For the first time in its history, the Team BTC Sports Awards took place virtually on Friday 29 May 2020.

After a fantastic start to the year, sporting events and training had to be postponed or cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, this did not stop the Team BTC coaches recognising the dedication and talent of the College’s athletes at the annual awards celebration.

Team of the Year award went to Netball (pictured), who are undefeated in the league with two games remaining. The team has invested time in peer coaching and always exhibit great team cohesion. Whilst the Trampolining team took home Performance of the Year, following their South West Schools and Colleges Trampolining Competition in November, which saw every member of the team bringing home a medal or trophy.

Nathan Byrne was recognised as Captain of the Year after leading his team through the toughest Cat1 region to reach the national cup quarter finals. Nathan’s mature, well balanced constant high level performances and approach brought great respect from his peers and coaching staff alike. Whilst Athlete of the Year was given to Kurt Gilbert for his great determination to succeed. Kurt made himself available to the Trampolining squad alongside Rugby and Athletics commitment and is a dedicated member of Team BTC.

Kieran Gregory was honoured with the Mark Tucker Cup for being a model professional throughout his 2 years at Team BTC. The Sports Personality award went to Charlotte Glenn, and Lilly Paul was presented with The Jean Marchant Cup.

Coach of the Year went to Mo Hopkins. Mo works tirelessly and cares about the development of all players he coaches. Alongside working at the College, Mo dedicates his time to coach the Somerset U18s schools, Somerset FA U16s and Taunton District school teams.

The first ever Team BTC Hall of Fame award was presented to Team BTC coach Paul Bennett. Paul has been instrumental in training new coaches and helping students to gain the skills required to play sport at a higher level. Paul commented:

I’m truly humbled to be honoured in such a way.

All teams were recognised at the event, each with a Player of the Year (PY), Player’s Player (PP), Coaches’s Player (CP) award given. The winners in these categories were:

Men’s 1 Football

• Patrick O’Halloran (PY)
• Nathan Byrne (PP)
• Harry Mason (CP)

Men’s 2 Football

• Reece Bannister (PY)
• Lewis Mahdy (PP)
• Luke Aldwin (CP)

Men’s 3 Football

• Kieran Gregory (PY)
• Jamie Lee (PP)
• Joel Smith (CP)

Women’s Football

• Erin Bloomfield (PY)
• Theiry Jo Guvain (PP)
• Hannah Maloney (CP)

Men’s Rugby

• Martell Payn (PY)
• Matt Williams (PP)
• Kurt Gilbert (CP)

Women’s Rugby

• Mya Andrews (PY)
• Lizzie Creedy (PP)
• Eve Venton (CP)

Netball

• Lilly Paul (PY)
• Katie Harris (PP)
• Kylie Turner (CP)

Hockey

• James Garner (PY)
• Charles Grossey (PP)
• Ellis Lake (CP)

Trampolining

• Grace Williams (Novice PY), Hope Jones (Intermediate PY), Laura Dobson (SUTL PY)
• Lewis Mellor (PP)
• Matt McGregor (CP)

UCS Football

• Niall Carr (PY)
• Tom Creed (PP)
• Charlie Green (CP)

Follow Team BTC on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more information, including video reactions from this year’s winners.