NEWS FEED
Dorset County Football Association Volunteer Awards 2017
The annual volunteers presentation evening held in February at Bulbury Woods Golf Club was the opportunity for Dorset County Football Association to thank and recognise the hours of commitment, motivation and dedication that the army of helpers give.
Without the army of volunteers up and down the county, grass roots football wouldn’t exist. There are volunteers behind the scenes at every football club, event or activity from the coaches to tea makers, chairman to treasurers, pitch markers, to raffle ticket sellers; these are the people that make football in Dorset happen, be it a big or small contribution, they all count.
The Dorset County Football Association Volunteer Awards 2017 were announced in February at Bulbury Woods Golf Club, giving the DCFA the opportunity to thank and recognise the hours of commitment, motivation and dedication of the volunteers.
The award winners were:
Outstanding Contribution to Dorset Football – Ken Fergus
Outstanding Contribution to Dorset Football – Peter Gallop
Outstanding Contribution to Womens Football in Dorset – Georgia Rogers
Outstanding Dorset Club – Wessex Warriors Powerchair FC
Outstanding Contribution as a Young Volunteer – Lucy Cuff
Outstanding Contribution to Dorset Football – Bob Brittain
Outstanding Contribution to Inclusive Football – Rob Amey
Outstanding Inclusive Football Project – Longfleet Youth FC DSActive project
Outstanding Contribution to Dorset Football – Ken Fergus
Ken Fergus from Wimborne Town FC was presented with an award for Outstanding Contribution to Dorset Football by DCFA chairman Geoff Pike.
For over 25 years Ken has made an outstanding contribution to football in Dorset. His contribution to Wimborne Town FC has been outstanding and varied: he became the finance director at the club and also submerged himself in the day-to-day running and there are not many tasks he hasn’t undertaken. Ken is known as the man who will help anywhere – even when he lived in another continent over 6,000 miles away, he compiled the match day programme and kept all the events at Cuthbury up-to-date.
Ken has been very proactive with the establishment of the ability counts team and after setting up in 2013 the club had enough players to enter a league team in 2015. He was behind the scenes and helped enormously by picking players up and taking them home from training and matches. He is described by Paul Wilshaw an ability counts team player as “a man to look up to, it’s the little things that make the difference and no one from the team wants to see Ken move away.”
Ken is an all-round clubman, from his fabled after-match reports summarising succinctly the games action, with analysis and a store of adjectives to tell the story, to the responsibility of the finance. With his commercial knowledge, he was instrumental in leading the club through a difficult period, the finance role in a football club is a very significant position, juggling the budget, communicating and implementing company strategy whilst adhering to statutory requirements.
Outstanding Dorset Club – Wessex Warriors Powerchair Football Club
Wessex Warriors is the only Powerchair football club in Dorset providing the opportunity for people with a severe disability to play football. Having started with seven players, the club now has two teams and due to a high demand they are looking to establish a third team next season. Wessex Warriors PFC is one of only three Powerchair clubs in the whole of the country to hold the FA Charter Standard Award and the players range in age from 9–40 years.
The club has ambitions to compete in the National Championship and ultimately the Premiership Powerchair League. The club is growing all the time running outreach sessions in local schools and they have developed links with Help for Heroes, running regular sessions for rehabilitating servicemen and women.
Outstanding Inclusive Football Project – Longfleet Youth FC DSActive project
Football sessions for children with Down’s Syndrome were commenced at Longfleet Youth FC in October 2015 in conjunction with the DCFA and the DS Active programme. The coaches from Longfleet teach the children football skills and include them in all Longfleet Youth events. All the children have their own club kit.
With so many children supported by volunteer coaches, three groups have been formed: Lions, Tigers and Cubs and coaching from the bank of volunteers, who give their time and commitment, has almost become 1:1.
Sue Hough Chief Executive of the DCFA said, “This project is football at its very best; the children develop their skills in all areas not only physically, improving their balance and co-ordination, but also listening and communication skills, the enthusiasm is infectious. Also the parents have the opportunity to meet other parents; they all look forward to the monthly session. Congratulations to all involved.”
Outstanding Contribution to Inclusive Football – Rob Amey
Volunteering in Dorset Ability Counts Football for many years, Rob gives his own time to work with players in a variety of teams including Parley Panthers, Lions and Longfleet and in addition to these, he coaches a separate Downs Syndrome Team for DSActive.
Described as patient, tolerant, empathetic and understanding, he is very well-respected by the players and gives up a tremendous amount of time volunteering on most weekends and many weekday evenings: the players value his input and last year Parley Panthers won the first ever Ability Counts Fair Play Award.
Rob also finds the time to undertake some coaching sessions with Dorset FA.
