Navy officer honoured for lifetime contribution to sports

Lieutenant Commander Alan Walker received the Lifetime Achievement Award from His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent for his contribution to services in hockey and swimming through being a player, coach and sports administrator.

Lt Cdr Walker has been a major influence in hockey in particular over the past 35 years, and is widely respected as a coach to thousands of sportsmen and women who, under his guidance and care, fulfilled their full potential, with a number going on to represent their country.

Two years ago the Combined Services Sports Board decided that from time to time a Lifetime Achievement Award could be presented, and Lt Cdr Walker has become the first recipient.

Another four awards were presented at this year's Combined Services Sports Awards ceremony by the Duke of Kent to honour the cream of the military sporting crop, with individuals receiving gongs for Sportsman of the Year, Sportswoman of the Year, Official of the Year and Team of the Year.

The Army's Lance Corporal Martin Stead won the Sportsman of the Year Award for his success as a boxer during his eight years of service in the Army. Having won several competitions as a child, LCpl Stead went on to win the Junior Olympics when he was 16 and has recently returned from a tournament in Finland with a silver medal, where he was part of the Great Britain team.

Receiving this accolade is just the latest of his achievements, and LCpl Stead said that there is much more to come:

"We've got the Combined Services in two weeks' time", he said. "We've been training for that for weeks now, and we train three times a day for about an hour-and-a-half each time. Starting from next week we're having a ten-day build-up for the Combined and then we'll be training in the evening at 7 o'clock as well.

"I'm trying out for the Commonwealth Games and I'll find out about whether I get in in a couple of months. I've got my mind on the Commonwealth Games and, if I get there, I'm half-way on the road to the Olympics."

Of the support he has received from the Army, LCpl Stead said:

"The support has been great, I can't get enough, especially from my coach and my regiment, 13 Air Assault. I wouldn't be here doing all of this if it wasn't for them, so a big thanks to them."

Other nominees for Sportsman of the Year were Chief Petty Officer (Physical Training) Sean Childs (Royal Navy) for cycling and Squadron Leader Tim Ellis (RAF) for rowing.

The Sportswoman of the Year award went to the Army's Lance Corporal Jane Leonard for her role in rugby. LCpl Leonard has previously played for the London Wasps and is currently with Lichfield. She is also in the Women's Six Nations team who are at present in the middle of a tournament. She said:

"At the moment I'm in the England squad and we're doing the Six Nations which is exactly the same as the guys' one and we've got two more games left. So far we've beaten Wales, Italy and Ireland and we've got France and Scotland to come. Definitely not worried about the Scotland game as they're pegging for the wooden spoon! But France will be our real competition as we're first and second at the moment.

"We have the Combined Services fixtures coming up and then we're preparing for the World Cup which is in August and September."

On receiving the Combined Services Sports Award, LCpl Leonard said:

"I'm a bit overwhelmed! I'm still in shock. I genuinely thought that the RAF girl was going to win and when they said my name I couldn't believe that it was me. I'm still speechless.

"I remember before I joined the Army I read in a magazine about Sportswoman of the Year and I thought 'they must be so amazing to win that' and now it's me!"

Other nominees for Sportswoman of the Year were Leading Seaman Gemma Nash (Royal Navy) for swimming and Warrant Officer Beverley Childs (RAF) for the triathlon.

The winner of the Combined Services Team of the Year Award was the Royal Navy Swimming Team who have dominated inter-Services swimming for the past 15 years. Their recent competitions have continued their run of success, as team captain Warrant Officer Class 2 Nick Vaughan explained:

"We've done really well in the civilian suite as well as in all the Masters competitions from national to European, to the World Masters Games, to the World Masters Championships, which hopefully we'll be going to this year.

"And last year we did the Combined Services cross-Channel swim relay which was six guys and two girls with an hour in the water each. We got the fastest time out of all the civilians as well, not just the Services."

As the team award is chosen prior to the ceremony, there were no other nominees in this category.

Warrant Officer Class 2 Jon Purvey has been working for years to be awarded Sports Official of the Year and he was overjoyed to be presented with the accolade.

His dedication to badminton-officiating contributed to his winning the award. He has recently been granted European accreditation at the European Championships and he already has his sights set on the next achievement.

WO2 Purvey said:

"When I move onto the next grade, I'll be out of the Army by then, so this is my pinnacle really.

"There's lots of things coming up though; I've got the centenary of the All England Badminton Championships next week, which is the most prestigious one in the world.

"Then there's the Combined Services Championships in Portsmouth from the 21 March and hopefully the Army will put up a rare win against the RAF as they have won it every year, except for one. But of course, I officiate and I'm impartial and fair, and apply the rules fairly."

Other nominees for Official of the Year were Petty Officer (Diver) Sid Lawrence (Royal Navy) for ice sports and Corporal Michael Masters (RAF) for the triathlon.