We've managed to whittle down all of your Sports Personality nominations to a shortlist of just 15. Here are the chosen few:
Izzy Ash
Izzy is a dedicated member of the cycling club and has been since she started at Newcastle University in 2015. She has taken on the role of Road Secretary for the club this year and she is doing an excellent job. Every week she organises Wednesday afternoon rides and weekend rides, something that has never been done before in the club. She organises the more experienced members of the club to lead the rides and sorts out groupings for speed and distance. This year she has also organised a club trip to the Lake District which is a first for Newcastle University Cycling Club. She works really hard to make sure everyone in the club has a great time and provides us with loads of new and exciting opportunities. She makes a regular appearance at the social events and is keen to talk and get to know the new members of the club.
Bethany Lumborg
Jason Bass
Last year, Jason represented his country, playing for England students’ rugby league, where the team won the students’ four nations. Jason played in all of the games for England, in a variety of positions: fullback, winger and centre.As well as this, Jason also plays for Coventry Bears- a semi-professional team that play in the third tier of professional rugby league. This is one of the highest standards for a rugby league player to play at, and is even more impressive considering that he is a university student.
Bradley Cunningham
Nathan Fullerton
Having a phenomenal background in playing volleyball, Nathan has brought his great talent and energy into the team. He has a very mild personality, but when he starts jumping and swinging on the court, he definitely becomes a monster. The opposition are terrified of his big hits and the ball always bounces on their side. As the captain of the men’s volleyball team, he has taken the team a step up this season by gaining victories in BUCS fixtures and cup games from the beginning of the year, as well as qualifying for the indoor student cup final. With his great leadership, the men’s volleyball team have a great potential to achieve an outstanding year. Nathan has also been called for the England Volleyball Senior Team trials.
Bonnie Ma
Navneet Khandari
We’re nominating Navneet Khandari, the fencing men’s seconds team captain. He’s been such a great captain and fences all 3 weapons really well. He also helps out massively with the beginners coaching sessions. Plus, he’s got such a bubbly and irresistible personality and is just an all-around great person, doing an excellent job as president last year.
Isa Senica
Emma Little
Over her five years, Emma has captained Newcastle’s first team, taken home silver in the BUCS premier league, acted as secretary, and led her team to earn enough BUCS points to make NUWPC consistently one of the highest performing clubs at Newcastle. Having played for team GB in her youth, Emma still plays at national league level, and is unquestionably one of the strongest members of the first team. Possessing such skill could make some standoffish and arrogant. Not Emma. She is always at every training session with a huge smile on her face: helping, teaching, encouraging, offering advice. Out of the pool, she is at every social and always makes a big effort to talk to and get to know everyone, making her one of the most respected and popular members of the club. Emma Little is the very embodiment of a sports personality and, with over five years of service to NUWPC, you’d be hard pushed to find a more deserving winner.
Lucy Brogden
Alice MacKean
Alice is a key component of the 1XI, who in their promotional season to the BUCS Premier B league, have only lost one match. With her unrivalled enthusiasm for all things hockey to her complete commitment to the team on and off the pitch, where she has been known to soldier on, playing the whole match regardless of how ill or injured she is, and still produce a stellar performance. She epitomises all things NULHC values, hardworking, loyal and a hell of a lot of fun.
Alex Addison
Dianne Marquez Lopez
This is Dianne’s 4th year as a member of Pies. During her time, she won the Northern Indoor Regionals and came 3rd at Outdoor Nationals with the women’s team, as well as being a key member of the committee. She is now the Women’s Club Captain and has been integral in successfully recruiting record numbers of female ultimate freshers this year - enough to take 3 teams to indoor regionals, more than any other team in the region; the first team comfortable qualified for nationals at this tournament. Further to this, Dianne helped set up and run a successful taster session in association with the girls at Northumbria Ultimate Club as part of “This Girl Can” week. In addition to her sporting success, Dianne is without a doubt one of the friendliest faces of the club, winning the “Most Welcoming” award at our last AGM and “Most Spirited” at the annual NYE ‘Ultimate Resolution’ tournament.
Will Mulvaney
Pippa McLeod-Brown
In total, Pippa has been on 15 teams since she joined in 2014, competing as a soloist and as one half of a duo. She’s won so many trophies that no one has managed to count them all yet, last year at our competition alone she achieved 3rd place Advanced Tap, 2nd place Advanced Jazz and 1st place for Advanced Contemporary, which she also taught and choreographed. Pippa teaches 2 classes a week and choreographs 2 full length dances a year: one competition piece and one show piece. The last 2 years she has also been on committee, last year she was the youngest Dance Society President and the society had an amazingly successful year, winning 2nd best society of the year at the National Society Awards, organised by the National Union of Students. This year she’s Dance Society’s Treasurer, another vitally important role on committee.
Hannah Davies
Cec Nichols and Leah Williams
Presidents Cec Nichols and Leah Williams have put in a ridiculous amount of effort to improve the society this year, putting on extra sessions such as Flex Classes, Jam Sessions, Pole Circuits as well as giving us the opportunity to try new things such as getting us exclusive discounts to do Aerial Hoop courses, open only to the Newcastle Pole Dancing Society. As well as all of this they are continuing their learning in the advanced class and they teach both beginners and intermediate students. They are both extremely talented and lovely people. Cec is a 4th year Medical student and Leah is 3rd year Medical student. Attached is an image of their latest double act, they’ve said it’s not perfect but it looks pretty darn impressive to us.
Lauren Shaw
Jack Pennell
Jack is fitting for the award because he epitomises the club. He is modest, a genuinely nice person, great rugby skills, enjoys his socials and whilst being one of the smaller members of the club puts his body on the line week in week out for his teammates, he also has a great smile.
Neale Farthing
Ben Smith
Ben is an extremely dedicated member of the club, he is slalom captain this year and is involved heavily in the training of the team, whether it be during pool sessions, or morning training, being committed to sporting and social events alike. He is an absolute joy to be around, with an incredible sense of humour, he is extremely kind and caring toward all the members of the club. He strives constantly to impart his knowledge, to build the confidence of others and he always keeps morale extremely high. It is difficult to quantify why Ben is so fantastic, but whether he is posting weekly motivational videos on the NUCC Facebook page, being proactive in training or just being a great friend, Ben is definitely an extremely valued member of the club.
Emma Bancroft
Olly Walker
Besides his efforts off the pitch in aiding the smooth running of the club, on the pitch he’s done okay too, recently joining the prestigious 100 club alongside the likes of John Hendo and Phil Beahon. Without the goals of our beloved OW9 we would not have achieved promotion into the Northern Alliance Premier Division last season, also we could have been relegated in our BUCS league. He’s a true professional, being able to put his personal life aside at all times when on the field, and only occasionally missing training for dates. No sportsman or woman is truly more deserving of this honour, except maybe Coach Bastow.
Peter Mairs
Abbie Wheeler
I’m nominating Abbie because of her positive attitude and her dedication to the team. Even when things aren’t going our way, I can count on Abbie to give her all and put forth her best effort. She always comes to training with a smile on her face and she would do anything to help out a fellow teammate. She also helps off the court with secretarial issues even though she isn’t the president or team captain. I appreciate Abbie and really enjoy having her as a teammate and friend.
Courtney Strait
Jack White
In just two years, the club has progressed massively, and this is no doubt due to Jack White. Now the club’s longest serving member, Jack has been dedicated to both playing and growing takraw. After leading his team to third place in our inaugural tournament, Jack is now part of the team organising next year’s event. So far, Jack has been the brains behind our Facebook page and the club’s upcoming participation in the Winter Sports Tournament, as well as taking on coaching and social responsibilities. There’s no doubt to any of us that Jack is the WD40 that lubricates the club’s joints, the superglue that bonds the club together, the solid lumber frame that is so structurally integral to keep the club standing.
James Sproston
Ed Wightman
No man has been as in love with the sport as much as Barry ‘The Adgerman’ Wightman. For example, on day 1 at the freshers fair, he reminded our stall rep not once, but twice that he was going to be spending his Wednesday night of freshers week tucked up in bed so to be fresh for trials the next day. Having cemented a spot in the club he has repeatedly reminded us of his passion for hockey. We saw this a few weeks back; having missed his train to the game, Barry went to extreme lengths to ensure he arrived on time... Cue the £40 taxi. Following this, the Adgerman has quick become a role model both on and off the pitch. He has revitalised the clubs sense of pride, showing that a lack of stick skills, positioning and pace can be completely overshadowed by a proud and valiant performance.
Joe Sutton
