15th February 2012
Hockey Wales Award Winners – Coach of the Year & Youth Coach of the Year
Alison Jones, Youth Coach of the Year 2011
This week we look at the award for Club Coach and Youth Coach of the Year. It's not often we say thank you to the people that train us week in week out, giving up their time and skills to improve our playing standards. This is a great opportunity to say thank you to those who strive to ensure we play the best hockey we can and make sure that our clubs compete to the best of their abilities.
In 2011 the winners were Danny Newcombe for Club Coach of the Year and Alison Jones for Youth Coach of the Year.
Over the past two seasons Danny has shown that he is not only a very capable coach but also a successful one. After building the UWIC men's team from a scratch side in 2008 he has created a hugely successful team winning a BUCS cup in 2010 and getting promoted into the BUCS premier division after winning their promotion play offs. Danny has also joined Toby Nicholls at Swansea Ladies playing a huge part in keeping the club from being relegated from the English Hockey league last season. Danny plays a vital role within the National Age group squads both as an assistant coach of the under 16 boys and as strength and conditioning lead for the whole international programme. He is currently the assistant coach of the Senior Men's squad for this season.
Talking to Danny about the award he said "I was honoured and surprised to win 'Coach of the Year'. It meant the world to me personally and for all the players in the teams I coach to get recognition for all the hard work we have put in. It has given me the confidence to keep pushing further with my coaching." We asked Danny what advice he would give to anyone considering putting a nomination in for their coach. "Just nominate them, don't assume that someone else will. It is such an honour to even be nominated for an award."
Alison is a young coach who has achieved a great deal in a short space of time. She leads and coaches at Club Hoci Teigrod Tywi. An activator for the past 3 years she was the main driving force in the creation of the new junior club and without her the club would not be able to run. She manages a workforce that support the under 18s, 15s, 13s and 11s sections and keeps everyone on track and organised. She has also been involved in the regional coaching set up, coaching at PDC's and in the schools county squads. She has become a superb mentor for younger coaches supporting them to get more involved and expanding their confidence to enable them to do more.
Alison told us her reaction to receiving the news "I couldn't believe it! The letter appeared on my door step and I just was in shock! I felt really proud even to be nominated, let alone to win the award as well!" In regards to her reaction on winning the award she said "It doesn't feel like a job, it's something I really enjoy doing. It's the girls that I train that do all the hard work!"
"I hope people are inspired enough to do more coaching as there is a lot of experience out there and juniors who are keen to take on the knowledge and we need people to be more involved and these awards can be a way of highlighting that need!" Finally we asked Alison what advice she'd give to next years nominees. "Give it a go! It's a great night, great way of saying thank you and a chance to really celebrate with the rest of the hockey family. For me I have so many people to thank for all the support I received especially Rae Ellis, Dinefwr Hockey Club and my mum who still comes out to watch and support me in all I do!"
So if you feel you have a club coach, or junior coach whose devotion to making sure your club competes to the best of its ability needs an award download the Nomination form (below) and send it back to us as soon as you can! The closing date is the 29th February 2012.
Download Hockey Wales Awards 2012 Nomination Form
