Leeds-based coach Malcolm Brown MBE, has been announced as the joint-winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 UK Coaching Awards, whilst Yorkshire running group Fitmums & Friends has won in the Coaching Intervention of the Year, supported by Sport England, category.
A total of five coaches from Yorkshire were named as finalists for the 2017 UK Coaching Awards.
The showpiece annual event is seen as one of the most prestigious within the coaching community and was held at The Honourable Artillery Company, City of London on Thursday 30 November.
Former UK Athletics Head Coach, Malcolm Brown, has over 35 years’ worth of coaching experience, across a largely voluntary based career, which has seen him work with a number of international leading athletes. Notable former roles include Head Coach for UK Athletics at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, coaching at Leeds Metropolitan University and as British Triathlon’s Olympic Performance Manager at London 2012.
Triathlon has been a key part of Brown’s life in recent years, coaching Britain’s leading athletes including Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, Vicky Holland and Non Stanford. Brown is also the founder and Director of Triathlon at the Leeds Triathlon Centre and was an integral force in establishing The Brownlee Centre. He has coached Leeds-based triathletes to an unprecedented five Olympic medals and 89 multiple World, Commonwealth and European medals (including 37 gold).
Recently retired triathlon coach Malcolm Brown, MBE, said “I have enjoyed a long and successful career in coaching, and having recently retired, am honoured that my achievements have been recognised at the UK Coaching Awards. I hope that this will help to inspire other coaches to embark on an incredible coaching journey.”
Covering the majority of Yorkshire, running group Fitmums & Friends has been awarded the title of Coaching Intervention of the Year, Supported by Sport England, following the club’s successful growth since 2009, seeing 850 members taking part in sessions ranging from running, walking, athletics, cycling and buggy bootcamp.
Sam Barlow, Founder of Fitmums & Friends said “What a journey we have been on and I can’t believe that we have won such an incredible award. From just a few runners one day to the amount we have now is an amazing achievement and I want to thank each and every person who has joined our journey.”
Mark Gannon, Chief Executive Officer of UK Coaching (formerly Sports Coach UK) said “The 20th Anniversary of the Awards has seen some of the best examples of coaching throughout the nation celebrated. We would like to thank all of the finalists for their incredible services to coaching.
“We saw a record number of finalists nominated and our independent judging panel deliberated long and hard to acknowledge the people and organisations that dedicated their time to the development of others through coaching.”
He continued, “Malcolm has helped to develop athletes across the nation, particularly in athletics and triathlon. I believe his approach of putting the athlete first has been key in his coaching career and the reason why he has created some super British Olympians. A very worthy winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, we thank him for his work.
“Fitmums and Friends have made exercise an enjoyable experience for many throughout Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Sam Barlow and her team have successfully grown an idea into a near 1000 strong charitable organisation, which offers its participants the opportunity to get involved with cycling, running and buggy walking – facilitating positive social interaction through structured activity. We are delighted to have been able to recognise their fantastic work.”
This year’s event marked the 20th Anniversary of the UK Coaching Awards, which saw an expert judging panel choose the winners from an impressive list of finalists, following a record number of nominations. The principle of the awards is to recognise the contribution coaches make in transforming lives across the UK.
The UK Coaching Awards honours the sports coaches and coaching organisations who have demonstrated success over the previous 12 months, as well as raising the profile of coaches at all levels of sport and physical activity.
The Awards for Coaches are given to individual coaches who have excelled and shown outstanding commitment in a certain area, or to an individual and/or group over the last 12 months. They are:
Children’s Coach of the Year, supported by sportscotland
David Walsh (Multi) (Heanor, Derbyshire)
Community Coach of the Year
Marcellus Baz (Boxing) (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire)
Talent Development Coach of the Year
David Unsworth (Football) (Liverpool, Merseyside)
High Performance Coach of the Year
British Athletics Relay Team Coaches (Stephen Maguire; Benke Blomkvist; Christian Malcom)
Heather Crouch Young Coach of the Year, supported by Youth Sport Trust
Samuel Tuck (Rowing) (East Molesey, Surrey)
Disability Coach of the Year
Anna Jackson (Wheelchair Basketball) (Chester, Cheshire)
Lifetime Achievement Award
John White (Swimming) (Margate, Kent)
Malcolm Brown (Triathlon) (Leeds, Yorkshire)
The Coaching Chain
Stuart Hogg (Rugby Union)
John Hogg; Mark Wright; John Johnstone; Bryan Easson; Iain Monaghan; Sean Lineen; Gregor Townsend
The Awards in Support of Coaches recognise those who recruit, develop, educate, qualify, and/or deploy coaches effectively in the UK. They are:
Coach Developer of the Year
Rus Smith (StreetGames) (Stourbridge, West Midlands)
Coaching Intervention of the Year, supported by Sport England
Fitmums and Friends (Athletics) (Yorkshire)
Coaching Culture of the Year
British Weightlifting
England Rugby
This year’s finalists came from a number of different sports – highlighting the very best of coaching from high performance to community, from children to disability.
www.ukcoaching.org/coachingawards
