The Academic Outstanding Achievement Award was awarded to U19 hooker Lochlan McGill who recently passed his BTEC in Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE). Lochlan, who comes from the Stanningley Community Club and is sponsored by The Top House has recently signed a new 1 year contract that will see him through until the end of 2019.
Head of Youth John Bastian said “Lochlan isn’t natural academic but has worked tremen-dously hard and shown great effort and commitment to get his qualification, we’re all very proud of him.
BullBuilder chairman Paul Butterworth said “It’s great to see the young players succeeding with their studies and Lochlan’s achievement shows you can combine excellence both on and off the field.”
The U16’s Player of the Year Award was won by Kieron Brining who is sponsored by John Summers Butchers. Kieron, who comes from the West Bowling Community Club, is a cen-tre or winger who has excelled this season.
John Bastian said: “Kieron has done very well this season and this award was a very close call between him and his teammate Harry Shackleton who’s skill created a lot of opportuni-ties for Kieron to use his pace and power. Both Kieron and Harry have gone onto gain se-lection for the England youth team which shows you how highly they’re rated. Kieron played very well in the games in France against the national side and Catalans U17’s. They’re both excellent young players and the only way they’ll not succeed in the future is if they choose not to.”
The U19’s Player of the Year Award was won by Matthew Storton. Matthew, a backrow forward from West Bowling, is sponsored by Jennifer Bennison. He was BullBuilder player of the month in June and has recently gone on to break into the first team scoring his first try versus West Wales.
John Bastian said: “Matthew has shown real resilience to recover from some serious injuries to his shoulder and hamstring. He’s worked incredibly hard and shown real patience. His progression hasn’t been easy yet he’s shown real toughness and is now reaping the reward. With a tough pre-season under his belt I think you’ll see him get even better in 2019.
The Paul Fisher Outstanding Achievement Award was given to U19’s coach Leigh Beattie. Leigh who has stood in as first team coach in the past has guided the U19’s to a 6th place finish in the league.
John Bastian said “Leigh fully deserves this award. He’s been a stalwart at the club, including during the tough times. This season the U19’s have been competitive all year and Leigh has worked very hard to develop the team. I think he has a lot more to come too as a coach.”
The final award of the evening was the recognition of 20 years of service (that included out-standing dedication and support given to youth development at the Bulls), this was presented to Football Manager Stuart Duffy. Stuart arrived at the club in 1998 and helped oversee the club’s most successful period.
John Bastian said “Stuart has shown great loyalty to remain with the Bulls for two decades and I was pleased to see that recognised by BullBuilder.”
On Wednesday 14th November BullBuilder will be hosting a race night. This will take place in the Southbank at Odsal with tickets available for purchase from the Club shop. Tickets will be £5 and include a pie and pea supper. Tickets can also be bought at https://bullbuilder.nutickets.com/52723
To find out more about BullBuilder and how to join for as little as £10 a year please visit https://membermojo.co.uk/bullbuilder/joinus