Yardes Ahead
Success reigned at the Coventry American Football Academy Awards Night on the 20th November with young starlet Hannah Russell-Yarde scooping the Coaches Award amongst a shed-load of other winners of various different awards. All of the players received their medals and certificates for winning the English Conference Championship.
In attendance to give kudos to the award winners were Coventry Jets players Will White, Sharach McCook and Parm Sidhu who serve as excellent role models to the aspiring youth players. As well as this, the Jets General Manager Gerry McManus sent messages of congratulations to all of the players for how well they had performed over the course of the season.
Speaking after presenting Hannah with her award, team coach Andrew Gambrill described her as an “astonishing talent” and she herself expressed her delight, saying: “I
was glad and honoured that my Head Coach, Andrew would give me the award and it was really nice to hear all the nice things he said".
A notable mention also goes to Tikisha McCook who was the only player to receive two awards, one from the coaches and one from her team mates. She praised the rest of her team, saying:
"
I really wasn’t expecting to get these awards, as I play with so many good players.” Gambrill had high praise for this player, describing her as “
probably the best blitzer I have ever seen”.
Triumph over adversity was also brought up as winners “Super” Dan Overton and Chris Mepstead were able to win their awards after having to recover from surgery. Prize winner Vickie Mepstead surprised everyone by taking up the microphone and presenting some awards of her own.
Coach Andrew praised Vickie for this saying that it “was a really touching moment from a considerate young lady", adding with a chuckle: "I'm just worried that she did a better job than me".
All in all, it was a fantastic night in which all of the players involved were rewarded for the amazing season they have had.