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PRESENTATION NIGHT 2007 |
| Date: 17/05/07 |
The 22nd Annual Presentation Evening was held at Bourne Hall on Wednesday 16th May. Chairman Dave Goldsmith welcomed everyone to the evening, adding that this was an extra special evening as it coincided (within 5 days anyway) with the club’s 25th anniversary. He then gave the briefest of outlines as to how the club started before mentioning that Carole Goldsmith had been the most important member of the club during those years. He went on to say that we would not have achieved what we have without her. The audience showed its appreciation of Carole in the normal way.
With the bar being open all the time, Dave, whilst encouraging people to frequent it, reminded them that when doing so could they be as quiet as possible.
Dave then, before introducing the people on the stage, mentioned that because of a very successful recruitment campaign, targeting mainly mini soccer players, in the Spring of last year, the number of teams we fielded this season rose from 9 to 12. He then took time out to tell everyone that we were undertaking a similar initiative this year, aimed at U7/8 players and that coaches/trainers were required to carry this forward.
It was then mentioned that, despite having more teams, for the first time for as long as could be remembered the club had not won anything. Dave remarked that the U13’s and U16’s had done well to finish runners up in their respective Premier Divisions and that the senior Sunday team had reached a cup final, only to lose it 4-2, despite us scoring 5 of the goals. He then congratulated all three teams on their efforts.
Dave then explained that we were a bit thin on the ground on the stage, (only 3 people in all) mainly due to John Fuller, our President being away on holiday and thus being unable to be with us. John sent his apologies and hoped that the club’s ‘Silver Jubilee’ Presentation Night went well After introducing Carole Goldsmith, who was to ensure that the right people got the right awards at the right time, and Clive Searle, Dave went on to explain that the club had once again tried to get Steve Finnan from Liverpool to be the guest of honour, but the success of his team in defeating Chelsea for the third year running to reach a major cup final, this time the Champions League, meant that he was once again unable to accept the invitation.
Dave then gave a flowing introduction to our guest for the evening, Ann Trout, telling the audience of her past association with the club, stretching back 16 years to when her son Oliver and husband Chris joined. And the fact that she had been to more Presentation Nights than anyone in the audience made her the ideal guest for our 25th anniversary.
An outline of the evening events was then given, (with a plea that once a player/team had received their award(s) would they please remain as a matter of courtesy to the other teams, until the end of the evening and not ‘slip out early’) and the presentations then got underway.
These began with Merit Certificates being given to 8 members of the U7 squad who had trained every Saturday morning under the watchful eye of coach Chris Smith. Before getting Chris to present these certificates to the lads he coached, the chairman praised Chris’s qualities as a coach and the easy manner in which he went about his task that was well appreciated by the parents.
Ann then presented certificates to 45 members of the U8, U9 and U10 squads.
All the certificates given to players in the mini soccer age groups are to mark the progress they are making year by year as they progress up the football ladder.
Ann then made ‘Appearance’ presentations to 4 players who had reached a century of competitive matches for the club, and to 2 players, who had shown tremendous commitment to the club in reaching 200 appearances.
100 Appearance awards were made to:- Matthew Edgar, Sean Jeffrey and Thomas Letchford from the U15’s, and Dave Whitehead from the seniors. Adam Terrington also reached 100 appearances and his award was presented to him by his manager, Martin Williams later in the evening. 200 Appearance awards were made to Chris Ash and Chris Taylor, both from the senior section of the club.
There then followed the announcements of the individual team Players Player of the Year Awards. As far as the Youth section was concerned, except for the U11B’s which was done by the Chairman, these announcements, together with a suitable run down on the season performance, were given by the various team managers. As usual the manager of the senior sides was not so confident of public speaking and so his comments etc were also given by the Chairman. Some of the teams also gave ancillary awards, e.g. Managers Player of the Year, etc.
The Players Player of the Year awards went to the following:-
U8 George Fowler
U9 Omer Hemo
U10a Jack Taljaard
U10b Cameron Drummond
U11a Charlie Chapman
U11b Thomas Wales
U12 Oliver Neill
U13 Luke Rourke
U15 Sam Merritt
U16 Adam Kelly
Seniors
Sat Steve Walker
Sun Joe Kevin (second year running)
At the end of the Senior presentations, Steve Walker and Dave Whitehead made floral presentations to Carole in appreciation of the help she gives the two teams.
Dave then announced that as the President, John Fuller could not attend, he had been asked by John to make the presentation of the President’s Plate and to read the dedication on his behalf. After giving the recipient much deserved and fulsome praise for his contributions to the U16 team and the club as a whole over the past 5 years, the chairman took a great deal of pleasure in awarding the Plate to Clive Searle
Dave then came to the final presentation of the night, the one he considered the most prized, the Chris Trout Trophy. Dave then took much pleasure in welcoming to the stage, to join Ann, Sarah & Oliver Trout to make the presentation.
This award is made each year in memory of Ann’s husband Chris who died in 1994. Chris, who was manager of the U12 at the time of his death, and also the club’s junior section General Manager, held in high esteem the values of loyalty, commitment, club spirit and enjoyment as being essential for any player playing for AFC Ewell. Thus this annual award is made to the person who during the season most ably demonstrated those attributes.
This year’s recipient was, after consultation with Ann, was slightly different, in that it was to be a team, not an individual. After analysing the season and pointing out that similarities between Chris’s ideals and how the team performed, ran side by side, Dave announced that the very worthy winners of the Chris Trout Trophy were the U11B team.
A successful evening was concluded with Dave thanking Ann for ‘doing the honours’ in this our 25th anniversary and to Carole for once again successfully organising the whole event.
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TEAM CREST
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SPONSORED BY:
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