Sports-nominees-2020
Sportswoman of the Year
Laura Boddy
I would like to nominate Laura Boddy for the Sports Woman of the Year prize. Laura studying Medicine at St John's, made it to the Bow seat of the Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club (OUWLRC) Blue Boat. This is a huge accomplishment. This was a particularly special year, as it was the first time the women's lightweight race took place on the Tideway in London, over the famous Championship Course. The race itself was a cracker, with some close racing and dramatic twists of events even though Cambridge came out on top. Laura was also extremely active on behalf of the Middle Common Room
Charlotte Dannatt
Charlotte is a final year biomedical sciences student at St John’s. She won several competitions for Oxford University cross country and athletics and was President of OUAC over this last year.
On 7th March Charlotte won the Senior Women’s title at the British Cross Country Championships in Loughborough. She was supposed to be racing for GB in the World University Cross Country Championships in morocco but after it was called off due to the coronavirus outbreak she made the late decision to run the British Champs.
Athletics weekly magazine reported ‘It proved a good move, too, as she won gold in the senior women’s race. Racing on a grey but dry day in the East Midlands on a course that was drier than expected but with plenty of sections of sticky mud to test the stamina, Dannatt took the Inter-Counties title.’
Ellen Taylor
I
would like to nominate Ellen Taylor for the Sports Woman Prize. Ellen Taylor is
studying for a DPhil in Experimental Psychology at St John’s. Ellen and her
mother, Sarah, have become the first women to ever swim across the Saltstraumen
maelstrom in northern Norway, and the first people to do so without wetsuits.
The Saltstraumen
is the strongest tidal current in the world, and the world's strongest
maelstrom. It's located in the Arctic Circle in Norway, between two islands
where the over 400 million cubic metres of water rush between the sea and the
fjord every 6 hours. At its strongest the currents can reach speeds of 20
knots, and the momentum causes multiple whirlpools of up to 10 metres in
diameter. As the tides turn, there is a short space of time when the water is
safe enough to swim across.
Source for more information about this here:
https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/news/ellen-taylor-swims-across-worlds-strongest-maelstrom/
Sportsman of the Year
June-Ho Chung
Having featured
sporadically in his debut season at St John's College, June-Ho Chung has
witnessed a revival in his footballing career this season as he has taken on
the player-manager role of the St John's 2nd XI Football team. Having inherited
the role of 2nd XI captain, succeeding the admirable Nathan Spiller, he has
developed his tactical ability as well as his decision making
significantly. His selflessness and bravery on the pitch are only matched
by his tactical courage and inspirational leadership off it. Having led the 2nd
XI football team to promotion and with their grip ever tightening on the league
title, June-Ho would be a highly suitable winner of this award. It would be an
understatement to say that his half-time team talks have turned games around.
On no less than three occasions have his team been trailing at half-time, for
them to come back and annihilate opposition on scales not seen since Liverpool
'05. Then again, these sort of comebacks all fit into his 'one step backward,
two steps forward' style of management. Perhaps the highest praise that can be
bestowed upon this man is that in a season of champagne football and
near-constant success he has spent more minutes off the pitch than on it,
humbly guiding his group of players in unique and groundbreaking ways.With some
predicting a league and cup double next season, there is nothing that this man
cannot win.
Luke Hand
Luke Hand has been an integral member of the sporting community at St Johns for the last 3 years and is thoroughly deserving of this year’s Sportsman of the year. After making a splash in the University baseball community as a fresher, Luke has gone on to excel in the sport, being heavily involved throughout his university career. As well as helping to grow the club to a half-blue standard as vice-captain, Luke’s batting prowess, for which he has been nominated ‘Batter of the Year’ several times over, has contributed enormously to the clubs great competitive success. In 2020, Oxford university Baseball went unbeaten in an extraordinary 19 game winning streak, including their victory as National University Baseball Champions, in which Luke went on to start in every single game of the tournament.
In college, Luke has had a prolific role in SJCAFC, vice-captaining and captaining the first team for 2 successive years, leading them through some huge seasonal performances, despite scheduling issues and dreadful weather, all the way to the Cuppers Quarter Final in 2020. Always leading from the front (or the back, because he’s a goalkeeper), Luke has always set an exceptionally high standard for the team to follow, winning this year’s Player of the Year (a player-nominated award) for his – some have called legendary – penalty saving ability, his consistently above-average performances and of course, his Cruyff turns. An honourable mention also to his leading number of pre-assists, and the 3 goals scored the seconds team (“He’s not just a mediocre goal-keeper” – Nathan Spiller). In the true spirit of college sport, Luke is not afraid to take his talents elsewhere, such as the cricket and rugby pitch, where he’s used his well-developed hand-eye coordination and agility to great effect throughout his 3 years at St Johns.
Even more importantly, Luke Hand has always put college sport first. Whether it’s in Kendrew wolfing down some veggie lasagne over a half-completed tutorial sheet before a 2pm kick-off at the Fortress, or furiously cycling away from his lab to make the second half of a seconds match in Cowley, Luke can always be found prioritising baseball, football, cricket or rugby over his chemistry degree. It’s fair to say that Luke really has made his mark on college sport, and is absolutely the right man for Sportsman of the Year.
Mixed Team of the Year
Saints Lacrosse Team
The Saints lacrosse team have had an absolutely fantastic year. After coming fourth in the cuppers tournament in Trinity, the team returned after the summer break stronger than ever. So far, they’ve won EVERY match taking them through to the cuppers finals where they’re in a fantastic position to win the trophy. This is the first time the team have ever made it to the final, so this is a huge achievement. The Saints team wouldn’t have reached to where it is today without the amazing team spirit and enthusiasm. Come rain or shine players attend the weekly training sessions and are moving from strength to strength. We’re looking forward to playing the final and (hopefully) bringing the trophy home!
Women's Team of the Year
Saints Women's Football Team
I would like to nominate Saints (women's football) for team of the year. The primary reason for this is winning cuppers, for what I believe is the first time. This was done in impressive style, including winning the final 4-0 against the defending champions. The first division league was unfortunately never completed due to a combination of bad weather and COVID-19, which took away the chance of a double. However those matchers combined with cuppers means that the Saints won every single match they played this year, scoring 35 and conceding only 4. All of this was done while integrating a squad of players with hugely varying levels of experience, from first team university players in football and futsal, to many others who had never played before, but still made valuable contributions both on and off the pitch.
St John's Women's Netball Team
I’d like to nominate the St John’s Netball Team for the Women’s Sports Team Prize.
SJCNC have had an incredibly successful year marked by many brilliant matches. The first team fought hard to defend their spot in the first division and the seconds played excellently in the third division, highlighting the high levels of involvement in this team. Many excellent players from first year have joined the team this year and, until the world went into lockdown, the team had a buzzing social life. At the start of the academic year, several alumni returned to play in the Sidney-Sussex sports day, and although the opponents didn’t show up, SJCNC defeated the football team in a friendly match.
Men's Team of the Year
St John's College Cricket Club
I'm writing to nominate the St John's College Cricket
Club (SJCCC) for male sports team of the year.
SJCCC had an excellent season under the captaincy of Alex Picksley in Trinity
2019.
The cricket club fielded over 20 different players across the 2019 season, with an excellent mix of undergraduates, postgraduates, and alumni turning out. SJCCC's culture places a strong emphasis on inclusivity: over the past few seasons, the club put out mixed gender teams that have also featured students with disabilities, College staff, and people who have never played cricket before. The club has a reputation for playing hard but fair, and is a favourite destination for other college sides due to the excellent catering, facilities, and hospitality.
SJCCC also had a successful season on the field in 2019. The First XI won the inaugural 'Fortress T20 League', a competition set up by the St John's own Ian Madden, which featured teams from 8 colleges. In a closely fought final, SJCCC defeated Worcester (who were the 2019 Cuppers Champions) thanks to an outstanding team fielding effort featuring miserly bowling and several athletic catches. SJCCC also finished second in the Oxford Inter-College Cricket League - only one win behind a very strong Balliol side - despite missing three matches due to rain. Finally, SJCCC crushed the Demijohns (the College's old boys side) by 114 runs in the season's marquee fixture to win the inaugural Karle Simpson Trophy. Overall, a successful season on and off the field.
SJCAFC Men's 2nd XI Football team
This year has been an astounding year for John's 2nd XI football. As I write this nomination they sit top of the Men's Reserves 2nd Division with a record of P7 W6 . Promotion has been confirmed and the title is all but in the locker room with one game to play. They have scored an incredible 24 goals in this period with one notable result being a 12-3 victory against Queens College. In many ways this should be considered an unbeaten league season with an unfortunate forfeit against Regent's Park, due to a series of injuries and illnesses, the only stain on an otherwise spotless record. To say that the John's 2nd XI football team deserve a nomination for Team of the Year would be an understatement. This is perhaps the greatest 2nd XI team John's College have ever had the fortune of putting together.
Special Prize
Nia Evans
Please find below my nomination of Nia Evans for the special prize.
Nia has been an amazing lacrosse captain this year with the Saints team winning every match and making it to the cupper’s final for the first time in history. She has been pivotal to the team’s success, organising and running weekly training sessions, bringing energy and enthusiasm to the pitch and keeping the team spirits high with her quality tunes. As a member of the lacrosse development squad Nia brings new drills and techniques to the college training sessions. As well as organising all college matches, she has bought the team closer together by organising formals and other social events, as well as co-creating the teams somewhat questionable Instagram page. Despite dealing with a painful disorder that affects her ability to do physical activity, Nia always remains positive and always looks out for other members of the team, prioritising their welfare above all.
Nia has reshaped college lacrosse with her commitment to make it an accessible sport with no previous experience required. Having never played lacrosse before coming to University herself, she is eager to inspire everyone to give it a try. Fired by her enthusiasm to make college lacrosse be seen in the same light as other sports, Nia co-designed team shirts, showing Saints are a team not to be messed with.
Overall, Nia has transformed the Saints lacrosse team this year and, for this reason, is very deserving of the Special Prize Award.
David Favre
It is my distinct pleasure to nominate David Favre, Head Coach of the St John’s College Boat Club, for the Sports Officer’s Special Prize. Since joining the Boat Club this Michaelmas, Dave has been a transformational leader, turning around an organization that was in a rather precarious situation. At the beginning of this academic year, the Boat Club had a small number of seniors, particularly on the men’s side with only three rowers returning. Nevertheless, through his enthusiasm, passion for coaching, and tireless dedication, Dave recruited one of our largest and most competent classes of novices. Despite adverse weather conditions that have limited the amount of water training and racing we have been able to complete, these same traits have enabled Dave to retain the vast majority of novices, placing the club in a much stronger position as compared to recent years for Summer VIIIs 2020 and beyond. As Coach, Dave has challenged each of us to pursue our best while maintaining a fun club atmosphere that respects people’s different athletic abilities to ensure that all feel welcome. He also goes far beyond the expectations of a coach, spending countless hours of his personal time to support his rowers and improve the Boat Club. For example, Dave has always been there to assist with any personal issues that we may be facing by providing a sympathetic ear and advice. Simply put, I can think of no one who epitomizes the characteristics of an ideal coach more than David Favre.
Isobel Howard
Isobel has been an enormous contributor to the college
sporting community for all 3 years of her degree. In her second year, Isobel
took it upon herself to organise weekly ‘Womfit’ sessions, helping keep the
women’s community of St John’s active by leading circuits. In addition, Isobel
captained the Women’s Team of the Year Netball team to a top of the table
finish, organising all fixtures and socials and leading by example from Goal
Attack. In Trinity term, Isobel picked up a rugby ball for the first time and
went on to become an integral part of the Saints women’s rugby team’s lengthy
cuppers run. Her talent was quickly snapped up by OURFC, as despite her having
only played a handful of competitive rugby matches, she was selected as part of
the Panthers squad that went on tour to Gibraltar in the Summer.
This year, Isobel was the spearhead of a movement to get women’s rugby more recognition within the college community. As new co-captain of the burgeoning Saints women’s rugby team, she took a leading role in organising the incredibly successful joint men’s and women’s tour to the Sciences Po University in Paris. Sciences Po first came to St John’s 40 years ago, and Isobel led the charge to re-foster these harmonious ties with the next generation of Saints, with this year marking the first time a St John’s women’s team has been invited to make the journey across the channel. Despite Trinity Term’s rugby cuppers being cancelled, Isobel’s organisation and coaching ability shone through in training throughout Hilary, and in tandem with co-captain Siobhan, helped develop the fundamentals of rugby to those new to the game. With a startling disregard for her already busy timetable, Isobel also cemented her place in the university set-up, becoming Panthers Vice-Captain in no time at all, helping guide the team to a barnstorming first season in BUCS.
Isobel is a deserving winner of the Sport’s Officer’s Special prize, a fantastic ambassador for women in rugby, and a credit to St John’s College.
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