Despite the current lockdown, Sevenoaks RFC celebrated their end of season awards in style across the weekend of 1-3 May.
England international and British Lion Jamie George joined the Under 8s End of Season Awards.
Starting on Friday evening, President Mike Wooldridge hosted a Senior awards ceremony, which included appearances from England international and former Mighty Oak junior Ben Earl, as well as the RFU CEO, Bill Sweeney.
On Sunday, an incredible effort of organisation and Zooming by Head of Juniors Danny Jones, saw each mini and junior sides come together to celebrate their season, with England international and British Lion Jamie George making a guest appearance on the Under 8’s ceremony! A huge thanks to Jamie for giving up his time to attend and also to Hoggy for organising.
In a special evening on Friday, Ben Earl was awarded and accepted an Honour Life Membership, whilst Bill answered questions from the floor, covering the current state of the game and how the RFU is working tirelessly behind the scenes with the government to shape the game in the future.
Following on from Bill, Chairman Trevor Nicholson gave a brief update on the work currently being undertaken by the Club, whilst new Director of Rugby Adam Bowman and current 1st XV captain Nigel Gumbleton shared their thoughts on the season gone, as well as the activity that the Senior Squad are involved with at the moment to keep themselves fit and entertained(!)
Outgoing DOR and new Commercial Director Roger McKerlie thanked everyone for their support during his time overseeing all rugby matters. On behalf of everyone at Sevenoaks RFC, a huge thank you to Roger for his tireless work over the past seven years!
The awards saw the great and the good receiving accolades for their contribution to the Club on and off the field in the past year and in Pip Woolacott’s case, the past 10 years! Thank you and well done to all deserved winners (outlined below).
Two particular highlights included Leighton Ralph being awarded Player of the Year, for his stellar performances throughout the season. The last award and one of the most popular of the night went to Oaks Dan Power, who leaves the Club after five glorious years to head back to his home in Australia. Dan was made a Vice President of the Club for his outstanding contributions both on and off the field. Look out on the website for a tribute to Dan in the coming weeks.
Check out the highlights video of the awards, courtesy of Gerry Diebel and his team at Direct Design.
Senior Awards Recipients
Knole Paddock Tankard: Service to the Club over the past ten years Pip Woolacott
Knole Paddock Bowl: Service to the Club during the season Adrian Futers
Ribblesdale Trophy: Highest Try Scorer Rich Adeniyi-Jones
Williams/Steven Trophy: Supporter of the Year Team Sedgwick
Most Improved Player Award Fred Richardson
Senior Team of the Season 2nd XV – retaining the league
Guy Churchill Memorial Trophy: Player of the Season Leighton Ralph
Honorary Life Member Ben Earl
Vice President Dan Power
Honours Ties
Vicky Di Placito and Corey Trudgen
Josh Livett, Josh Pettet, Tommy Morris, Charlie Naismith, Chris Rolfe, Drew Forrester, Scotty Sedgwick, Nigel Gumbleton