Intra-Club Awards 2020
Every year we look back and celebrate everything that the club and our members have achieved, and recognise the most outstanding members as our small way of saying thanks.
Heart and Soul Award – Alfie Hayes
Heart and Soul is a pretty special award that we award to the member that has shown the most devotion and passion to all aspects of the club, being not just a keen kickboxer, but also a cornerstone of the community. Anyone who receives the award should feel incredibly proud of themselves and the contributions they consistently make to our club.
We cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award than Alfie. From leading our weekly committee meetings, organising and helping run sessions, keeping in touch with our coaches, and being at the heart of every social, Alfie has been the lifeblood of the club all year and has left some incredibly big boots to fill. His consistent hard work, drive, and dedication to the club is beyond admirable and impressive.
Whilst a lot of what Alfie does for the club goes on behind the scenes, and there can be some pretty thankless jobs he happily volunteers for, hopefully, this award goes at least a little towards giving him the recognition and thanks that he absolutely deserves.
Fresher of the Year – Phil Lori
As one of the members that progressed the most throughout the year, Phil has proved to us that he was way more than just a hardworking and meticulous kickboxer. His kindness, his attention to others and his smile has charmed everyone. Always helping, never complaining, and eager to do more (even with a broken finger). Phil impressed coaches and committee with his dedication from the very beginning and his determination to improve and help out.
Phil has proven to us that the joyful spirit of a fresher could exist at all times, even if you have the busy timetable of a master student.
Most Improved – Tom Pastour
This award is meant to reward members who have surpassed themselves in every aspect of their kickboxing skills, both mentally and physically.
Coming to kickboxing with a boxing background created an extra challenge for Tom, who needed to find the correct balance between the skills he already possessed, and the ones he had to learn. From the first day, Tom showed us his skill. This is one of the reasons he landed a place on the team. But most importantly, he has demonstrated his ability to learn from his mistakes, blocking kicks with his jaw one after the other. Never backing down, always finding something to improve, and never complaining when faced with adversity. His resilience, both physically and mentally, has made him one of the most fearsome fighters we have among our ranks, but he also impressed us all with his cool-head attitude and kindness.
Tom started the year as a good boxer beginning in kickboxing. By the end of the year, it is safe to say that he has become an inspiring kickboxer who we should all look up to.
Outstanding Graduating Member – Tim Oluwole
Outstanding Graduating Member is a relatively new award designed to celebrate the people leaving the club who contributed the most to the club.
Tom has given competitions, socials, training, Fight Nights and the club his all since his first year in the club. He's going to leave a huge gap, being a dedicated and valuable member of the team who immediately got involved with every competition he could.
Female Fighter of the Year – Roberta Scerri
This incredible woman showed great potential from the start with her flexibility and ease to pick up technique, landing her a spot on the Team in November. Her natural talent is not what has won her this award though. Instead, it is the hard work we have seen her put in consistently throughout the academic year; attending sessions regularly, training hard at them, taking her coaches’ advice and applying it to improve herself, and cleverly using her background as a dancer to intimidate us all with her powerful kicks. She has also taken on a lot of different styles of kickboxing by attending Sanda and full contact sessions, which lead to her impressive debut in a full-contact style fight in Exeter, making her the club’s first female full-contact fighter (to our knowledge)!
Thank you, Roberta, for being such an inspirational role model to so many of our members, and for opening up a door for our female fighters. We are sure many who have looked up to you will follow in your footsteps.
Male fighter of the Year - Callum Collins
Callum threw himself into kickboxing this year, never turning down an opportunity to fight and performing sensationally on each occasion. He has been dedicated in training and is always willing to learn.
Callum has had an extremely successful year, going from zero fights to a record of 3-0, including two first-round stoppages, all within four months. He has shown a natural ability and athleticism in all his fights which have made them all very one-sided. Callum has shown a calm determined mentality perfect for handling the pressures of performing in the ring. He showed 100% effort in every training session and as he gained experience began to help train others and prepare them for competition.
Honourable mention to Charlie Carter and his incredible performances. Most other years his two wins in full contact and outstanding performance at Fight Night would have earned him this award and he made this a very difficult decision for the committee.
Congratulations to all our award winners!