EFA Awards 2014
As is now traditional, the EFA Dinner on May 10th will see the presentation of the EFA Awards for the following categories: Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year and Special Contribution to Fives.
***VOTING NOW CLOSED ***
Simply read on to see the list of nominees in each category and then email Gareth Hoskins directly or by using the CONTACT US option from the menu bar above with your choice of the winner in each category. Each registered Fivesonline user, member of the EFA or member of the EFA Facebook group is allowed one vote per category and the winners will be announced at the EFA Dinner. Entries will close on Saturday May 3rd.
Player of the Year
Seb Cooley
2013-14 has been another stellar year for Seb, with a fourth successive Kinnaird Cup win to sit alongside triumphs in the London, Northern and Mixed competitions as well as the Alan Barber Cup with the Old Olavians.
Tom Dunbar
This has been a remarkable season for Tom, who has defied mid-season illness to retain his number one ranking and complete yet another Grand Slam of Eton Fives majors, with London and Northern tournament victories to add to a 10th Kinnaird Cup win, just one behind the all time record.
Anthony Theodossi
This has been a season of steady improvement for Ant, who reached the semi-finals of both the London and Northern tournament with Ryan Perrie, made the final of the Mixed competition and played a key role in the Berkhamsted team’s Division 1 title success.
James Toop
This season has seen a return to form from James, with a key role in the Olavians Alan Barber Cup win and runners-up spots in the Kinnaird Cup and the Northern Tournament, where he and partner Matthew Wiseman took Cooley & Dunbar the full distance.
Matthew Wiseman
After a couple of years away from top end competition, Matthew has returned with a bang this year. A fine performance at the London Tournament, where he reached the semis with Ed Taylor, was followed by a resumption of his partnership with James Toop and they reached the finals of both the Kinnaird Cup and the Northern tournament as well as winning the Alan Barber Cup with the Old Olavians.
Young Player of the Year (Under 25)
Tom Breese
Shrewsbury School's Tom Breese has been the outstanding player in the U16 age group this year, winning the U16 n/national title for the second year in a row and doing so by a wide margin. He was alo an ever-present for the Old Salopian team that won the EFA Trophy in March.
James Cobb & James Piggot
This is a joint nomination as it is impossible to separate the contributions of this year’s top schoolboy pair to their success this season. The two James have been the dominant force on the school circuit, leading Etonto a second successive success in the Williams Cup and finishing in style with a win in the Open at the N/national Schools’ Championships.
Andrew Joyce
This has been a breakthrough season for Berkhamstedian Andrew Joyce, who has performed impressively alongside Doug Foster to reach the quarter-finals of both the London Tournament and Kinnaird Cup this year. He has also been a key player in Berkhamsted’s Division 1 win and has scored two tournament victories – the Under 25s with Jeremy O’Neill and the Midlands Tournament with Ali Leighton
Ali Leighton
Ali is the latest good young player off the Berkhamsted production line. In his first year since leaving school he has played a significant role in winning Division 1 with the Berkhamsted team. The highlight of his year, however, was his win with Andrew Joyce at the Midlands Tournament at R/repton in November.
Will Sissons
R/rydal School have had a terrific year, as shown in their team nomination, and their star player has been young left-hander Will Sissons. He came to the attention of a wider audience with some fine performances at the inaugural Welsh Tournament back in September and then confirmed that promise by teaming up with Jack Jones to win the U13 title at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships and become R/rydal’s first ever n/national champions.
Eve Smith-Bingham
Eve has been a fixture on the shortlist for this award in recent seasons and with good reason. Still an U15, she has dominated all of the age groups this year, winning the U15, U18, U21 and U25 titles, with different Highgate School partners. She led the Highgate team to victory in the Black Cup back in November and reached the senior Ladies Championships final with Amira Reimer, a remarkable achievement.
Team of the Year
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted have been the dominant team in EFA League Division 1 this season, winning 9 out of 10 matches, 24½ out of 30 points and regaining the title they last won in 2012 at a canter. Led by Berkhamsted staff George Campbell, Doug Foster and Ant Theodossi, they have been well backed up by an improving group of young Old Berkhamstedians such as Andrew Joyce, Jeremy O’Neill and Ali Leighton.
Eton College
This has been another excellent season for the Eton College squad, who retained the Williams Cup and also boasted among their number the winning pair at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships Open competition in James Piggot and James Cobb.
Highgate School Girls
The achievements of the Highgate girls team continue to almost defy belief. With the majority of the squad still in the 13-15 age range, they have utterly dominated the age group competitions from U15 to U25 this year. They also retained the Black Cup, the senior ladies team competition, and Eve Smith Bingham and Amira Reimer have reached the final of the senior N/national Ladies Championships.
North Oxford
North Oxford continue to set standards for other clubs to follow; they won Division 2 again this year for the third year in a row, with 30% of league appearances coming from the ladies contingent. The Ladies team were also runners-up in the Richard Black Cup and they were the only club to enter two sides in the EFA Trophy. They also continue to travel far and wide, playing fixtures this year at venues such as Marlborough, Stowe, Newbury, Aldenham, Cambridge and Summer Fields.
R/rydal Penrhos School
R/rydal Penrhos school in North Wales have been one of the success stories of Fives in the last few seasons. With M-i-C Mike Leach overseeing a succession of excellent gap year coaches in the Bhattacharya brothers, George Thomason and this year Chris Bird, and ensuring that the sport is thriving in the school, a remarkable feat given the distances involved to play fixtures. The standard is high as well, as shown this year by the school’s first ever n/national champions in the U13 competition at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships.
Team Westway
The growth of Fives at Westway has been one of the most exciting developments in the sport in recent years and this year has seen the flourishing of the Westway adult teams, as Freddie Rowe has masterminded Westway teams in all three divisions of the league. With a few matches still left to play, there is every chance that a Westway team will finish in the top three of every division this year.
Coach of the Year
Mike Hughes
Mike’s influence since taking over as Eton’s coach has been huge and his efforts have borne fruit in spectacular style this season, with his charges retaining the Williams Cup and then performing strongly in all age groups at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships, with first pair James Cobb and James Piggot winning the Open title.
Mike Leach
Fives at R/rydal has been on a dramatic upward curve since being revived five years ago. A succession of fine gap year coaches have all helped but the one constant has been Master-in-Charge Mike Leach, who has masterminded this rapid progress, which saw R/rydal win their first ever n/national title in the U13 tournament at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships this year.
David Mew
David is well known as a top player in his own right, but he is also a very experienced coach and his work this year at two schools in particular deserves special mention. Neither RGS High Wycombe nor St.Bartholomew’s, Newbury have any great Fives tradition, but thanks to refurbishedew courts respectively plus David’s coaching input, both have impressed this year. RGS brought over 30 pairs to the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships this year with strong performances all the way through, including an U15 quarter-final. St.Bartholomew’s also exceeded expectations, with their top girls pair winning the Ladies festival.
James Poole
James has had another successful year at Harrow, raising the profile of the game at the school and getting large numbers of boys on court. The standard of his pairs is also very high, with good performances through all of the age groups at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships. James leaves Harrow this year to take up a new career and will be a hard act to follow.
Tony Stubbs
Fives at Ipswich School has been on a high for the last few years, with Master-in-Charge Peter Boughton winning this award back in 2012. Behind such success is a lot of hard graft and no-one personifies this better than Peter’s right hand man Tony Stubbs. As well as being a fine coach and great motivator, Tony’s dedication to the cause saw him drive the five hour+ round trip from Ipswich to Eton and back on eight successive days for the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships, as well as bringing Ipswich players time and again to senior and school tournaments all over the country.
Special Contribution to Fives
Paul Bowden
Paul’s contributions to the sport are so wide and varied it is hard to list them all here – the large number of visits to Fives-playing schools, the key role played in assisting Mark Williams at the Marsh N/national Schools’ Championships, the help in setting up and running new clubs first at High Wycombe and now at Newbury and the vital work done in encouraging local schools to take up the game at Westway. Paul even made his playing debut for the EFA side at Bryanston this year at the age of 70 (and won!).
Nigel Cox
Nigel has been a huge part of the Fives scene for many years now and has made a massive and wide-ranging contribution in his capacity as co-secretary of the Lancing Old Boys, organiser and host of Fives weekends at his courts in Grillon, and court-building consultant. His nomination this year takes into account all of these things, but also his remarkable playing contribution as this year has seen him, at the age of 67, reach the semi-finals of the Midlands Tournament and play (and win) for Oxford University Peppers in the Varsity Match, over 40 years since his previous appearances in the fixture.
Bob Pace
Bob retires this year after a long and successful stint as Master-in-Charge at Belmont, Mill Hill’s junior school. Being a Fives M-i-C is often a thankless and unglamorous role, which requires a lot standing around at the back of Fives courts in all weathers, often with little help or support, and Bob has done a terrific job at Belmont, encouraging large numbers of players to play and most importantly enjoy playing the game.
James Tugwell
For many years, Oxford and Cambridge have had the only University Eton Fives clubs to speak of. UCL have had a Fives club, but it has traditionally been a Rugby Fives stronghold until this year, when James has taken over and performed wonders. UCL now has a thriving Eton Fives club, with weekly practices – the University have funded James to become a Level 2 coach – and lots of new players introduced to the sport. They have entered teams in the Universities and Mixed Universities tournaments this year and have begun to establish a fixture list in and around London, as well as continuing to be involved in Rugby Fives and Wallball projects.
George Worthington
George is quite simply a legend in the world of schools Fives. His first stint as Master-in-Charge of KES, Birmingham lasted for over 30 years and in that time he produced several pairs who won or reached finals at the Schools’ Championships. After retiring from teaching and from the M-i-C job a few years ago, he answered the call two years ago to return to run the Fives at the school and has continued to inspire KES youngsters to take up the game and continue the school’s strong Fives tradition.