Derby Trailblazers players, coaches, supporters and volunteers packed into the Theatre at Noel-Baker Academy to hand out dozens of awards to people within the club whose contributions had been recognised by those around them.
The club were also delighted to welcome special guests Catherine Atkinson, the MP for Derby North and Baggy Shanker, MP for Derby South.
The evening started off with the Mini Blazers, where Coach CJ Wiggins reported there were currently seventy-six players in the programme. While no individual awards were made, certificates were presented to all those who had been involved this season.
CJ stayed on the stage for the U12 Development Awards, reporting fifty-seven players are currently involved, and more certificates were presented. Players from both of these groups have also taken part in the Notts Min league, and those who had taken part also received medals.
Next up were our U12 Boys, who had a remarkable, undefeated season under the leadership of David Attewell. As a regional league winner, the boys received medals from Basketball England, and Dave reported many players would be moving up to U14S and one would even make the jump to U16 level.
Speaking of U14 Boys, Andrius Samoska was on hand to talk about their National League programme, in which Christian Okaula was named the Most Improved Player (MIP), Daniel Felix was named the Defensive Player and Aaron Woodcock picked up the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Andrew Sanders then took to the stage, firstly to speak about the U14 Girls, where the Player’s Player was won by Thea-Rose Bradley, the Coach’s Player was won by Delph Norman, and the MVP went to Megan Dugard. Andrew also looks after the U14 Boys Development side, where Aidan Mukamdatsamba was named the Player of the Year.
That brought us to the U14 Boys local league, where Adam Taylor presented the Coach’s Player to Teddy Osborn, the MVP to Tristan Calow and the Defensive Player of the Year to Monty Waterman.
Next up was the turn of the U16 Girls, where Ben Saunders presented Taya Smith with both the Player’s Player and the MPV, while Faith Thomas picked up the Defensive Player award.
Next up to the podium was James Wilson, who leads the U16 Boys Development programme. Will Ellis was named Coach’s player, and George Redfern picked up the Player’s player.
The U16 Boys is a very busy part of the club, so there were still two more teams to get through. Steve Farmer presented awards to a trio of U16 Conference players, where Douglas Perkins was named Most Improved Player, Kody Eugenia was the Player’s Player, and the Coach’s Player was Alfie Spooner.
Finally, for this age group, John Marvill took the unusual step of presenting the Defensive Player title to his entire team, while Anton Cierech was the MIP and Max Whittingham was the MVP.
The first half of the evening was rounded off by the John Coventry Award, which is a special one which goes to a volunteer to recognise their work. This year, the award went to Trustee Richard Taylor, who has helped the club navigate it’s was through a complex minefield of financial matters over several years.
After a brief refreshment break, the Awards resumed with another special award. Called the Herbert Reed Award, it was originally presented to Jill Kent, but rather than keeping it for herself, she awards it to a different individual each year. This year’s recipient was Kyle Henderson.
Next on the agenda were the Women’s League awards. Kayne King announced Miya Kelly as the MVP, before revealing Tash Barker as the Player’s Player and Anya Kelly as the MIP.
Our D2 Men’s programme has been led by Mark Woodhouse, who continued his tradition of accidentally naming recipients whilst trying to build suspense! His Most Improved Player was Rio Williamson, while Jake Chilver scooped the Defensive Player. The Coach’s Player went to Elias Norman, while Kayne King was named MVP.
That took us to the BCB Men’s Award, where Mo Walker scooped two of Kyle Henderson’s awards, being named both MVP and Player’s Player. The Coach’s Player went to seventeen-year-old Academy star Casey Burr, while more than 50% of the Club’s fans named Charlie Brown as the Supporter’s Player of the Season.
No awards were made to the U18S Local League team, as their season is still underway, which took us to the U18 Men’s Conference. Luke Durose named Ansel Masters as his MIP, Corey Belso as his Defensive Player and Tom Dawes-Hamp (?) as the MVP.
Next up were the awards for the U18 Men’s Premier league, where Jake Chapman named Dafe Awarota as his Most Improved Player, while Dovidas Kilmas was the Defensive Player, and the MVP went to Jarom Howlett.
The evening rounded off with a focus on the club’s successful Academy, with Mark Woodhouse giving an overview of the programme.
In the AOC Men’s section, Steven Azemia and Lucasz Koska were named Teammates of the Year. In the Women’s section, Grace Taylor and Hollie Dryden were named Players’ Player. Libby Truman picked up the Teammate of the Year, and Sophia Mackintosh-Watson was Student of the Year.
Jake Chapman then returned to the stage to present awards to the EABL Academy Men, where Jarom Howlett doubled up with the Teammate of the Year award, Elias Norman was named Player of the Year and Oscar Cresser received the Student of the Year award.
The evening was rounded off by Trailblazers Chairman David Woodyatt, who spoke of his tremendous pride in everything the club has achieved, before adding that there was still much more work to be done to take the club to the next level.
Written by Nigel cash.
