London Skolars U13’s Head Coach Paul Quill capped off a memorable season by winning the prestigious Coach of the Year award at the Haringey Celebrating Sport Awards ceremony last night which took place at Tottenham Green Leisure Centre.
The evening was attended by various Councillors, Cabinet Members and the line-up was headed up by the Mayor of Haringey and 2 guest speakers in the shape of Tottenham Hostpur and Dutch goalkeeping star Micheal Vorm and GB Long Jumper, Daniel Bramble who is ranked 2nd in the UK behind Greg Rutherford and on course for Olympic Selection in 2016.
The Coach of the Year category was the mostly keenly contested award of the evening and Haringey Council received over 100 nominations, so for Paul to be shortlisted was a fantastic achievement in itself.
The award tops off an outstanding season for Quill as his U13’s troops in their first season of Junior Rugby League reached the play-offs and coupled this with a memorable Cup run which saw them lose agonisingly in the Semi-Final to eventual winners Ruitlish Raiders. Off the field Quill’s success saw him become one of the most popular coaches in the London Junior League, as he brought together players from all clubs for post-match photo shoots and inspirational talks.
Community Development Manager Matt Cuss who attended the awards alongside Paul and his family commented ‘I was extremely proud and grateful for Paul’s efforts throughout the 2015 season and his achievements were really down to his hard-work and dedication. Just to be nominated for this award was a superb accolade and shows that the hard-work that he along with our other fantastic volunteer junior coaches put in is being recognised across the borough. On the night Paul was up against some very strong nominees, so to hear his name being read out as the winner was a great end to the evening, and a wonderful end to what has been a fantastic season for him and the rest of our Junior teams.’
Cuss continued ‘planning has already started for the 2016 season, and hopefully awards and recognition like this will encourage more and more parents and people in the borough to give up their time and help develop the next generation of sporting stars in Haringey with us here at London Skolars.’
