An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 33 SPOrtS awardS 2014 T he third annual Defence Forces Sports Awards were held in McKee bks on April 3rd. there were 23 awards covering five main categories; Special Merit, unit Excellence, Sports Star, Special Administrative and the hall of Fame award. the recipi- ents of the awards were decided on by a selection committee assembled from a broad range of sports. the committee looked at not just the titles won but how the winners balanced military careers and sporting life. The Special Merit section, with eight awards, was further broken down into individual and group subcategories. The individual re- cipients included Cpl Daniel Quinn (IWW), for his angling achieve- ments, and Sgt Brian Ankers (Air Corps), who set a new national record for running 84 marathons in one year. The group awards were presented to the DF Adventure Racing Association and the DF boxing team for their efforts in re-energising and popularising their sports, as well as for their performances at national level. The Unit Excellence award, a new addition designed to promote units that have an enduring sporting ethos and commitment to sporting excellence, went to 3 Inf Bn. With 17 DF titles to their name since 2012 alone and two Sports Stars this year, 'the Bloods' were deserving winners. The nine Sport Star recipients were champions in sports rang- ing from football to shooting to kickboxing, while others were multi-disciplined athletes like Pte Sinéad Taylor who represented the Defence Forces in Gaelic football, rugby and soccer. The prominence of combat sports on the national scene was mir- rored with two awards being presented to kickboxers; Cpl Vinny DiRuscio (3 Inf Bn) and Pte Brian Brosnan (1 Cn Cois). In his opening address at the ceremony Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Conor O'Boyle, made reference to the "thankless job" performed by the numerous administrators involved behind the scenes in every DF sporting organisation. To recognise the crucial but often overlooked role played by these people, four Special Administra- tive awards were given to: Sgt Terry Grogan, for his contribution to athletics; Cpl Pat King, for his life-time dedicated to diving; Sgt Eric O'Brien, for resurrecting handball in the DF; and Comdt Joseph Moran, for his role with DF volleyball. The last award winner of the night was undoubtedly also the highest profile figure, Sgt Michael Carruth (retired), Olympic gold medal winner in Barcelona in 1992, who received the Hall of Fame award. The MC, Comdt Neil Taylor, summed up the feeling of everyone at the ceremony in his introduction: "Michael Car- ruth brought great prestige, honour and deserved recognition to himself and, by extension, to the Defence Forces for his outstand- ing achievements in boxing. It is fitting and proper that he receives a Defence Forces Hall of Fame award for his boxing exploits and for the sporting standards of excellence which he consistently displayed." After Michael's acceptance speech, which was emotional and filled with humour, his wife Paula was presented with a bouquet of flowers in recognition of her unwavering support for Michael dur- ing his time in the Defence Forces and throughout his sporting life. As with previous years, this year's awards ceremony was another great success in highlighting the enormous talent and athletic abil- ity that exists in the Defence Forces across a wide variety of sports. Chief of Staff Lt Gen Conor O'Boyle with Michael Carruth after the awards ceremony. Comdt Neil Taylor introducing the award recipients. The dining complex in McKee Bks was packed full of top quality athletes for the occasion. Award winners from 1 Cn Cois: (l-r) Sgt Eric O'Brien, Pte Brian Brosnan and Sgt Terry Grogan. The first recipient of the night, Cpl Daniel Quinn (IWW), receives his award from Brig Gen Paul Fry, GOC AC. Pte Brendan Murphy (1 Mech Coy) receives his Sports Star award for Gaelic football from Col William Dwyer, EO DFTC.

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