With the Isle of Man Cricket season coming to a close it is now time to recognise and reward the many volunteers who give so much of their time to supporting and growing cricket on the Isle of Man. The IOMCA Volunteer Awards include -
Lifetime Services to Cricket Award - this award recognises those individuals who have made an outstanding difference to their cricket club, league or local cricket community over a significant number of years.
Young Volunteer of the Year Award - this award is for under 18s and is designed to highlight and show the fantastic contribution that young volunteers make within the game.
Club Volunteer of the Year Award - this award recognises the special volunteer that every club simply couldn’t do without. This individual often undertakes a number of different roles within the club which are generally behind the scenes, and they are always there to lend a hand whenever needed.
Services to Cricket Award - this award is for those individuals who are providing vision and direction in growing the game often outside of the traditional roles within a club.
The nominations can be made on the Volunteer Nomination page and the closing date for nominations is October 9th. All volunteer nominee winners will be invited to a meal to recognise their efforts.
IOMCA Volunteer Award Winners 2023
The IOMCA Celebration of Cricket took place at the Cronkbourne Cricket Club on September 30th and included the presentation of the IOMCA volunteer awards. These awards are aimed at recognising and rewarding volunteers who give so much of their time to supporting and growing cricket on the Isle of Man. The awards include Lifetime Services to Cricket award, Young Volunteer of the Year award, Club Volunteer of the Year award and Services to Cricket award.
Congratulations to following nominees and award winners: Young Volunteer of the Year - Nominees: Cameron Roome (Castletown CC), Isabella Clarke (Finch Hill CC) & Juan Corkill (Finch Hill CC) Winner: Isabella Clarke & Juan Corkill (Finch Hill CC)
Izzy has been a huge asset to Finch Hill this year. She has helped with all of the Manx Youth Games training sessions and took responsibility for looking after one of our additional needs children during the MYGs ceremony making sure he wasn't overwhelmed, then helping him to have fun during the games. She's been a fantastic help with our CricStart children who all look up to her and love playing cricket and giggling with her, the parents have also commented on her helpfulness and sense of humour. She's happy to score cricket games when needed and has helped the seconds a few times by scoring when the usual captain was away. She helps put up and take down the nets and helps each time the rope needs to be put away.
Juan started the Manx Youth Games coaching with little knowledge and dedicated his time through to the final event. He then carried his keenness with Finch Hill and attended the weekly training sessions helping the kwik cricketers. He always wants to be punctual and gives ideas to the format of the sessions. Juan struggles with his social confidence and this has helped him enormously. He even got asked to run the cricket sessions in the summer term at school. All of this has brought him out of his shell and Juan is now keen to progress in this environment. Juan has received a lot of support too which he is grateful. Juan is a young man who has overcome his own issues to give back to the youngsters at Finch Hill and they now follow his passion. Juan has been amazing this year and Finch Hill are very grateful.
Club Volunteer of the Year Nominees - Indrakumar Gandu (Finch Hill CC), Rob Webber (Ramsey CC), Colin Jackson (Castletown CC), Sam Barnett (Finch Hill CC), Spencer Clarke (Finch Hill CC), Ollie Webster (Peel & St John CC), Shaun Grobbelaar (Crosby CC) & Gillian Craine (Peel & St John CC) Winner - Gillain Craine (Peel & St John CC)
Gillian is a huge part of the smooth running of Peel and St John CC. She dedicates so much time into the club for nothing more than the love of it! From being on the committee, under-taking the role of Treasurer & social committee to committing her Saturday mornings to running the tuck shop for the juniors along with lending a hand helping out with CricKids and running the Saturday afternoon crèche when the men and women are playing. The love Gillian has for Peel and St John CC is second to none & without her the club wouldn’t be half of what it is. Gillian also organised a fantastic fundraiser for Diabetes IOM in the memory of Brian Wozniak raising £1,200. She is a superstar!
Services to Cricket Award - Nominees: Russ Miller (Peel & St John CC), Andy Coulson (Valkyres CC), Ollie Webster (Peel & St John CC), Janelle Clarke (Finch Hill CC & Kathryn Clough (Cronkbourne CC) Winner: Andy Coulson (Valkyres CC)
Andy has pretty much singe handedly ran Valkyres Cricket Club for many years. He has managed the side and has recently started a second team on a Saturday playing in the new Division 2. He organises training for the players and coaches and is always on hand to help the players. He also engages with the local community always on the look out for new players and has helped increase the number of players significantly at Valkyres over the years. Valkyres have had a number of grounds over the years and Andy has been pivotal in the move to these new grounds most recently at King William’s College.
Lifetime Services to Cricket - Nominees: Garreth Roome (Castletown CC) & Rob Webber (Ramsey CC) Winners: Rob Webber (Ramsey CC)
Rob has ran Ramsey CC single handed for as long as I can remember, Rob keeps Ramsey CC alive. He runs the junior set up at Ramsey, he organises all junior training, matches and teams and also does this for the senior side and has been doing this for well over 20-years. Rob is the lead coach for the Ramsey Manx Youth Games and has been for many years and he will have seen hundreds of young cricketers try the game through the Manx Youth Games. He gives up all his time for Ramsey CC to ensure that everyone involved in the club feels included and enjoys their cricket. Robs efforts can be seen with the the amount of young players now playing senior cricket, particularly in the first team. Rob played for the Isle of Man and captained the side for a number of years in its inception to international cricket in 2005. Rob has been essential for maintaining cricket in the North of the island he is Mr Ramsey!
ICC Long Service Award
The IOMCA put forward Rob Webber as their nominee for ICC Long Service Award for the Isle of Man. The ICC Long Service Award is to honour exceptional dedication and commitment to the growth and development of cricket in a region. Although Rob wasn’t the overall winner he has been highly commended by the ICC which is a phenomenal achievement with 123 member countries putting forward their nominations. The IOMCA and the Isle of Man would like to thank Rob along with the ICC for his many years of dedication to grow cricket in the IOM and the north in particular.
IOMCA Volunteer Awards 2023
With the Isle of Man Cricket season recently coming to a close it is now time to recognise and reward the many volunteers who give so much of their time to supporting and growing cricket on the Isle of Man. The IOMCA Volunteer Awards include -
Lifetime Services to Cricket Award - this award recognises those individuals who have made an outstanding difference to their cricket club, league or local cricket community over a significant number of years.
Young Volunteer of the Year Award - this award is for under 18s and is designed to highlight and show the fantastic contribution that young volunteers make within the game.
Club Volunteer of the Year Award - this award recognises the special volunteer that every club simply couldn’t do without. This individual often undertakes a number of different roles within the club which are generally behind the scenes and they are always there to lend a hand whenever needed.
Services to Cricket Award - this award is for those individuals who are providing vision and direction in growing the game often outside of the traditional roles within a club.
The nominations can be made on the Volunteer Nomination page and the closing date for nominations is September 17th. All volunteer nominations will be invited to the presentation evening on the 30th September at Cronkbourne Cricket Club.
IOMCA Volunteer Awards 2022
The IOMCA Celebration of Cricket took place at the Villa Marina on October 16th and included the presentation of the IOMCA volunteer awards. These awards are aimed at recognising and rewarding volunteers who give so much of their time to supporting and growing cricket on the Isle of Man. The awards include Lifetime Services to Cricket award, Young Volunteer of the Year award, Club Volunteer of the Year award and Services to Cricket award.
Congratulations to following nominees and award winners: Young Volunteer of the Year - Nominees: Cameron Roome (Castletown CC), Hattie James (Union Mills CC) & Spencer Clarke (Finch Hill CC) Winners: Cameron Roome (Castletown CC) & Spencer Clarke (Finch Hill CC) Cameron has been helping at Castletown on a regular basis and this season he stepped in to run the training for the under 11s. He has trained them through the winter in CRHS gym and then outdoors during the summer. He has planned all of his sessions to ensure the players are working on a range of skills, using coaching resources and drills from his own IOMCA training. He has also helped at IOMCA camps and Sunday CricStart sessions during the year and attended the Young Leader coaching course. There has been a lot of positive feedback on his sessions and he has worked hard with his group, giving up a lot of his own time.
Spencer is an integral part of Finch Hill, sacrificing his time to the benefit of our juniors, organising and delivering, indoor and outdoor, training sessions to develop the junior’s confidence and skills. At fixtures Spencer undertakes pre-match warm-ups and can be found scoring and umpiring. Spencer has a positive attitude and friendly approach. He listens to the juniors and is sensitive to their needs and concerns, extending this to members of opposing teams. Spencer is a perfect example of a Young Volunteer and is a great ambassador for Finch Hill and island cricket. He is a fantastic role model to his peers, the juniors at Finch Hill and the wider junior cricket community. Every club should have a Spencer. However this Spencer belongs to Finch Hill and we consider him one of our greatest assets. So hands off!
Club Volunteer of the Year - Nominees: Fiona Roome (Castletown CC), Spencer Clarke (Finch Hill CC), Gary Thomas (Finch Hill CC), Indrakumar Gandu (Finch Hill CC), Colin Jackson (Castletown CC) & Dave Butler (Crosby CC) Winners: Fiona Roome (Castletown CC) & Dave Butler (Crosby CC) Dave continues to be fully committed to the club, as has been the case over the past few years, always willing to give up his own time, to support the club, his wife, son and daughter playing, managing Crosby junior sides, umpiring and assisting at the ladies festivals, being an assistant coach at Manx Youth Games, taken the role of lead coach of the u9 team and assisting at u9 Friday festivals. He has even played a few senior matches when the club has been short in 2022. This past season finally saw Dave succeed in his goal in getting a ladies team into the league and being their coach and enlarging Crosby CC cricketing base which bodes well for the future of women's cricket on the island. Has completed the voluntary ICC on-line coaching course in 2022 to further understand the game and to facilitate his various coaching roles. Dave is always first to put his hand up to assist in the various club projects undertaken this past season, ie replacement of the new roadside netting, the build of the clubs advertising structure at the ground, general maintenance as required etc. If only there were more like him, that were willing to offer up so much of their own time to ensure a better opportunity and environment for all within the club.
Fiona has put a huge amount of effort into both the U9 & ladies teams at Castletown Cricket Club. She runs the U9 training & matches, & organises the training sessions for the ladies. I attend the ladies training & the sessions are very helpful in improving all our skills as well as being lots of fun. The club is very lucky to have her! Fiona has given up a huge amount of time to keep Castletown CC running smoothly and has been the driving force in the development and organisation of the club's junior and ladies sections. Without her commitment and enthusiasm the club simply would not function and many of the club's young and female players would be lost to the game.
Services to Cricket Award - Nominees: Matt Ansell (Cronkbourne CC), Paul Barnett (Finch Hill CC) & Janelle Clarke (Finch Hill CC) Winner: Paul Barnett (Finch Hill CC) With a young 1st XI we have been extremely grateful to Paul for umpiring every game. Without his support this year we would have really struggled as only a couple of our players were old enough to act as umpire/square leg. He's also very quick to help with setting up and tidying away after home games and will often turn up prior to the meet time to ensure the ground is ready. He always helps out with putting up and taking down the nets and reaches out to the club when other jobs need doing, helping to move the boundary rope and scoreboard to our temporary home at Union Mills for example.
Lifetime Services to Cricket - Nominees: Janelle Clarke (Finch Hill CC), Phil Richardson (Cronkbourne CC), Neil Clarke (Finch Hill CC) & Dave Picken (Crosby CC) Winners: Phil Richardson (Cronkbourne CC) & Dave Picken (Crosby CC) Phil has been involved in Cronkbourne Cricket Club for very long time and over the years he has contributed both on the field and off. On the field, he has taken over 800 wickets and he continues to contribute. He has captained the development team both mid-week and on a Saturday which gives him an opportunity to pass on his experience and knowledge. Off the field he has been a long standing member of the Cronkbourne Committee and until recently held the role of Chairman. Behind the scenes, and outside of the committee and the game, Phil can often be found down at the Club grounds doing a wide range of jobs to help contribute to keeping the club running. He has been a huge asset to the Club for many years.
I would like to nominate David Picken for the Lifetime Services to Cricket award following his decision to step down from all cricket related Committee and coaching roles. Dave has been a Committee member of Crosby Cricket Club since joining back in 1995 and has held the role of treasurer for the Club for the last 10 years. During this time he has been instrumental in helping the Club develop and grow from having a couple of senior men’s teams to where it is today with 3 senior teams competing in weekend and midweek leagues, 5 junior teams and the recent formulation of a ladies team. Dave has been involved in several major Club projects over the years including the move from the old pavilion to the new Millennium Hall, the installation of the net facility and the installation and subsequent re-laying of the artificial wicket. Such projects, along with the expansion of the Club’s facilities and playing equipment, have largely been made possible because of Dave’s prudent management of the Club’s finances since becoming treasurer. His keen eye for detail has ensured all of the necessary policies and procedures were developed and implemented to satisfy the ever increasing governance requirements now necessary for the proper running a sports club. As well as Dave’s contribution to the running of Crosby CC he has dedicated a great deal of his time to coaching juniors both at the Club and also in the wider community through initiatives such as the Manx Youth Games and the Cricket Association’s junior festivals. Dave has been an active coach at the Club since it began entering a Colts team into the senior leagues over 15 years ago and is extremely generous in the time he spends in helping develop young aspiring cricketers on the Island. Away from Crosby CC. Dave has also been a great contributor to the wider development of cricket on the Island. He regularly attends IOMCA meetings on behalf of Crosby and recently became the first Chair of the IOMCA’s Senior Leagues Sub-Committee, tasked with the smooth running and expansion of Senior cricket on the Island. Dave’s many years’ experience playing cricket on the Island has meant his views and opinions are highly regarded by other Club representatives and he is known to provide a voice of reason in any discussion. Crosby would like to place on record its sincere thanks for all that Dave has done for the Club whilst being on the Committee and an active coach. The Club believes that in recognition of his dedication to the playing and growth of cricket not just in his own Club, but also in the wider development of cricket on the Island, makes him a strong candidate for the Lifetime Services to Cricket Award. .
IOMCA Volunteer Awards 2021
Young Volunteer of the Year Nominees: Sam Barnett - Finch Hill CC, Liam Bedford - Cronkbourne CC & Finch Hill CC, Elliott Butler - Castletown CC, Fraser Clarke - Finch Hill CC, Spencer Clarke - Finch Hill CC, Alex Crowe - Castletown CC, Carl Hartmann - Crosby CC, Bliss Murtagh - Cronkbourne CC and IOMCA, Ed Walker - Crosby CC and Toby Poole-Wilson - Crosby CC.
Winner: Elliott Butler - Castletown CC Elliott took part in the CricStart Facilitator training in May and has not looked back. He has been coaching as part of the Castletown CricStart programme on a Sunday morning at King William's College and the children absolutely love him. He is a very energetic, motivated and enthusiastic coach and all the children leave his session with a huge smile on their face just like his own!
Club Volunteer of the Year Nominees: Indrakumar Gandhu - Finch Hill CC, Craig Hartmann - Crosby CC, Ollie Helfrich - Cronkbourne CC & Gateway Gamechangers & Fiona Roome - Castletown CC.
Winner: Craig Hartmann - Crosby CC Although not now holding any official post at Crosby beyond “committee member”, Craig has been for many years, and still is, the go to man for just about everything at the club. Ground maintenance, organising junior training, arranging senior teams, matchday (in fact everyday) hassles, CricStart, club administration at all levels, communications, umpiring, headache solving, impromptu barbecues (or “braais” if you really must...). Insisting on the highest standards on and off the pitch with a combination of responsibility and irreverent fun, contributing so much himself to enrich the cricket experience for others. The amount he does can only pose awkward questions for the rest of us!
Services to Cricket Nominees: Roy Corlett - Finch Hill CC & David Kenworthy - Castletown CC & IOM Umpires Association,. Winner: David Kenworthy - Castletown CC.& IOM Umpires Association
When people think of David Kenworthy they think of umpiring! He took up umpiring in 2001 and soon began to progress though the umpiring ranks. Always looking to improve and better his umpiring. He was elected on to the European Umpire’s Panel in 2008 and then onto the ICC Europe’s Elite Panel 2010. He was pivotal in establishing the IOMCA Umpires Association and keeping it going whilst being secretary and communicating between the umpires and the IOMCA and the leagues. If dedication to umpiring isn’t enough he has also been the Chairman and Secretary of Castletown Cricket Club.
Lifetime Services to Cricket Winner: Ian Tomlinson The Lifetime Services to Cricket award was posthumously awarded to Ian Tomlinson and received by the Tomlinson family. Ian Tomlinson was Finch Hill CC president, former chairman, player, coach, umpire and a true enthusiast for cricket. He won the award for Best Bowler on six occasions, helping Finch Hill to be a dominant force in Manx cricket in the process. He represented the Isle of Man as a player and later as an official for over four decades. He served as IOMCA secretary, treasurer, and two terms as chairman, ensuring the game moved with the times and stayed relevant in a changing world. Ian was a key figure in developing the close relationship with the MCC, and manager of the successful Isle of Man team that won the Victoria International Six-a-Side competition in Canada. Ian’s love for the game was immeasurable, and his infectious personality endeared him to all he met. His sudden death in July this year was a sad day for Manx cricket. A huge thank you to the Tomlinson family for receiving the award and for Jamie who spoke so poignantly about his father and his love for the game.
Celebration of Cricket 2021
The end of season Celebration of Cricket will be taking place on Sunday 21st November starting at 4 o'clock at Cronkbourne Cricket Club. The second part of the Celebration of Cricket will involve presentation of junior and senior league winners and volunteer award winners. The volunteer awards are aimed at recognising and rewarding volunteers who give so much of their time to supporting and growing cricket on the Isle of Man. The awards include Lifetime Services to Cricket award, Young Volunteer of the Year award, Club Volunteer of the Year award and Services to Cricket award and the nominees and winners (who will be chosen by an independent panel) will be announced during the evening.
IOMCA Volunteer Awards 2020
Young Volunteer of the Year Nominees: Sam Barnett - Finch Hill CC, Spencer Clarke - Finch Hill CC, Carl Hartmann - Crosby CC, Caitlin Henery - Ramsey CC, Josh Kewley - Finch Hill CC, Bliss Murtagh - Cronkbourne CC and IOMCA, Tom Ward - Ramsey CC and Nathan Williams - IOMCA. Winner: Carl Hartmann - Crosby CC Carl is a vital junior member of Crosby Cricket Club assisting the Committee in various aspects and he plays an integral role in the transition from junior to senior league cricket in the club. This year, as Carl moved to U16 with no weekly junior cricket, Carl did all the pre-season mowing of the field in preparation for the season during Covid and the majority thereafter once the season got underway. He assisted in the pitch marking and field set up for home games he played in and various junior matches he attended. Carl also volunteered for all club fund raisers, E2E marshalling, bag packing and assisting with the club quiz doing the raffle. He has also assisted coaches for the last 3 years at the Manx Youth Games and managed the majority of the club iPad’s for match set up, scoring and submission of results
Club Volunteer of the Year Nominees: Brendan Bennett- Peel & St Johns CC. Janelle Clarke - Finch Hill CC, Tom Moffatt - Ramsey CC, Adam Page - Ramsey CC, Tom Reader - Ramsey CC, Fiona Roome - Castletown CC and Claude Spencer - Cronkbourne CC. Winner: Janelle Clarke - Finch Hill CC.
If ever a person deserved an award for their efforts as a volunteer working tirelessly behind the scenes of a Manx cricket club it is Janelle. She has three children all playing for our different teams and supports them to the maximum (naturally), helps organise our junior section and Manx Youth Games, assists the senior captains with team selection and player availability, liaises with the IOMCA with regard to fixtures, coordinates with our groundsman regarding pitch preparation, scores most of the games she watches (including for the IOM 1st XI in Guernsey), sits on our committee as club welfare officer, participates in the ladies cricket events, is webmaster for our Play Cricket page and club website, and is basically the oil that keeps Finch Hill CC wheels turning. Sadly this season we haven’t been treated to her excellent cricket teas on Saturdays but we live in hope for next year.
Services to Cricket Nominees: Joe Arnold - Ramsey CC, Jenny Barnett - Finch Hill CC, Kathryn Clough - Cronkbourne CC, Martyn Howard - Ramsey CC, David Kenworthy - Castletown CC & IOM Umpires Association, Dave Picken - Crosby CC, Mark Williams - Castletown CC. Winner: Mark Williams - Castletown CC.
Mark was nominated by a number of individuals from Castletown CC who wished to express their thanks to Mark Williams for being a mentor and role model to their children over the last few seasons. They owe an enormous debt of thanks and gratitude to him and would like to nominate him for his role as an outstanding servant to Castletown CC over the year Lifetime Services to Cricket Nominees: Neill Angus - Castletown & IOMCA, Roy Corlett - Finch Hill CC, Peter Crompton - Cronkbourne CC & IOMCA, Craig Hartmann - Crosby CC, Maurice Trace - IOMCA and Rob Webber - Ramsey CC. Neill Angus - Castletown CC & IOMCA.
Neill was a player for Castletown CC and he joined the club when they had only one senior team and no junior section. He was instrumental in the growth of Castletown CC to the club they are today with two teams on a Saturday and one each in the Forrester and Cain and six junior teams. He was also treasurer of Castletown CC for a number of years. Neill was Chairperson of the IOMCA for seven years and treasurer before that. He was hugely committed to his role as Chairperson even after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. He was instrumental in the Isle of Man joining the ICC and the huge benefits that has brought to the island cricket community. Committed to the development of cricket on the island for a huge number of years at club and association level. His vision has always been to see the growth of Castletown and Isle of Man cricket as a whole
New IOMCA Volunteer Awards 2020
The IOMCA decided after this unprecedented year to initiate a series of awards to say thank you to volunteers. These annual awards are aimed at recognising and rewarding volunteers who give so much of their time to supporting and growing cricket on the Isle of Man.
The awards include - Lifetime Services to Cricket Award - this award recognises those individuals who have made an outstanding difference to their cricket club, league or local cricket community over a significant number of years. Young Volunteer of the Year Award - this award is for under 18s and is designed to highlight and show the fantastic contribution that young volunteers make within the game. Club Volunteer of the Year Award - this award recognises the special volunteer that every club simply couldn’t do without. This individual often undertakes a number of different roles within the club which are generally behind the scenes and they are always there to lend a hand whenever needed. Services to Cricket Award - this award is for those individuals who are providing vision and direction in growing the game often outside of the traditional roles within a club.
All nominees were invited to attend the end of year Celebration of Isle of Man Cricket event at The Crosby Pub on the 11th October. and the winners chosen by an independent panel will be announced during the evening.