On Friday 2nd June we celebrated over 120 students' achievements in sport at this years annual Blues and Colours Awards , powered by Technogym, at the Playfair Library. It was a wonderful celebration of the very best in student sporting and volunteering achievements. Seven named awards were also presented on the evening highlighting the very best of our coaches' officials and athletes. McTernan Colour of the Year - Seb Hudson of the Jiu Jitsu Club Recognising the most outstanding colour of the year, for services and dedication to university sport and university sports clubs. Image Seb has been an extremely committed member of the Jiu Jitsu Club, having held 5 committee roles over 4 years, taking on multiple positions in years to ensure the clubs longevity. This has meant Seb has been involved in all aspects of the clubs operation, from putting processes in places for administration, creating opportunities for others to go on training courses and learn new skills, and taking on a coaching role. He takes time to teach beginners the basics, key to ensuring all members are safe taking part. In addition to all the great work Seb does with the University club he also helped restart the sister club at Edinburgh Napier University and is a key member of the coaching team at a local school. Student Official of the Year, presented by Technogym - Isla Hutchinson of the Women’s Lacrosse Club Recognising students who have gone above and beyond with regards to their commitment, contribution and dedication to officiating within university sport. Image Isla is a level 2 umpire and has umpired over 30 games this season. She has also organised officials for every single BUCS match by herself in the midst of a Scotland Lacrosse umpiring crisis. Isla balances this alongside her committee position as club secretary and being a first team player. Ewan Malcolm Student Coach of the Year - Hannah Campbell of the Triathlon Club Recognising the commitment of the coach, their contribution to raising the standards, ability to motivate members and, to aspire to improve Image Hannah has gone above and beyond over the past four years coaching the club, as a level 2 qualified coach. She has also worked to ensure others can gain coaching qualifications contacting Scottish Triathlon to set up an opportunity that successfully saw 15 club members through their level 1 and 5 members through their level 2 qualifications. Alongside her coaching Hannah is a high level athlete being part of the Triathlon Performance Squad for the past 4 years and on occasion has sacrificed her training, stepping up to cover coaching of swimming and running sessions. Coach of the Year, presented by Technogym - Bruce Flockhart of the Badminton Club Recognising those gives their time to work with our talented students and enhance their sporting experience here at Edinburgh. Image With the highest coaching qualification in badminton, international playing experience and over 20 years coaching experience Bruce has made a huge impact on the Badminton team’s performance having its best results in many years. Bruce coaches the club alongside his full-time job and other coaching commitments, often rearranging his working hours to coach the team, and has gone above and beyond in creating individualised training plans for players and supporting them at competitions. Alex Currie Trophy - Chin Man (Mandy) Yang of the Fencing Club Awarded to the most inspirational sporting moment of the year Image At the BUCS Trophy Final at BUCS Big Wednesday, Mandy was a key member of the women’s 2’s team, being the only member to fence all 3 weapons. In the Sabre the team were 26-40 down, with King's College only needing 5 points to win the weapon. Mandy went on to pull back an incredible 19 points and score the 45th point leading Edinburgh to victory in the Sabre. Remarkably, Sabre isn't even Mandy's specialist weapon, this stands testament to Mandy’s skill, perseverance and stamina to perform at a phenomenal level across all three weapons. Alan Chainey Award - Gordon Lyon of the Ladies Rugby Club Recognising longstanding service to sport Image After starting with the Ladies Rugby Club in 2016 Gordon was a part of a multitude of successes over 7 seasons. Winning BUCS Premier North twice, BUCS Premier National once, reaching the BUCS Championship final three times and taking home the title in 2016/17. He has been a key driver and coach to 3 competitive teams and the development team, giving many hours to players new to the sport. Over the COVID period he gave up 15 hours per week to help deliver tactical workshops and individual or socially distanced sessions to ensure players could have opportunities to play within the restrictions. Recently, Gordon stepped up to take the lead when the Head Coach and a number of players represented Scotland at the World Cup in New Zealand, and during this period took the team to the top of the league and maintained an unbeaten streak. Cameron Blue of the Year - Eve Pearson of the Women’s Hockey Club Awarded to the University’s top athlete who has performed to a consistently high level for their university club Image Eve represented Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as part of the Women’s Hockey team, earning 5 caps throughout the tournament. She also represented Scotland in the European qualifiers in 2022 where the team finished 1st. Eve is part of the Great Britain Elite Development Programme, being selected for the 2022 and 2023 squads. Alongside her excellent high level sporting performance Eve is this year’s Women’s Hockey 1st team captain played in 95% of the teams BUCS fixtures. This article was published on 2024-05-13
