Brian & Colin get SportNI SportMaker nominations
Well deserved recognition for Brian and Colin!
Congratulations to our Ladies Coach & Club Chairperson Brian Lockhart and to our Youth Coach Colin Henning on their recent nominations in the 2022 SportNI SportsMaker Awards.
In acknowledging their nominations, the Sport NI People Development Team Manager Alan Curran said "Coaches, officials, and the wider volunteering family have continued to play an instrumental role in supporting and keeping our communities and athletes active over the past twelve months. Inspiring individuals like Brian and Colin are using the power of sport to change lives, making a real impact and we greatly appreciate the dedication that this requires."
Although not the winners this time around, their contributions to the club and local community have been immense and are really appreciated by everyone connected to the club.
Club Performance Coach of the Year Nomination - Brian Lockhart
Brian was nominated in the Club Performance Coach of the year category. This award recognises the achievements of a coach working to develop emerging and talented performers from within club sport.
As the coach of our senior ladies’ teams, Brian has been instrumental in developing the ladies’ section over the last three years from a starting point where we didn’t have one ladies team, to the current position where we're now aiming to field two teams in Ulster Hockey leagues. Through Brian’s efforts, the ladies playing membership has increased from twelve in 2019 to over thirty in 2022, despite the major interruptions from Covid lockdowns.
Brian’s aim was to find and encourage new and former players to come to the club coaching sessions on Wednesday evenings. He used his playing experience to take the players on a journey, with the emphasis on having fun, developing their skills and making new friends.
Brian completed the Hockey Ireland Fundamentals of Coaching Hockey course in January 2020 and targeted secondary schools in the local area, offering his services to help develop hockey within the school sporting curriculum.
During the first lockdown in 2021, Brian also helped to maintain hockey interest by creating two youth development coaching videos on the club social media, for players to practice skills at home.
Through Brian’s efforts, the club was not only able to enter a Ladies 1st XI in Senior 3 in 2021-22, but for the first time in the history of Newry Olympic, the club was able to field a girls U18 team which was entered into the Ulster Hockey U18 League.
Brian has continued to build close sporting relationships with the senior PE teachers in local schools, including Newry High, Rathfriland High, New-Bridge Integrated College and Dundalk Grammar. He has helped to organise and facilitate regular midweek afternoon coaching sessions at the schools and at the club pitch on Friday afternoons. Several of these players now attend Senior Ladies training at the club on Wednesday evenings.
Brian has significantly expanded the hockey playing catchment area for Newry Olympic. It is fantastic to new younger members of the club from Rathfriland, Dundalk, Markethill and Newtownhamilton, as well as the local Newry area, have now become firm friends and have been formed into a working team unit.
Brian has also supported Ulster Hockey in its' own development initiatives, most notably as a coach in a recent joint hockey and camogie initiative in New-Bridge Integrated College.
Although Senior League 3 has been a challenge for the ladies’ team in their first full season, there has been a tangible improvement with each game. There is a great spirit and a positive attitude within the whole squad and there were significant celebrations when the team achieved their first win in the last match of the season against Parkview Ladies in March 2022.
Despite the league season finishing early, Brian continued to develop the squad by organising friendlies, including playing development games with Boyne Hockey Club in Drogheda.
With the Under 18 players breaking through to the senior team, there is a now a great mix of youth and experience that bodes well for the future.
Children's Coach of the Year Nomination - Colin Henning
Colin was nominated in the Children's Coach of the year section and came on the back of his success in being recognised as the Ulster Hockey Children's Coach of 2022. This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a children’s coach to the development of young people’s skills, understanding, enjoyment, and lifestyle through sport.
As the Youth Coach and Youth Liaison Officer within Newry Olympic, Colin has been instrumental in developing youth hockey within the club over the last two years and in the 2021-22 season in particular. This has again been a significant challenge given the restrictions placed on the sport from Covid lockdowns and protocols
A lifetime club member, Colin has played senior hockey for Newry Olympic for all of his playing career. He completed the Fundamentals Coaching certificate with Ulster Hockey in November 2014 and although having always been involved in club youth hockey, it was in August 2020 that Colin volunteered to take on the lead coaching role.
Colin organises the youth coaching section on Saturday mornings at the club grounds. He works tirelessly with all the young players to develop their interest in the game and instil the basic hockey skills and techniques. He has also gained the support from parents and other club senior players to assist in the coaching sessions.
Colin has been instrumental in doubling our youth membership from 60 at the start of the year, to the current level of over 120 young players aged from 5 to 15 years regularly attending youth coaching sessions. Although hockey is not a mainstream sport, our youth players represent 29 different schools from within the wider Newry area.
Through Colin’s efforts, there have been several notable firsts for the club’s youth hockey section in the 2021-22 season.
For the first time in our history, the club has been able to field a Girls Under-15 team. The team was also entered in the Ulster Hockey Development League and remained unbeaten in matches against Dromore and Armagh. Friendlies were played against Ballynahinch HC as well as other games with Armagh and Dromore.
The club was also able to enter boys’ and girls’ teams in Ulster Hockey Blitzes for the first time. Under-11 and Under-13 teams from both the boys and girls’ sections played in blitzes at Lisnagarvey and Banbridge. All the youth teams from the club were turned out professionally with new kit provided for the matches. The matches and the whole event were really enjoyed by everyone taking part and by the teams' supporters. The highlight from the blitzes was the Under-13 girls’ team which had great success by remaining unbeaten against more experienced opposition.
Colin has also organised blitzes with Kilkeel and home and away blitzes with Boyne Hockey Club held in Newry and in Drogheda.
Colin always ensures that having fun is at the forefront of the coaching approach he has adopted for the young players. He guarantees entertaining events for players and for parents at Christmas and at the end of the season, with games, barbeques and bouncy castles being the order for the day!
It's largely through Colin's personal efforts and commitment that hockey has a very bright future at Newry Olympic.
SportNI SportMaker Awards Celebration Evening
The SportMaker 2022 awards were presented at a gala awards celebration evening in the Titanic Belfast on 15 March 2023.
Special congratulations go to our own former playing member Errol Lutton, who was awarded the 'Club Performance Coach of the Year' for his efforts throughout 2022.
See all the winners in the SportNI SportMaker categories below.....
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