Another successful year for the Hillingdon Juniors ended with our most well-attended Fun Tournament and party to date. Membership is at an all time high and it is marvellous to have so many helping to run our activities.
Fun Tournament results
The Fun Tournament was organised by Aloka, who used an app to run the matches and was ably supported by the indefatigable Kulzum. Thank you to guest referee, Ian Grimwood, and his trainee ref., Edward.
The teams were captained by Anderson, David, Mickey, Adam, Ilyas and Michael. The winning Team Red comprised Anderson, Charlie, Will H, Zak, Luke W, Lewis and Abelardo.
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Three cheers for our coaches…
The post-tournament party began with an introduction to the coaching team and a big thank you for their support. Shaun is single-handedly responsible for doubling our membership numbers over the last 12 months. Aloka has made a massive contribution in a short space of time; his mantra ‘all challenges can be learnt from’ has been well tested. It’s great to have Adam officially part of the coaching team, along with Mickey’s invaluable support thanks to The Duke of Edinburgh scheme. This segues neatly into our first award: the Jack Petchey Award for November 2017 goes to Mickey Tritto.
Competitions
Over the past year we have fielded teams at Under-12, -13 and -14 in the London League, hosted a friendly tournament, entered an Under-15 team in a development tournament and even formed a Middlesex Under-14 team at Inter County level.
This has only been possible thanks to the coaches and support of parents. Tournament organisation is a lot of work, but this has been eased thanks to Jez managing teams via Teamer.
I hope all the children who have had the chance to compete have enjoyed the opportunity.
Club awards
Award winners for the period July-December 2017 were selected by our coaches as follows:
Development Group: awarded by Shaun
- Most Improved Player: Since the summer Robyn has transformed as a player and earned herself a place in the under 12 team.
- Best Sportsman: Edward’s talent is already evident, and his swimming training is helping him develop well.
- Best Newcomer: William Mitchell has impressed by his dedication to training.
- Above and Beyond: Robyn takes it upon herself to collect up all the caps at the end of each training session.
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Intermediate Group: awarded by Aloka
- Coach’s Player – the best all-rounder in the Under-14 category: Will Hames is a dynamic player who stepped up into a leadership role within a short period of time, encouraging the team to work well around him.
- Best Defensive Player: Ramsey a very good defensive player, well recognised by his peers.
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Advanced Group: awarded by Aloka
- Coach’s Player: David is a team man, always willing to help. It’s not the first time that he has won this category, which speaks volumes.
- Best Team Captain: Anderson displays good leadership skills and led his team exceptionally to win the tournament.
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Amazing parental support
So much would be impossible without the fantastic support of our parents, most notably… Sam, the party organiser; Mike, who bought the drinks; Sue, for her help each week; Lil, Milena, Jane, Miri and Patrizia who set up and cleared away; and Youguang, for his photographic skills. Thank you all for your help.
Behind the scenes, Sarah and Dave from West London Penguin committee also lend support, we are all indebted to them.
Looking forward to 2018
Looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that 2018 brings.
See you all in January!
We remain grateful to the Jack Petchey Foundation for their support.
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