Voting for the Great Coaching Moment of the Year is now Closed!
A massive thank you to all those who voted in this year’s Great Coaching Moment of the Year, voting has now closed.
The winners of the Great Coaching Moment of 2018 are: Kris Stafford, Stephen Quinn and Harrison Marshall of Old Otliensians RUFC – 2018 RFU Junior Vase (Rugby Union) (Otley).
The winning selection wias announced during the awards ceremony at The Honourable Artillery Company in London on the 29th November 2018.
Find out more about the UK Coaching Awards 2018.
The finalists were:
Gareth Southgate – 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia
‘Looking back on when we first met; I cannot escape and I cannot forget.
Southgate, you’re the one...’
Forever will the reworking of Atomic Kitten’s ‘Whole Again’ be engrained in the brain of every England football fan after Gareth Southgate led England to their first World Cup semi-final since 1990.
The waistcoat-wearing genius created an environment of togetherness in his young(ish) England squad that infected the whole country (England anyway), helping to rebuild the relationship between the team and fans – who’d have thought that person-centred, organised and positive coaching (and football) could bring people together?
Southgate’s imagination and tactical flexibility also helped England win their first ever (dreaded) penalty shootout at a World Cup.
Tracey Neville MBE – Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
Remember when Helen Housby scored her penalty shot with less than a second on the clock to clinch victory and Commonwealth gold for the Roses over Australia?
There were absolute scenes of jubilation from the England team after that buzzer sounded: pile-ons, backflips and bouncing around the centre-circle chanting “There’s only one Tracey Neville.” And for good reason too.
Tracey has coached the England netball team since 2015 and under her management guided them not only to Gold Coast gold, beating the dominant powers of Australia and New Zealand in the process, but taking England to second in the netball world rankings and winning the 2017 World Netball Series.
Kris Stafford, Stephen Quinn and Harrison Marshall of Old Otliensians RUFC – 2018 RFU Junior Vase
Kris, Stephen and Harrison – head coach, forwards coach and assistant coach and analyst respectively – of Old Otliensians RUFC masterminded their club’s most historic day.
The ‘ensians took on South Molton in the 2018 RFU Junior Vase final at Twickenham in May, beating them 32-21 to take the trophy for the first time, and the plaudits of the Otley community.
They received a heroes’ welcome back in West Yorkshire, making an open-top bus tour through the town after a season in which they also achieved promotion. The grass-roots club is a cornerstone in the local community and is helped by lots of volunteers who give up their time to make sure the club succeeds. The hard work and passion of the coaches certainly rubbed off onto the players that fateful May day. Even England’s Danny Care, who played for the club in his youth, sent a message of support.