Wolverhampton university students celebrate sporting achievements

The ceremony celebrated the sporting success and talent across the university seen in its athletes, volunteers, scholars and coaches.

Based in the Chancellor’s Hall at the University’s City Campus, WLV Sport came together for the first time since the pandemic to celebrate, cheer and reflect on the achievements over the past year.

Students and staff scooped awards across ten categories, including Scholar of the Year, Team of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Sports activator of the Year, Unsung Hero and many more.

James Dale, interim head of sport at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “It’s been fantastic to celebrate a year of sport with students and staff across the University of Wolverhampton.

“From volunteers to Olympians, we cover a range of awards to try and encapsulate the talent we have here at the university.

“I could not be more proud of the students we are celebrating this evening. We’re going to be sad to see some of them leaving us this year as they go on to graduate but at the same time, really proud that we've had an impact on their life and I have no doubt that will go on to be very successful in their careers.”

This year’s award winners are:

• Coach of the year - Kai Beckford and Benjamin Larrington

• Team of the year – WLV Judo

• Captain of the year – Adeola Diya

• Sports Personality of the year – Landry Mayinga

• Club of the year – WLV Basketball

• Scholar of the year – Lucy Renshall

• Volunteer of the year – Kieran Lee

• Sports Activator of the year – Joshua Witchard

• Outstanding Contribution to Sport and Physical Activity – Javaniea Watson

• Unsung Hero – Fitzroy Davies

• WLV Sports Awards 2022 Kai & Benji

Award-winner Benjamin Larrington, who coaches football alongside his studies in accounting and finance, said: “Sport is one of the most important things you can get involved in at uni. The team here takes it very seriously and occasions like this make you feel proud, important, and appreciated.

“The Sports Awards is the one night of the year that all sports teams get together to celebrate. For me, winning the award is a big achievement because you never know whether what you're doing is having a positive impact on others and it feels so nice to be given that recognition.”

Rachel Hall, part of the award-winning WLV Judo team, said: “This is my first Sports Awards and I have really enjoyed it. The atmosphere has been brilliant everyone's been really supportive of each other - cheers and big rounds of applause when everyone got their awards – a really special night overall.

“It was such a surprise when we were announced as winners, the team certainly deserved it following the success at BUCS but there was a lot of talent in the room today and I’m really proud of the team to have landed an award.”