RN Sports Report 6 May
SPORTS REPORT
6 MAY 2009
(Sponsor: Cdr Mike Barge SO1 Navy Sport – 9380 23995)
Combined Services Sports Awards
· The 2008 Combined Services Sports Awards were presented by Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex at a ceremony in London in March. The Navy’s nominees were:
o Sportsman - Lt Peter Reed (Rowing)
o Sportswoman - Lt Lucy O’Connor (formerly Lucy Abel) (Boxing)
o Sports Official - Lt Cdr Micky Norford (Boxing)
o Sports team - RN Hockey.
· On the strength of his Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics and his 2 World Championship titles, Peter Reed became the first Serviceman to win the CS Sportsman of the Year title for the second time.
· Micky Norford was also successful in taking top spot as a result of a long and illustrious career in administering and officiating in Navy boxing, and for his refereeing on the world stage.
· Lucy O’Connor, fifth in the World Boxing Championships, and the Navy Hockey team, 4 times winners of the Inter Service championship in the last 5 years, were both runners-up in their categories.
· The Combined Services Team award went to the Combined Services Rugby League team for their outstanding victory in the inaugural Armed Forces World Cup hosted in Australia. This was in no small part down to a strong Navy contingent in the squad under Head Coach WOPT Wayne Okell.
· A special award was made to the Makalu Expedition which saw Lt Lara Herbert, a Navy doctor, become the second British woman to climb this treacherous Himalayan peak.
Navy Sports Awards
· The Navy Sports Awards were held onboard HMS VICTORY in April and the awards went to the Navy’s nominees for the Combined Services awards. Those receiving awards in the various categories were:
· Sportsman: Lt Peter Reed. Runners-up: Major Andy Plewes (Cycling), LCpl Chis Bumby (Swimming), Mne Vince Brunning (Indoor and Outdoor Rowing)
· Sportswoman: Lt Lucy O’Connor. Runners-up: AB Gemma Howells (Swimming), Lt Cdr Penny Clark (Sailing).
· Sports Official: Lt Cdr Micky Norford. Runners-up: Lt Jonathan Parker (Archery), WO Andy Hunstone (Cycling), Lt Cdr Debbie Vout (Women’s Golf), PO Owen Salmon (U/23 Rugby Union), Lt Cdr Stuart Meikle (Volleyball), LPT Richie Collins (Swimming).
· Sports Team: Hockey. Runners-up: Swimming, Rugby Union U/23 and the Women’s Rugby League team.
· A newly introduced award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, was presented to Cdr Rob Knill and to Lt Cdr Les Maddock. Rob has been involved in running Navy Basketball for more than 30 years and remains highly active, from running grass roots coaching to being Chairman of the Association. His contribution to Naval Sport has been inspirational. Les Maddock has been involved with Navy and Combined Services Tennis for 32 years. Since qualifying as an umpire in 1976, he has worked his way up to being Chief Umpire of Combined Services Tennis, and since1987 he has been the Chief Umpire for the prestigious Wimbledon and Stella Artois Championships and was voted the Lawn Tennis Official of the Year in 2007. Throughout this period he continued to be the mainstay in the administration of Navy Tennis.
Rugby League
· The RN Rugby League team are the reigning Inter Service champions, but not prepared to rest on their laurels they have recently entered and won the Cheltenham Rugby League Festival All Golds competition.
· Besides being crowned Championship winners (and beating the Army in the semi-finals) the day’s efforts earned the RN an automatic invitation to the prestigious Headingly Carnegie 9’s in August when the Brothers will face some of the top teams in the sport at the home of the Rhino’s in Leeds.
For more information on Navy Rugby League, please contact your local PT staff or the Association Secretary (WO Cooper) at:
dnr-edinburgh ca3b@rncareers.mod.uk
Rugby Union
· Following the established pattern, the RNRU now has 4 key fixtures which it targets: the two Inter Service matches, and the games against the French Navy and The Irish Defence Force.
· First up this season, the Navy went to Dublin to take-on the Irish. As usual the game was hard fought, but the Navy ran out winners with the score at 15-8. This latest victory gave the RN a 5-3 lead in the series.
· This year it was the turn of the French to come to England and it was clear from the start that they were determined to seek revenge for defeat in Paris last year. Following a 4 day training camp at Burnaby Road, the Frenchmen were suitably fired up by the day of the match. In a match which saw the teams taking the lead in turn, it was the Navy with only 12 men left on the park that hung on to the narrowest of victories at 31-27. The win gave the RN a 4-1 lead in the series, but you can imagine how tough next year’s match in Paris is going to be.
· We have come to expect a win against the RAF, but this year the RAF had come to compete, and on their home turf at the Newbury Rugby Club, they tested the Navy squad and provided a much stronger defence than recently. The Navy was always ahead, but the RAF was within one try until the last quarter when the Navy turned up the pressure to win 34-20. The Navy’s Ancient Mariners (Vets team) rounded off a very successful day with a 41-13 win against the RAF Vultures to set up the prospect of an enthralling match against the Army at Twickenham. The Navy women’s team played with spirit but were beaten by the RAF.
· The final matches of the season took place at Twickenham, and in front of a 55000 crowd the Navy Senior team was unable to get on terms with the Army and crashed to a 50-7 defeat. The Vets and Ladies also suffered defeats.
· For more information on Navy Rugby Union, please contact your local PT staff or CPOPT Miller at: Temeraire S2A Miller, G, CPO
Football
· The RN Football Association has had mixed fortunes this season, but has continued to expand the game by providing more football for the U23s and U19s. By targeting younger players, the Association is putting in place an effective feeder system to the Senior squad which now includes a number of new faces. A number of these new players showed their paces in the Inter Services where the Navy took an excellent 2-1 win against the Army at Fratton Park and were very unlucky to lose 1-0 to the RAF who stole a goal against the run of play.
· Statistics for the Senior Squad for the 08-09 season are: won 3, drawn 3, lost 3.
· It was not the best of seasons for the Women’s team, but even so they managed a draw against the Army in the Inter Services. Season’s statistics are: won 3, drawn 1, lost 6.
· The U23 team enjoyed some reasonable statistics with 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, but they were unfortunate in that 2 of their losses were in Inter Service games which were closely contested and were lost by a single goal.
· The U19s had an excellent run in their 29th appearance in the Dallas International Cup competition held in Texas. In the group stages they notched up 2 wins and a draw which took them into the Quarter Finals. Unfortunately they were beaten 3-1 by Dallas Texans who went on to win the competition.
· The Veterans had a solid season with 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses.
· For more information on Navy Football, please contact your local PT staff or CPOPT Paul Willets at: Temeraire S3A Willetts P, CPOPT
Athletics
· Half-Marathon. The Inter Service Half-Marathon Championship was held in conjunction with the prestigious Fleet Half-Marathon. Having won the event last year, the team did even better this year by filling four of the first five places.
· The RN first team (Cpls Croasdale, Dashper, and Cole and CSgt Watson) not only beat the other Services, but also placed first in the open competition. To round off a great day for the Navy’s runners, the RN second team of Sgt Goodridge, Surg Lt Irving, LAET Gosling and Mne Montague took second place in the open competition.
· Cross Country. While the Navy did not have it all their own way at the Inter Service Cross Country championships held at Blandford, they still managed to collect some of the silverware. Lt Linda Lawrence from RNAS Culdrose caused an upset when she broke the Army Ladies’ long standing monopoly of podium finishes by winning the bronze medal in a sprint finish. Linda is the first RN woman in living memory to win a medal and break the Army’s domination.
· Cpl Mark Croasdale once again lead the highly successful RN veterans team to yet another championship victory.
· Marathon. The Inter Service competition is held in conjunction with the London Marathon and the Navy usually expects to take the title. Unfortunately two of the Navy’s top marathon runners – Cpl Cole and Sgt Goodridge - were out of this year’s race through illness and injury and the remaining team members of Cpls Croasdale (86th), Dashper (107th) and Justin Montague (244th) could not quite match the RAF, but were still too strong for the Army.
· For more information on endurance running, please contact Lt Cdr Bob Dunkley at: Temeraire RNSO5 Dunkley R, Lt Cdr
· Indoor Athletics. LS (MW) Andy Dawkins (HMS SHOREHAM) continued his good winter form on the Indoor circuit as he finished runner up in the 2009 Scottish Championships with a Shot Putt throw of 15.78. This throw was only 20cm less than his outdoor personal best set in 2008, thus proving that competitive athletic performance can still be maintained when assigned to sea. Mne Mike Wilsmore was also impressive when competing indoors at 800 metres. His time of 1.55 is the fastest by a Navy athlete in recent years.
· For more information on indoor and outdoor athletics, please contact Paul Winton at: MCTADMVAO P Winton
Hockey
· With 4 wins out of 5 in the outdoor Inter Service competition and being reigning indoor champions, Navy Hockey had high hopes of continuing their successful run at this year’s IS championship, especially as it is their Centenary Year. However it was not to be and they went down to both the Army and RAF in close fought matches.
· Better results were obtained at the Inter Services Cup Winners Cup competition held at Portsmouth on 6 May. The ladies RN Portsmouth team beat the Army in their final and HMS NEPTUNE did the Navy proud by drawing against the Army and winning their final match 5-2 against the Joint Force Harrier (the RAF’s representative team) to win the men’s competition.
· Navy teams will be in action again at the Inter Command Championships at Burnaby Road on 4/5 June and on 4 July against an England A team.
· For more information on Navy Hockey, please contact your local PT staff or Lt Cdr Alan Walker at: Temeraire RNSO1 Walker A, Lt Cdr
Winter Sports
· Skiing/Snowboarding. The 2009 Navy Championships was held at Les Menuires and attended by over 1000 personnel. The aim of the event is to teach novices to ski and snowboard and to provide race training and competition for the better skiers and boarders. The event is followed by the Inter Service championships at Meribel which is in the adjoining valley. For a number of years the Navy has failed to win either the skiing or the snowboard events and this year was no exception,. However, there are new faces in the team and future success depends on bringing these people back to the slopes in 2010 so that they can develop their skills.
· Ice Sports. Bobsleigh, Bob Skeleton, Luge and Cresta are all grouped under the Ice Sports discipline and the Navy has established a strong record in these sports over the last 5 years.
· The RN Bobsleigh team has a significant presence in the GB Bobsleigh team and 3 out of 4 of the four man Bobsleigh team at the last Winter Olympics were RN. Not surprising then that the RN crews provided the individual winners at the GB and Inter Service championships in 2009 as well as taking the IS team title. Looking ahead, there are 3 or 4 Royal Marines all with a chance of competing for GB at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
· The Cresta Run is located at the exclusive resort of St Moritz and each year the Services are invited to hold their Championship on this most demanding track which sees competitors charging head-first down a twisting ice track on small sledges. Not for the faint-hearted, the Navy has done well in this sport and were IS champions in 2008. This year they came 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th, but were unfortunate that Major Jamie Summers (Team Captain) wiped out on his final run and this meant that they were just pipped by the RAF, but still managed to beat the Army.
· The 2009 Bob Skeleton IS championship was held at the 2006 Olympics track at Sestriere in Italy. Bob Skeleton is similar to Cresta in that involves charging down a track at speeds of up to 60mph with your chin literally 3 inches above the ice. The Navy took second in both the men’s and women’s event behind the RAF and AB Iliana Veneti took silver in the individual.
· The sport of Luge is also undertaken on a tea tray, but this time you go down the ice track feet first. The Navy has not had strong representation in this sport for a number of years and so it was encouraging that the Navy managed to take four competitors to the IS competition in Bavaria who had already had previous experience. Although the 2009 RN championships had been won by Sgt Damian Leaver, it was left to NA Annie Edwards to surprise her male colleagues by winning the Inter Service title outright. Although the smallest team, the RN managed to take 2nd place in the championship.
· For more information on Winter Sports, please contact your local PT staff or Cdr Gary Skinns at: Temeraire RNSO6 Skinns G, Cdr
Netball
· After beating the RAF and drawing with the Army in 2008, the RN Netball team was hoping that they would take the title on home soil when they hosted this year’s competition in NELSON.
· The Navy 1st team opened proceedings with a confident performance against the RAF beating them 38-34. As the Army had only beaten the RAF by a single goal, there was a belief that the Army could be beaten. Sadly, the physicality of the Army proved too much for the Navy girls who were forced to concede defeat.
· In the second team competition, the situation was similar with a win against the RAF but defeat at the hands of the Army.
· The Navy team coach, Lt Cdr Arty Shaw summed up the situation well when he said that “the RN teams have come so far in the last four years so that we are no longer the ‘whipping boys’ but are now credible contenders.
· For more information on RN Netball, please contact your local PT staff or Lyt Sasha Miller at: sasha.miller573@mod.uk
Boxing
· The RN Cup was held in COLLINGWOOD in February and the event was won by HMS NELSON with HMS CHATHAM taking the Fleet Championship.
· Individual Novice results were:
Winner Runner Up
Featherweight
AB N Crabtree (HMS NELSON) AB A Stocker (Individual)
Lightweight
AB J Barton (HMS NELSON) WO
Light Welterweight
AB E Morrison HMS Chatham MNE A Prait (40 Cdo)
Welterweight
Mne R Brooker (40 Cdo) MNE K Carroll (Individual)
Middleweight
AB J Kirby (HMS NELSON) MNE M Fenwick (40 Cdo)
Light Heavyweight
POPT B Sloan (HMS NELSON) MNE D Withall ( 40 Cdo)
Cruiserweight
AB A Brabin (HMS NELSON) LET N Keay (HMS SULTAN)
Heavyweight
AB N Flynn (HMS COLLINGWOOD) WO
· In the Combined Services Boxing Championships held at NELSON in March, the Navy suffered its usual problems of non-availability of boxers and an inability to field boxers at the all the weights (particularly the lighter weights). This meant that on the night there were 6 Army Walk Overs where they took the points without a blow being struck. In the 6 contested bouts, the Navy showed what they might do, if they could muster a full team, by beating the Army 4-2. The RAF only managed to field one finalist who was defeated. This left the Army as IS Champions with a final score of 8 bouts to the Navy’s 4.
Archery
· The Navy Archery Association cleaned up at the Inter-Services indoor championships held at the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall alongside the National Indoor Championships in February. The Navy team emphasised their dominance by winning all 3 team events.
· The RN team for the Compound Unlimited was LLogs CS(D) Andrew ‘Knocker’ White (HMS CHATHAM), CPOETME Darren Bennion (SFM Devonport) and SLt Nick Hepworth (HMS Collingwood).
· The main event of the Inter-Services, the Senior Recurve competition, was won by Lt Jonathan Parker (HMS Raleigh), CPO Barry Green (HMS Collingwood), CPO Andy Robertson (HMS CHATHAM) and Mne Seb York (FPGRM).
· The Association archers competition is open to retired, reserves or dependants with links to their parent service. The RN’s team of Cdr Ian Harrop, Rob Smith, Chris MacFadyen and Simon Woolston all shot competitively to win the final team event comfortably from the RAF.
· The RN Archery Association exists to support all archers, from those interested in the sport right up to the highest competitive standards. It runs a Naval indoor and outdoor competition every year at HMS COLLINGWOOD, competes in the Inter-Services every year, has regular shoots against St Dunstans and is looking to expand the service availability of the sport. For more details, please contact Lt Jonathan Parker at: jdp298@zepler.net
Table Tennis
· The Navy Individual Table Tennis competition was held in COLLINGWOOD in April. Some of the Association stalwarts were missing as a result of deployments, but some talented newcomers ensured a good standard of competition.
· Results were:
o U21 Cup. Winner: AB Macbeth (YORK). Runner-up: Musn Lambert (RMSOM).
o Veterans Cup. Winner: PO Whitehouse (HERON). Runner-up: Lt Cdr Weaver (Abbeywood).
o Handicap Cup: Winner: Logs Quamina (CULDROSE). Runner-up: CPO Hazell (SULTAN).
o Plate Cup. Winner:PO Whitehouse. Runner-up: Lt Cdr Weaver
o Ladies Single Cup: AB Macbeth. Runner-up: SLt Simmons (BRNC Dartmouth).
o Men’s Single Cup. Winner: Logs Quamina. Runner-up: CPO Hazell (SULTAN).
o Doubles Cup: Winners: CPO Bissett and PO Whitehouse. Runners-up: Logs Quamina and SLt Simmons.
· Following the RN championships, the Navy team was selected for the Inter Service event which was hosted by the RN in NELSON in late April. With some of their top players missing through injury and deployment, the Navy men had to settle for third place, but the new RN ladies team won the Inter Service title with a commanding performance. This was even more special as this was the first IS title in the last 10 years for RN Table Tennis.
· For more details of RN table Tennis, please contact Lt Cdr Weaver at:
DES SM P-TM-TrngM
Tennis
· Having won the Inter Service B Tennis championships in 2008 and having benefited from a training camp in sunny Cyprus, the RN had high hopes of retaining the trophy this year. However they had not bargained on a very strong Army team and had to settle for the runner-up spot.
· Please note the following dates for your diary:
o Inter Command Championship on 11-12 June at Portsmouth;
o RN Championships on 23-26 July at Portsmouth;
o A team IS Championships on 3-4 August at Wimbledon.
· For more information on tennis, please consult your local PT staff or Cdr Alan Church at rnso2@fleetfost.mod.uk
Ice Hockey
· Although the RN Ice Hockey team (The RN Destroyers) is one of the new kids on the block it has been quick to prove that it is competitive and has been crowned Inter Service champions for the last 2 years. This lead to them progressing to international competition when their entry was accepted for the 2009 European Services Championships, a competition involving Armed Forces and police forces from across Europe.
· While finishing in 14th place, the Destroyers proved that they could be competitive in taking on some of the best Service teams in Europe and had the added bonus of being the top UK team ahead of both the Army and RAF.
· For more information on RN Ice Hockey, please contact SLt Adam Lappin at southernrep@rndestroyers.co.uk
Judo
· On a recent sports tour to the Channel Islands, the RN Judo Team was victorious and gained first place in the team competition fighting against 2 Jersey and 2 Guernsey teams.
· On completion the RN Team then took on a Channel Island select team (who are training hard for the forthcoming World Island Games) and again came out on top.
· Particularly pleasing was some outstanding performances from some of our less experienced players. Special mention should be made for the efforts of AB Alex Stocker (NOTTINGHAM), Lt Cdr John Baxter (NORTHWOOD) and AB Andy Ireson (SULTAN).
· For more details on RN Judo, please contact Peter Powell at: MWS-TS-VQ6
Fencing
· The Royal Navy Knockout Competition (RNKO) was held at HMS President. There were 20 teams represented, which is the largest entry. Also this year, most teams were full teams and over 50 fencers competed for the weekend. It was particularly pleasing to see so many new fencers with strong cohorts from BRNC, Culdrose, President and Sultan.
· The 3 person team event result was:
1. Culdrose
2. BRNC
3= Abbey Wood RN
3= RMR London
5 HMS President A
6 HMS Sultan
· Individual weapon winners were:
Foil: Cadet Ozanne Elizabeth College CCF
Epee: Lt Coffey RN HMS/M Sceptre
Sabre: Lt Anderson RN RNAS Culdrose
· Best newcomer was Capt Gareth Knowles RM from RMR London with 2nd place in foil.
· For more details on RN Fencing, please contact Lt Keith Bowers at:
FLEET OPS-UKSCSYS
or Lt Cdr Mark Barton at: mark.barton@virgin.net
Kayak
· In January the RN Kayak Association hosted the Inter Services Canoe Polo at TEMERAIRE. 75 paddlers, support staff and spectators came together to enjoy a busy weekend of tense and closely fought competition. As reigning champions, hopes were high that the Navy team would retain the title, but the final goal of the final match left the Army men’s team as winners with the Navy as runners-up. The RN ladies won there IS competition.
· At the prize-giving the Al Ramsey Cup was presented to AET Steve Riley (CULDROSE) by Combined Services Kayak for making the most significant contribution to Service kayaking. He is one of the Navy’s youngest but most talented paddlers and is very active in Marathon, Sprint and Canoe Polo.
· For more information on kayaking in the Navy, please contact Lt Cdr Joe Wood at: temso2@fleetfost.mod.uk
Squash
· The Inter Service Squash Championship was held at the Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre in March and the Navy took 3rd place in all categories.
· However, the Navy has an impressive newcomer in the U25 age group. Playing at number one seed for the RN, AET Stephen Wallace (CULDROSE) had convincing wins in both of his matches. He joined the Navy after winning the Scottish U19 title and, if he can keep in training, is a great prospect.
· For more information on Navy Squash, please contact Lt Cdr David Cooke at:
Temeraire RNSO4 Cooke D, Lt Cdr
Sports Website– Details of sports, fixtures, results and contacts can be found on the Defence Intranet at: http://defenceintranet.diiweb.r.mil.uk/DefenceIntranet/Teams/BrowseTeamCategories/SportsandSocial/RoyalNavySports.htm
Please keep sending details of your fixtures and results to me at adnpts@fleetfost.mod.ukor Temeraire SO1NSR Barge, M CDR
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