Army Sportsmen and women honoured in style at the Army Sports Awards 2014.
It was a glittering night at Guildhall in the City of London last Thursday, as the sporting stars of the British Army were honoured in full military style at the 2014 Army Sports Awards. Organised by Team Army – the charity responsible for funding forces sport – this 2014 event was the most high profile and glamorous celebration of sporting excellence that the Army has ever staged.
“The Army Sports Awards have come of age”, enthused Major General Lamont Kirkland, Chief Executive Team Army. “The standard of nominee citations this year has been among the very best we have ever received so this year we decided to move beyond simply acknowledging their achievements but to truly celebrate them in a remarkable and very public way”.
British sporting heroes turned out to present the awards to the Army’s best including Olympic Gold medalists and world champions Colin Jackson, Victoria Pendleton and James Cracknell while Tim Rodber – himself a former Army Captain having played rugby for the Army, England, the British Lions and Northampton – presented the award for Best Team.
Following a spectacular performance by the ‘sporting soprano’ Laura Wright, the awards ceremony, hosted by BBC sports presenter Gabby Logan, was filmed for Forces TV and BFBS in front of a star-studded audience of 480 specially invited guests from across the military, industry and sponsors – many of whom have been generously supporting Army sports for the last five years.
Commenting on the outstanding reception to the winners on the evening the Chief of the General Staff, Sir Nicholas Carter said “This has been our most successful Army Sports Awards event ever. It was a tremendous way to honour our admirable sportsmen and women”.
Reflecting on the role of Team Army, Major General Kirkland added, “We are all so proud of our sporting servicemen and women. We all need sport to keep us physically and mentally strong and that’s especially true of the Army. It’s good for morale, it helps us recover from operations and of course it’s invaluable for team building. And that makes us all better at what we do for a living. Plus it’s enormous fun! Team Army, very simply, helps make all that possible.”
This year’s award winners were:
Official of the year – WO2 Mark Scorgie – Alpine
Unsung hero of the year – Capt Paul Greenwood – Cricket
Rising star of the year – Spr Alex Royle – Cycling
Team of the year – Rugby League Women’s Team
Adaptive Athlete of the year – Pte (Vet) Charlie Walker – Sitting Volleyball
Sportswoman of the year – LCpl Alanna Murphy – Boxing
Sportsman of the year – LCpl Ashley Williams – Boxing
Lifetime achievement – SSgt (Vet) Sean Fanning