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Article by Kanan Packrisamy
SCC Hockey Section’s jubilation on being awarded the prestigious SCC ‘Section of the Year’ award
The Hockey Section bagged major awards at the 9th Annual SCC Sports Awards on 15 April 2016 at the Padang Restaurant. The prestigious event saw all SCC sports represented by their ‘glitterati’ in their best wears. Glamour aside, the melting of these fine people who breathe life into the Club was a joyous occasion, one that celebrates the essence of this Grand Dame. The Hockey Section that has been quietly making inroads into the highest echelons of the local hockey scene finally rose to the occasion this time around. A very special 2015 was capped by the huge recognition bestowed on it by the judges. Nominating its most deserving members for Sports Boy and Sports Girl of the Year, Sports Feat of the Year, Sports Man and Sports Woman of the Year and Team of the Year, the Hockey Section were eager to find out where within the Club they stood. Securing both the Men’s and Ladies’ National League titles the section was excited to see if they will bag a couple of awards. As the evening rode on and the awards continued to be presented to other sections for their fantastic achievements and Hockey stood with none! Excitement was turning to anxiety. Then came the ‘Sports Woman of the Year’ award. As Richard Stapley-Oh (then Chairman of Games Control Board) read out the nominees, he announced Catherine Wheeler to be the recipient. The ever cool and composed Cath received the award in her elegant and humble disposition. Delighted as she was in 26
winning the award, she dedicated it to the entire team for it was tough to get a stand out player as the team worked ever so hard to win the title when it looked so unlikely at the halfway mark. That’s Cath for you, a true blue SCC hockey player. This started the most memorable night for SCC Hockey. Next up, Ken Forbes won the ‘Sports Man of the Year’. The playercoach of the First Team was instrumental in getting the 1st XI Men’s heads around into playing a simple but effective SCC brand of hockey. He was omnipresent in our matches and thoroughly deserved the award. The 1st XI Men had gone through the season undefeated claiming 28 from a possible 30 points. This achievement led to SCC Men’s first ever top flight title and now SCC ‘Team of the Year’ as well. The very proud men strode to the stage and celebrated this mammoth award. Captain Mark Hollingsworth who also won the English National League title with Canterbury expressed how special the journey has been and how the entire team felt this special feeling when the season started that this was their year, and SCC’s year too. The penultimate award of the night was the ‘Section of the Year’. Having won three major awards, the Hockey Section and its convenor waited eagerly to find out if this was going to be the year and it was indeed – SCC Hockey Section won! An especial award to cap and recognise an especial year in SCC’s sporting history! Rajaram thanked every single member of the section