Whilst the BvH Annual Awards are presented in early March at the end of the athletics year, they mainly cover the period of the previous calendar year in order to give time for voting and engraving of the trophies. There are two exceptions to this; the Teal Targets season runs from March-February and the Cross Country season also concludes in February allowing performances in the most recent season to be considered for Team of the Year and for the Team Member Awards.
Timetable:
Early January: Chairperson draws up Longlist ahead of January’s Committee Meeting (canvassing other committee members input, e.g. the list of new joiners from the Membership Secretary, the Head Coach and Team Managers). Club Members are invited to nominate for the Club Members’ Award (date of the Awards Night also announced).
January Committee Meeting: Shortlist agreed and winners chosen (it is recommended to first choose the shortlist for each category and then vote on the winner).
Mid-January: Nominees are announced and Voting link sent out for Race Report of the Year, Club Members’ Award and Coach of the Year (recommended deadline of end of January).
Early-March: Awards Night.
Awards Criteria and Club Values Recognised
Race Report of the Year
The committee shortlists their favourite report published on the website in the preceding calendar year and club members vote from those nominated. The report can be dramatic, humorous, informative and/or just really well written.
Values: participation, encouragement, enjoyment
Volunteer of the Year
This award recognises those from within the club who volunteer regularly, especially at club races (e.g. the Leafy 10k) and local races or parkruns. The club seeks to show the benefits of volunteering and emphasises how enjoyable volunteering can be (and avoids any inference that volunteering is an obligation).
Values: encouragement, enjoyment, participation
Beginner of the Year
This is open to any member who joined via the BvH Beginners Course and has continued to improve in their running and become a full member of the club, demonstrating all four of the club’s values. It is possible to be nominated in both the Beginners and Newcomers categories in the same year, but it is not possible to win both.
Values: performance, participation, encouragement, enjoyment
Newcomers (Male & Female)
This is open to any member who joined the club in the preceding year (those who joined in October-December of the previous year should also be considered if they weren’t nominated the previous year, as they may have been overlooked as very new members). Like the Beginners Award, the Committee will short-list those who have made an impression within the club in their first year, e.g. through significant improvement in their running, for participation in Cross Country, Road Relays and other team events, for volunteering and/or for other ways in which they have demonstrated all four of the club’s values. It is possible to be nominated in both the Beginners and Newcomers categories in the same year, but it is not possible to win both.
The Men’s Award is presented in memory of John Enright, a previous winner of the Award, who embodied all of the Club’s values.
Values: performance, participation, encouragement, enjoyment
Lynne Gossage Endeavour Award
This Award is presented in memory of long time member, and previous Club Secretary, Lynne Gossage. Lynne is remembered for her warm, welcoming nature and her passion for running and for the club; a word that crops up time and again when she is mentioned is “determination”. As such this Award recognises determination and effort to achieve a significant goal. This may be a specific one off event (such as an Ultra-Marathon); or a longer-term goal like achieving 250 parkruns; overcoming significant challenges, such as injury or illness; or some other achievement related to running or the club.
Values: (performance), participation, encouragement, enjoyment
Club Achievement Award
This Award is presented for a specific achievement (e.g. winning overall or within an Age Category) in a race or race series, selection for/representation in Regional, National or International Championships or similar. Unlike the Endeavour award, it is primarily a Performance focussed award.
Values: performance
Team Members (Male & Female)
The Managers of the Road Relays and Cross Country Teams select the winners of this award. There is no shortlist, rather the award is chosen from those who have participated in a number of the events. Participation is a pre-requisite and marginally takes precedence over performance for this award (i.e. the winner will have taken part in the majority of the races), however, it is expected that the winner will be a regular scorer for the Cross Country team and feature in the “A” Team for the Road Relays.
Values: participation, performance
Merit (Male and Female)
The Merit Awards are in recognition of running Performance across the year. This category will incorporate those who are not quite the club’s fastest runners (although they will certainly be at the faster end of the field) who have either had a period of sustained and significant improvement in their running performances or continued to perform at a high level as a Masters Athlete. Determination, effort in training, participation in Team events (Road Relays and Cross Country) and demonstration of the other Club Values may be used to determine the overall winner in cases where it is difficult to ascertain a winner on Performance factors alone.
Values: performance
Athlete of the Year (Male & Female)
It is possible for an Athlete to be nominated in both the Merit and Athlete of the Year categories, (but not to win both in a given year) and this category is similarly primarily focussed on Performance across the course of the Year. These categories are for the Club’s fastest runners across the different distances. The overall winner will have continually demonstrated their athletic ability over the course of the whole year rather than in a single exceptional race performance. As with the Merit Award; determination, effort in training, participation in Team events (Road Relays and Cross Country) and demonstration of the other Club values may be used to determine the overall winner in cases where it is difficult to ascertain a winner on Performance factors alone.
Values: performance
Team of the Year
This Award was introduced to recognise Team Performance in a race or league. There is no shortlist for the Award but it will be chosen by the Committee. To be eligible, ALL members of the chosen team will be members of Bournville Harriers.
Values: performance
The John Ward Trophy (Chairperson’s Award)
This Award is chosen by the Chairperson in memory of former Chair and founding member, John Ward. This is the Chairperson’s opportunity to recognise the time and commitment of a club member to the overall running of the club and will typically be presented to a Committee member. The Chairperson may choose to recognise the efforts of other club members in the presentation of the award but there is no shortlist/nominations as such.
Values: participation, encouragement, enjoyment
Coach of the Year
All Club Coaches who have participated in the Coaching rota for 6 months of the preceding year are automatically nominated for this Award, which is then voted for by members of the Club.
Values: encouragement, enjoyment, participation
Club Members’ Award
Any Club Member can nominate their Member of the Year to the committee in writing with their reasons, where possible indicating how the individual demonstrates each of the club’s values. All club members are then invited to vote for their chosen club member, from the list of nominees.
Values: performance, participation, encouragement, enjoyment