🎉Congratulations to Steph Pruzina, Mark Pruzina and Stephen Gilmore who have all been nominated for a British Orienteering Annual Award.
👏Mark has been nominated for the Development and Innovation award – this award is new this year and celebrates the efforts an individual, group or club has put into delivering a new programme or initiative which supports the growth of orienteering. Some of you may not know the work Mark and others do in the background with regard to setting up the on-line entries and payment systems which allows for the smooth running of events. He has also invented a clever radio control system which has been particularly useful now that so many of us have moved to SIAC dibbers. These radio controls pick up the dibber signals and beam them back to the MOO computer allowing officials to track runners progress. This is a great safety feature, but it is a bit of fun remotely watching peoples progress.
👏Steph has been nominated for two awards, Coach of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. Many of you will know Steph led LVO as chair through the Covid period. Although Steph decided to step down from this last year it wasn’t to put her feet up, quite the opposite, she put her O shoes on and got out there with the Juniors, planning and organising lots of training opportunities at first on-line then out in the parks and forest. Steph has continued to be a very supportive committee member too, especially to me. Steph is always so cheerful and enthusiastic and as a result many of us have been welcomed and encouraged by Steph to get more involved in the club.
👏Stephen has been nominated for the Continued Contribution to Orienteering Award – this award recognises and celebrates the volunteer efforts of those in our sport who contribute greatly, often behind the scenes, over an extended period of time. As NIOA secretary, Stephen seems to have been involved in most things (mapping, planning, organising, committee, funding, training ….) to do with the development of orienteering over so many years and has such a range of experience and skills which has helped steer and drive our sport forward. There are big plans and events for NI coming soon such as the Junior Inter-Regional Championships (JIRCs) this September. Stephen has taken a leading role in coordinating this great event which will welcome orienteers from across the UK. The British Champs are also coming our way this time next year and again Stephen has been instrumental in the early organisational stages of this major competition.
☘All very worthy contenders, we wish them the very best of luck!
🏆The winners will be announced on Friday 15 April and awards will be presented on Day 1 of the JK.