Sporting volunteers and coaches from three different disciplines have been recognised at the Cumbria Sports Awards.

The Becky Underwood Volunteer of the Year award was awarded to James Fitt a player and very dedicated volunteer with Wigton RUFC.

The award is presented for the Greatest Volunteering Contribution.

In addition to being a key player in the Wigton RUFC senior squad James dedicates countless hours to the team’s development and the club as a whole.

He takes care of several roles from seeking kit sponsorships and designing kits to coaching and fundraising James has become the ‘go to’ person for anything that the club’s needs and is referred to as ‘an excellent club man’.

James has dedicated his time to raise the profile of the club creating an on-line presence through website and social media development and created connections with the Rugby focused mental health charity Loose Heads as well as regularly arranging club socials.

Carlisle’s Joe Birch from the world of Tug of War was announced as the winner of the award for Coach of the Year – presented for Delivering Exceptional Impact.

In 2021, Joe took on the role of England Junior Manager and dedicated many hours towards creating a team by volunteering at events to scout for potential team members and holding trials at which all abilities were invited to ‘have a go’.

After just four months of dedicated coaching the newly formed team competed in the British and Irish Championship and returned home with several medals including: Gold in the Junior Men’s Open, Gold and Silver in the Junior Mixed (A & B teams) and Gold and Silver in the Junior Mixed Open.

Later in the year the team competed in the World Championships in Holland with the Junior Girls bringing home bronze medals.

Sadly, the team suffered the tragic loss of one of their star up and coming pullers.

After a very tough few weeks Joe was invited to take the England Junior team to South Africa to participate in the junior championships, the biggest in the world.

A plan was formed to do this tour in memory of their lost teammate, and the Tom Allan Memorial Tour was planned.

Months of planning, twice weekly training, strength work and all round fitness development followed.

The tour was a great success with the girl’s team bringing home Gold medals.

Never sitting still, Joe continued to plough all available time and effort into developing the team and finding new members. 

In August this year, three teams attended GensB at Mannheim in Germany, the largest European junior event, competing against some of the strongest teams in Europe.

A week later the squad went to the World Championships 2023 in Switzerland where the Junior Boys came 7th overall and the girls team claimed Silver in the Open Competition and an amazing Bronze in the Closed Competition for their country.

After such a busy year you might think they would relax a bit – but no.

Plans are already being made to compete at GensB 2024 in the UK, World Championships 2024 in Mannheim and ultimately to reach full throttle at the World Championships in 2025 with the best squad ever.

Throughout it all Joe has been the central driving force, a young man with real ability to engage with young people, to inspire them to train hard and reach to attain their potential, to be mature and responsible when necessary but always to retain a sense of fun, competition and pure joy at being able to compete as equals in a sport which levels everyone.

The Service to Sport Award was awarded to 85-year old Les Middleton from the world of Athletics.

Les, from Barrow-in-Furness has been a stalwart of Barrow and Furness Athletic Club for over forty years taking on many roles during that time, coaching, officiating, committee member, fundraising, organising the end of year awards evening and for the best part of those years he was Chairman of the Athletic Club.

In addition, Les held other positions including Chairman of the Cumbria Track and Field League, sitting on the Cumbria AA and was Vice Chairman of the mid Lancashire League.

Les is fully involved in organising the annual Dalton Charter 10K and all home fixtures.

As a qualified official he attends all the Cumbria and Mid Lancashire league fixtures, which is no mean feat at the age of 85.

As well as a dedication to the club Les contributes to the wider athletics opportunities in Barrow and Cumbria being the driving force behind acquiring a new track after 26 years without one locally.

This not only benefited the club but the wider Barrow and Cumbria athletics community and his contribution and service to sport has benefited thousands within the field of athletics over a 40 year service.