Hall of Fame - Halifax Canoe Club

Every year the club awards prizes to members in various classes. These are decided on by the Committee and presented at the Club’s Annual General Meeting at the start of each year – come along to see who wins or perhaps accept your trophy!

A number of the awards have been revised over the years. For completeness the full list of Award winners before and after the change of awards have been listed here.

Most Improved Male Paddler

Awarded to the person who has made the most progress in their paddling during the last year.

1999 Jack Bradbury
2000 Jimmy Hobbs
2001 Emily Blezard
2002 John Stopford
2003 Dave Wakeford
2004 Debbie Stopford
2005 Tom Wild
2006 Matt Walker
2007 Mark Limmer
2008 Adrian Ward
2009 Keith O’Hara
2010 Kevin Whittington
2011 Roger Blanchard
2012 Jolly Humphy
2013 Dave Stables
2014 Craig Bould
2015 Nic Wilson
2016 Stuart Vidler
2017 James Freeman
2018 Steve Smith
2019 Bob Lawler
2020 Phillip Wells
2022 Steve Smith
2023 Andrew Smith

Most Improved Female Paddler

Awarded to the female member of the Club who has made the most improvement in their paddling during the year. A new trophy was used from 2007 onwards.

2003 Emily Blezard
2004 Andrea Thomas
2005 Sarah Ford
2006 Jo Sharman
2007 Rebecca Gledhill
2008 Mandy Spry
2009 Anita Brian
2010 Lois Young
2011 Christine Brown
2012 Samantha Allen
2013 Jo Gribbins
2014 Liane Hickling
2015 Vicky Kirk
2016 Liane Hickling
2017 Vicky McGee
2018 Judith Forbes
2019 Claire Gray & Jo Platt
2020 Amy Blackburn
2022 Tess Glanville
2023 Rosie Lonnon

Most Improved Junior (Under 14)

Awarded to the junior member (under 14) of the Club who has made the most improvement in their paddling during the year. This is a new award introduced in 2009.

2009 Callum Jeffcock
2010 Callum Jeffcock
2011 —
2012 —
2013 Jonny Benson
2014 Eliot Wood
2015 Alex Benson
2016 Stan Lawler
2017 Albert Lawler
2018 Blake Woods
2019 Kian Jackson
2020 Sam Milligan
2022 —

Most Improved Junior (14 and over)

Awarded to the junior member of the Club who has made the most improvement in their paddling during the year. This was introduced in 2003 to replace the Most Improved Slalom Paddler Award.

2003 Tom Wild
2004 James Stopford
2005 Ian Stopford
2006 Jessica Acheson
2007 Nick Jowett
2008 Ben Thwaites
2009 Nathan Fuller
2010 Harry Blanchard
2011 Naomi Fuller
2012 Abbie Richardson & Sammy Neil
2013 Sammy Neil
2014 Ben Kirk
2015 Patrick Nevill
2016 Alex Bell
2017 Oliver Scholefield
2018 Stan Lawler
2019 Oli Scholefield & Jonny Benson
2020 Jude Greaves
2022 Eddie Stansfield
2023 Colin Wigley

Most Improved Junior Female

Awarded to the junior female who has made the most improvement in their paddling during the year. This was introduced in 2015 to reflect and promote increasing numbers of girls paddling at the club.

2015 Olivia Kirk
2016 Olivia Kirk
2017 Freya Luke
2018 Eira Watson
2019 Hannah Cable
2020 Hazel Allen
2022 —
2023 Lily Smith

Best Beginner

Awarded to the person who has started canoeing in the last year and made the most progress during the year

2000 Tanya Lambert
2001 Wesley Aldridge
2002 Ruth Close
2003 Robert Stopford
2004 Paul Morris
2005 Tom Hustler
2006 John Elvidge
2007 Dan Garside
2008 Richard Smith
2009 Nigel Dodd
2010 Angela Smith
2011 Craig Littlewood
2012 Cathy Hymas
2013 Pete Bell
2014 Alex Benson
2015 Ayshah Jansen
2016 Max Tupper
2017 Jose Leite
2018 Colin Ward
2019 Amy Blackburn
2020 Roger Arevelo
2022 Lily Smith
2023 Richard Stokes / Ryan Thorpe

Most Improved Playboater

A new trophy instigated in 2007 to reflect the growing popularity of this discipline in the Club. Awarded to the person who has made the most improvements in playboating during the last year.

2007 Ian Stopford
2008 James Stopford
2009 Jessica Acheson
2010 Matt Walker
2011 Jessica Acheson
—
2018 Oliver Scholefield
2019 Alex Benson
2020 James Freeman
2022 Mike Hargreaves
2023 —

Volunteer of the Year

Introduced in 2003, this award is for the person who has made the greatest contribution to the running and success of the club during the last year. his should be a contribution over and above any role that the member takes on as a member of the committee or coach. This is voted on by members at the AGM from a shortlist drawn up by members of the committee.

2003 Steve Davison
2004 John Stopford
2005 Les Ford
2006 Matt Walker
2007 Sarah Ford
2008 The Catering Team
2009 Les Ford
2010 Victoria Bradford
2011 Roger Blanchard
2012 Naomi Fuller
2013 Jess Acheson
2014 Dave Spencer
2015 Paul and Eliot Wood
2016 Simon Spencer
2017 Dave Spencer
2018 Stuart Vidler & Marcus Baker
2019 Les Ford
2020 Bob Lawler
2022 Judith Forbes
2023 Andy Luke

Rubber Duck
An extra special award presented to the member of the club who has done the most foolish thing on Club activities. Nobody wants to win it, but each years there are a surprisingly high number of contenders! The achievements of past winners have included: swimming or terror in ankle deep water, failing to turn a corner and paddling up the river bank, getting throw lines tangled over slalom wires.

2005 Rob Acheson
2006 Tom Wild
2007 Roberta Davis and Matt Walker
2008 Jonathon Toothill
2009 Richard Boyce
2010 James Stopford
2011 Dave Fuller / Mike Kerry
2012 Pete Face
2013 Matt Walker
2014 Mark Limmer
2015 Craig Jowett and Simon Spencer
2016 Al Benson
2017 Michael Scholefield
2018 Bob Lawler
2019 Stan Lawler
2020 Al Benson
2022 —
2023 Bob Lawler

Best Media Contribution

Awarded to the member of the Club who has contributed outstanding content for the clubs website & newsletter. This may include photos, articles, trip reports, blogs, etc

2012 Keith O’Hara
2013 Les Ford
2014 Andy Luke
2015 Chris Halligan
2016 Dig Coll
2017 Nic Wilson
2018 Paul Wood
2019 —
2020 Bob Lawler & Les Ford
2022 —
2023 —

Sarah Davis Award

2012 Kevin Whittington
2013 Mandy Spry
2014 Junior Slalom Squad
2015 Anna Manley
2016 Judith Forbes
2017 Paul Scarborough
2018 Victoria Bradford-Keegan
2019 Michael Scholefield
2020 Ian Hastie
2022 Al Benson
2023 Mike Scholefield

Highest Ranked Male

Awarded to the member of the Club who has achieved the highest position in the ranking lists for competitive canoeing disciplines during the last year.

1985 Russ Smith
1986 Andy Close
1987 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1988 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1989 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1990 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1991 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1992 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1993 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1994 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1995 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1996 Robert Soothill (Prem)
1997 Tristan Matthews (Prem)
1998 Chris Moore (Prem)
1999 Chris Moore (Prem)
2000 Robert Soothill (Prem)
2001 Chris Moore (Prem)
2002 Tom Emerson (Freestyle)
2003 Tom Emerson (Freestyle)
2004 Tom Emerson (Freestyle)
2005 Les Ford (Div 2)
2006 Les Ford (Div 1)
2007 Les Ford (Div 1)
2008 Les Ford (Div 1)
2009 Les Ford (Div 1)
2010 Les Ford (Div 1)
2011 Les Ford (Div 1)
2012 Nathan Fuller (Div 1)
2013 Les Ford (Div 1)
2014 Les Ford (Div 1)
2015 Les Ford (Div 1)
2016 Les Ford (Div 1)
2017 Les Ford (Div 1)
2018 Andrew Crowhurst (Prem)
2019 Andrew Crowhurst (Prem)
2020 Andrew Crowhurst (Prem)
2022 Andrew Crowhurst (Prem)
2023 Andrew Crowhurst (Prem)

Highest Ranked Female

Awarded to the female member of the Club who has achieved the highest position in the ranking lists for competitive canoeing disciplines during the last year.

1990 Katy Buckley (Div 1)
1992 Katy Buckley (Div 1)
1993 Katy Buckley (Div 1)
1994 Katy Buckley (Div 1)
1995 Katy Buckley (Div 1)
1996 Jenny Davison (Div 1)
1997 Jenny Davison (Div 1)
1998 Jenny Davison (Prem)
1999 Jenny Davison (Div 1)
2000 Jenny Davison (Prem)
2001 Jenny Davison (Prem)
This award was withdrawn due to the low number of slalom paddlers at the club, but was reinstated in 2007.
2007 Roberta Davis (Div 2)
2008 Roberta Davis (Div 2)
2009 Roberta Davis (Div 2)
2010 Roberta Davis (Div 2)
2011 Gill Arnett (Div 1)
2012 Gill Arnett (Div 1)
2013 Jess Acheson (Div 2)
2014 Sarah Ford (Div 2)
2015 Sarah Ford (Div 2)
2016 Olivia Kirk (Div 2)
2017 Olivia Kirk (Div 1)
2018 Olivia Kirk (Div 1)
2019 Olivia Kirk (Div 1)
2020 Olivia Kirk (Div 1)
2022 Julie Kolb (Div 2)
2022 Julie Kolb (Div 1)

Highest Ranked Junior
Awarded to the junior member of the Club who has achieved the highest position in the ranking lists for competitive canoeing disciplines during the last year. This award was introduced in 2014 to reflect renewed interest in slalom.

2014 Stephen McMahon
2015 Andrew Crowhurst
2016 Andrew Crowhurst
2017 Andrew Crowhurst
2018 Eliot Wood
2019 Eliot Wood
2020 Eliot Wood
2022 —
2023 —

The Mandy Spry Award

Awarded in honour of Mandy Spry. The award is for adventurous spirit or environmental activities.

2018 Liane Llewellyn-Hickling
2019 Christine Brown
2020 James Freeman
2022 Christine Brown / Ian Macadie
2023 Stella King

Sea Kayak Award
A new award for 2019 in recognistion of this growing area within the club.

2019 Mike Highley
2020 Judith Forbes
2022 Simon Adams
2023 Jo Simpson

Highest Ranked Veteran
Awarded to the Veteran member of the Club (over 35!) who has achieved the highest position in the ranking lists for competitive canoeing disciplines during the last year. This award was discontinued in 2002.

1997 Robert Soothill
1998 Robert Soothill
1999 Robert Soothill
2000 Vic Buckley
2001 Steve Davison