Gladiators end of season awards
The Colchester Gladiators celebrated a highly successful season with their annual awards evening, held at Candi Bar,
Hosted by new Club Chairman Tom Burridge, all sections of the Gladiators met to honour the outstanding contributions over the past 12 months, including the senior team, the youth team and the dance team.
Now in their second year, the Dance Team goes from strength to strength with their highlights being performing at the Gladiators’ Great British Tailgate Party (and meeting Vernon Kay!), at the Division Two championship game, and two auditions for high profile TV talent contests. The joint winners of the “Dance Team Star” award were Kelsey and Lucy Westfall.
The Gladiators’ Youth Team entered the league for the first time in 2009 and impressed everyone that saw them play. Losing only once during the regular season, they made the national playoffs before losing to reigning champions, the London Warriors. Head Coach Dave Hogarth presented the awards with Byron Smith winning Offensive Player of the Year, Piers Harrison-Reid taking Defensive Player of the Year, AJ Crabbe was voted by his peers as Player’s Player of the Year, and Sam Bingham won the Coach’s Player of the Year award.
Gladiators Head Coach Matt Roberts stepped up to make the presentations to the senior team. Rich Thomas collected Special Teams, Player’s Player and Coach’s Player of the Year awards after a spectacular season where he accumulated over 1,000 combined yards, ended as the club’s leading receiver, and scored 150 points.
The offensive line was chosen as the Offensive Player of the Year for its contribution to having two 1,000 yard rushers in one season. The group, comprising Paul Bovingdon, Dave Hogarth, George Meighan, Tom Burridge, Adam Burrows, Matt Bovingdon and James Martin, played consistently well all year, allowing Gladiators running backs to run for more than 60 touchdowns.
Middle linebacker Duncan Flack won the Defensive Player of the Year award, ending the year as leading tackler. Most Improved Player was Phil Moreton and Phill Pearson collected the award for Best Hit.
The two winners of the Coach’s awards, Sam Bingham (youth team) and Rich Thomas (senior team) will be eligible for a “free” season, courtesy of a sponsorship deal with Colne Classics, who cover the cost of their subs for a year.
Outgoing Chairman Nick Foxley made the next presentation, of Top Gladiator, an award to someone who has made the outstanding contribution to the Gladiators either on or off the pitch. This is usually selected by the Management Committee and was awarded to Tom Burridge for, amongst other reasons, his work on the Gladiators achieving “Clubmark”, raising considerable funds through grants and sponsorships, and his tireless work behind the scenes.
The final presentation was the latest induction to the Gladiators Hall of Fame. The highest accolade was awarded to Rick Rotondo who played for the team between 1988 and 1992 where he won numerous honours, including National Defensive Player of the Year in 1988 when he amassed over 200 tackles in one season. He holds several Gladiators records and returned briefly in 2008 to assist with coaching before work commitments forced his return to the
The Gladiators now look forward to the 2010 season after their promotion to Division One with games scheduled against Kent Exiles, Cambridgeshire Cats, Peterborough Saxons, East Kent Mavericks and local rivals, the Ipswich Cardinals. The Gladiators are holding a “Come and Try” session at Sir Charles Lucas Sports Centre,