Winners announced for this year’s UK Coaching Awards

Whittled down from 27 finalists and many more strong nominations, each winner received a memento to commemorate their extraordinary contribution to sport and well-being. This year’s awards, with an in-person showpiece ceremony not possible the year previous due to Covid-19 restrictions, focused on not only the outstanding level of technical coaching, but those who had gone the extra mile to support participants mentally and emotionally as we transition out of the pandemic.

The winners were:

• Changing Lives Award – Andrew Joyce, Christchurch
• Coach Developer – Andrew Noble, Sheffield
• Coaching Chain, supported by Sport England – Kadeena Cox MBE’s chain (Tom Hodkinson, Joe McDonnell, Jon Norfolk, Brian Scobie, Sue Bowles, John Westerman & Nathan Wells)
• Coaching for an Active Life Award, supported by Spond – Our Parks
• Community Coach – Adults, supported by Sport England – Alice Tribedi, London
• Community Coach – Children & Young People, supported by sportscotland – Sean Ross, Hull
• Great Coaching Moment – Jane Figueiredo, London. For turning heartbreak into success with Tom Daley’s Olympic gold
• High Performance Coach – Richard Morris, Sheffield
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Richard Brickley, Fife
• Talent Development Coach – Julie Maiden, Milton Keynes
• Transforming Coaching Award, supported by Reading Room – Coach Core Foundation
• Young Coach – Tor Freeman, Biggleswade

"The UK Coaching Awards recognise the huge variety of ways coaches make a difference to people’s lives, whether that is through training and improving skill level, through education and development, or mobilising their community and bringing people together.

“I would like to extend a personal congratulations to each of our winners – great coaching has always been about inspiring others, and the pandemic has made this more vital than ever. At a time where we have all needed motivation, that boost to carry on and be the best we can be, coaches have stepped up and rejuvenated their communities.”

Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award Richard Brickley, was honoured to be recognised for his long-standing contribution to disability sport:

“I am thrilled to receive the UK Coaching Lifetime Achievement Award but at the same time recognise that there are so many others who could equally claim the right to be here.

Sean Ross, winner of the Community Coach of the Year for Children and Young People Award, was in disbelief that ‘someone like him’ could be considered a top coach in the UK. He said:

“It feels absolutely amazing to be Community Coach of the Year. I didn’t think I’d have a chance with so many incredible coaches nominated – it feels great just to share a room with so many fantastic people. It’s inspiring for us to keep on learning and achieving more than ever before.

Another remarkable community coach honoured at the awards was Alice Tribedi, who proves great coaching can reach everyone, working with older participants up to 93 years old. She said:

“Coaching means a sense of community to me. I coach mostly those who are older, up into their nineties, and for many they have been on their own throughout the pandemic. In my classes there was a lot of depression, many suffering from isolation. That’s why it’s important to support everyone, because these are the people that need it most.

“To be recognised means the world. Having had to give up my dancing career when I was so young due to injury, means that my coaching career is everything to me. I enjoy it so much, and it means everything to coach the amazing people I do. One lady told me that not long before her husband died, he had told her to continue coming to my classes to help her. She told me last Christmas that the class had been a lifeline for her. That makes you realise the power of coaching.”