seniors. Nearly 50% of the Regional Slalom Talent Academy is from Halifax CC.

The range of activities offered is extensive and includes: – Flat water touring, coached open boat sessions, SUP taster sessions, boat based fitness classes, surfing and women only sessions. In addition to this there is a huge amount of independent paddling ensuring that the club is always active.

The club is engaged with a local school and sports college delivering U Canoe Wired. A further school link sees the club’s volunteers offering coached sessions to pupils at the club. The club has promoted taster sessions over the summer by attending school assemblies to promote them and get greater participation.

Alan Ashby – Event Volunteer of the Year

Alan is an active member of West Cumbria Canoe Club and is also a member of Lakeland Canoe Club and Duddon Canoe Club. Alan has recently rekindled his interest in competitive paddling where he formerly raced slalom, wild water racing and marathon.

Recently Alan’s main drive has been sea kayaking where he has set up and runs the sea kayaking event programme in Cumbria. He is the treasurer of the Cumbria Regional Development Team and Sea Kayaking representative. Through this role he has established 14 sea kayaking events which take place annually, all around the British Isles, including the Hebrides and North Wales.  The success of these events is easy to see with all 14 events being oversubscribed.

George Bullard and Olly Hicks – MacGregor Challenge Award

In the late 17th Century there were reports of strange visitors appearing off the Northern Isles of Scotland. One made landfall, they spoke a language no one could interpret and died just three days later.

The artefacts preserved in a Scottish museum include hunting implements, and the remains of a skin covered kayak. There is only one question that needs to be answered. Could these visitors have been Inuit tribes people from Greenland?

Inspired by this story the pioneering spirit of John MacGregor was truly summoned when, after five years of planning, Olly Hicks and George Bullard made history in making the first known journey from Greenland to Scotland.

Paddling a modified 6.8 metre Inuk Duo sea kayak, the 1,200 mile journey involved three extended ocean crossings, 12 nights at sea – including six consecutive nights –  and paddling a minimum of 16 hours per day, including a final push of 36 hours to make it to the Scottish mainland.

Negotiating Arctic Sea ice, surviving, cooking and sleeping in the boat they crossed the notorious ‘Devil’s Dance Floor’ between Iceland and the Faroe Islands before embarking on the final leg to Scotland.

This is one of the great achievements of endurance and adventure in 2016.

Both Olly Hicks and George Bullard have impressive expedition records. In 2015 Olly became the youngest man to row the Atlantic at just 23. George holds the record for the longest unsupported polar journey at 1,374 miles.

Alan Laws

Alan is a vice president of British Canoeing, a member of the marathon racing committee and chairman of the sprint racing committee, taking on responsibilities that provide the platform for the success of our sport.

After 34 years service on the ICF canoe marathon committee, Alan has decided to step down from his position. Alan has overseen the transformation of the sport on an international level, from the introduction of World Cups, to the ICF World Championships, and its development across five continents.

ICF marathon competitions now enjoy a professional level of organisation, the participation of a record number of nations, and the involvement of the very best stars of canoe and kayak racing.

As a sport Alan’s contribution and impact has been felt far beyond these shores. The sport of canoeing is hugely grateful for Alan’s past and continuing commitment and dedication.

Mick Nadal

As a member of Nottingham Kayak Club for over 45 years, Mick lives and breathes canoeing. Whether as a club chairman, coach, team leader, volunteer or event organiser he has been a cornerstone of the club.

Mick’s contribution and involvement extends far beyond the confines of the club fulfilling many regional and national roles over the years. These have included roles as a member of the sprint racing committee for 11 years, training regatta officials, acting as event organiser for three National Championships and an ICF official and regatta organiser.

On a regional basis Mick is currently the marathon advisor for the Midlands but has also played a much wider part through being regional coaching officer for the East Midlands for eight years, access officer and a community coach for seven years.

Mick is also secretary to the marathon racing committee and responsible for regional issues, but his role and contribution to the sport has extended over a lifetime where Mick has always been ready to take responsibility and make a difference.

Kevin Dennis

As an active coach for 43 years in six different disciplines Kevin has trained and assessed over 1,000 coaches. Kevin operates at every level within the sport. From running an annual programme of 28 sea trips, coaching at weekly sessions and running coach education courses.

He has been a member of Pangbourne CC and Adventure Dolphin for 41 years where he is chairman.  Setting up a charity and raising £500,000 for a new building Kevin has made a real impact.

He has been a member of the Southern regional development team for over 20 years where he has just stood down as chairman after 16 years. After a four year apprenticeship as vice chair of British Canoeing’s English Council, he has now been elected as chair. Kevin continues to be an active paddler having lead youth expeditions in Canada, Finland, Greenland and Europe

Kevin’s infectious enthusiasm motivates others and makes things happen. He leads by setting ambitious targets, helping to develop the club and region whilst always holding the personal development needs of individuals high on his agenda.

After a lifetime of service Kevin continues to be one of the key pillars around which the sport operates at club, regional and now national level.

John Hoile

John has been treasurer of Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club for 20 years. He has helped to steer the clubs’ finances through the building of a new clubhouse and boat shed in addition to the day to day memberships and monthly accounting.

John combines the roles of vice chairman of the sprint racing committee with the chairmanship of the sprint regatta committee. Three years ago John helped write and launch a five year plan for sprint racing. This has set demanding standards of organisation and development producing greater clarity and a wider base of trained officials to organise and run events.

John was an official at the London 2012 Olympic Games, working on boat control – a role he has carried out for many years, as he does today, at national regattas.

John is a team player who thoroughly thinks through and foresees potential benefits and issues. He is unbiased in his judgments, forward thinking and meticulous in planning. He has always worked behind the scenes and never comments on the hours he puts into the sport.

Paul Newman

Paddling since the age of seven Paul has pursued most aspects of the sport at the highest level, from white water river running, flat water racing, and slalom to sea kayak expeditions.

As a member of Maidstone Canoe Club, Paul has held most of the senior committee and organisational roles – playing a major part in the development of the club.

His contribution to the sport extends over 50 years and it is in his regional roles that Paul has made a lasting impact. He has been both vice chairman and secretary of the London and South East Regional Development Team. His focus has been to strengthen the foundations of the sport through the development of coaches.

Paul has been the regional coaching organiser/representative for decades delivering and organising both coaching and coach education across the region.

It is a tribute to Paul that so many people are paddling today as a direct result of his commitment and dedication to the sport.

Alex Edwards (Freestyle)

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Congratulations to Squirt Boater Alex Edwards who won an Athlete Recognition Award at this year’s Volunteer and Athlete Recognition Awards for his gold medal at the European Championships in Plattling, Germany.

Claire O’Hara (Freestyle)

Congratulations to Claire O’Hara, who took home an Athlete Recognition Award at this year’s awards for her gold medal in the women’s squirt and WK1 categories at this year’s European Championships.

Hannah Brown (Wildwater)

Hannah Brown achieved her Athlete Recognition Award this year when she became World Champion in the women’s K1 wildwater sprints. Congratulations, Hannah!

A full list of the winners can be found below.

Winners