Tom Butler scoops award

West Oxfordshire athletes scoop the Extreme and Disabled sportsperson of the year awards

West Oxfordshire’s Tom Butler and Eleanor Hubbert took top honours at the Oxfordshire Sports Awards on Friday 13th November 2009, winning Extreme Sportsperson of the Year and Disabled Sportsperson of the Year respectively.

The winners of the Oxfordshire Sports Awards 2009 were announced at a glitzy gala awards evening at the Kassam Stadium organised by the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership. The trophies were presented by Jo Thoenes and Brennan Nicholls from BBC Oxford.

Tom (17) attends Chipping Norton Secondary School and is studying for his A Levels.   In 2009 Tom became the Professional Slope style winner at Westward Ho competing against 2 international riders.  He also achieved second place overall in the British Amateur Men Kite surfing Championships (for the second year running). 
Tom dedicates every weekend and school holidays to training, travelling at least 2 hours to any beach in the country, which has the right wind direction.  Despite living so far from the sea, the distance is not a barrier and he demonstrates massive commitment and enters all British Kite Surfing Association (BKSA) events (7 in total ranging from Cornwall to the far North East).  All this, as well as studying for his A levels which is a massive undertaking with all the training that he needs to do to maintain and improve his level in this sport.

Tom is a very positive role model to both the junior and adult members of the BKSA – always happy to help them out and advise them, or give them a hand on the beach, or supporting them and cheering them on in training and competitions.   His aim is to compete in world events and he plans to continue to train hard and raise the funds needed to be able to achieve this.

Eleanor (12) is a member of Witney Road Runners Athletics Club. She has competed in the CP (Cerebral Palsy) Sport Grand Prix series events in Bristol, West London, Wigan and Nottingham this year and also took part in the UK Athletics Aviva Parallel Success program and qualified for the 100 metres at the Disability Sports Events National Championships in Blackpool for the under 15 & 17 age groups.
She achieved a 100 metre PB of 20.9 seconds (which is 0.2 seconds outside the CP Sport National age group record.  In addition to this, she achieved a 200 metre PB of 46.40 seconds) and a discus PB of 8.87 metres, both of which make Eleanor the CP Sport National age group record holder in these events.  It is important to note here that the two records were achieved in the 3rd heat of the Heart of England series, held at Leamington in September, which is an able-bodied event.
In March of this year, Eleanor received the Female Athlete of the Year award for the 2008 CP Sport Grand Prix Series.

Both Eleanor and Tom received their awards in front of over 320 guests. The awards aim to recognise the sporting talent and dedication we see across the county throughout the year. 
The 35 finalists in the 12 award categories were chosen from over 80 nominations this year.  The amount of talent and true devotion and enthusiasm for their sport that was seen on the evening was enormous. 

The full list of winners for 2009:

Club of the Year,
Oxford City Football Club
Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
Eleanor Hubbert – Witney Road Runners Athletics Club
Coach of the Year, sponsored by Gladstone Health and Leisure:
Lindsay Powell, City of Oxford Swimming Club
Extreme Sportsperson of the Year:
Tom Butler – Kite Surfing
Junior Sports Team of the Year, sponsored by Oxford City Council Leisure Services:  Chinnor Rugby Football Club U16s (2008/2009 season)
Junior Unsung Hero, sponsored by Nexus Community
Alice Moger – Young Netball Lead and Assistant Coach
Sports Team of the Year, sponsored by The Oxford Science Park
City of Oxford Rowing Club, Women’s Tier 1 Squad
Junior Sportsperson of the Year, sponsored by RM
Holly Holden, City of Oxford Rowing Club
Unsung Hero
Maggie Fisher, Volunteer netball coach, Chair of Oxfordshire Netball, Treasurer of Vale Netball Club
Veteran Sportsperson of the Year:
Karl Bushell, Kidlington Forum Table Tennis Club
Sportsman of the Year
Keith Arnold, Record-breaking Oxfordshire cricketer, Minor Counties Cricket, Oxfordshire County Cricket Club and Banbury Twenty Cricket Club
Sportswoman of the Year, sponsored by Fusion- Lifestyle
Hannah England, World class 1500m athlete, City of Oxford Athletics Club