Ben Lampert, the UK’s only full-time deaf football coach was among the winners at this year’s UK Coaching Awards. The prestigious annual celebration of Great Coaching, which demonstrates the role coaching plays in transforming lives and inspiring an active nation, was held last night, Thursday 5 December, at The Tower Hotel, London. Ben, who works for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, took home the Changing Lives Award – supported by Sport England.
Through his Deaf Sports Plus project with the Trust, Ben breaks down barriers by providing free sporting activities to deaf children. That is in addition to working with hearing and deaf children in West London schools, where he coaches football and teaches sign language. New for 2019, the Changing Lives Award is awarded to a coach who is leading the way to empower, inspire and connect people from diverse communities to overcome life challenges using the power of Great Coaching.
Ben who is also Assistant Manager of the England deaf men’s football team, said: “Coaching is so different to playing. You need a whole host of different skills to coach. We’ve been running the deaf football scheme at Brentford (Community Sports Trust) for ten years and at first we struggled but you come to realise that sport is the same whoever takes part in it.”
The full winners on the night were:
Awards for Coaches:
Children and Young People’s Coach of the Year – supported by sportscotland
Sasha Moore (multi-sport, Stockport)
Community Coach of the Year – supported by Spond
Andrew Beech (multi-sport, London)
Changing Lives Award – supported by Sport England
Ben Lampert (football, London)
Talent Development Coach of the Year – supported by UK PCA
Danielle Brayson (swimming, Glasgow)
High Performance Coach of the Year – supported by UK Sport
Mel Marshall (swimming, Derby/Loughborough)
Young Coach of the Year – supported by Sport Wales
James Galt (football/futsal, Lancashire)
Coaching Moment of the Year – supported by Sports Journalists’ Association
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool FC – 4-0 win over Barcelona in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League semi-final
Lifetime Achievement Award
Judy Murray OBE (tennis)
The Coaching Chain
Ben Stokes (cricket) – Jon Gibson, John Windows, Geoff Cook, Andy Flower and Trevor Bayliss
Hannah Mills (sailing) - Anne Barrett, Ollie Green, Alan Williams and Joe Glanfield
Awards in Support of Coaches:
Coach Developer of the Year
Sue Ringrose (horse racing, Linconshire)
Transforming Coaching Award – supported by Believe Perform
Great Britain Hockey Coach Development Offer
Coaching for an Active Life Award
The Bulldogs (boxing, Port Talbot)
UK Coaching’s Director of Coaching, Emma Atkins said: “What a fantastic night. It has been such a privilege getting to meet so many inspirational coaches. The range of coaching talent in the UK is astonishing and the UK Coaching Awards offers us a chance to recognise the exceptional achievements of just a fraction.
“Whether it’s at community or world class level, Great Coaching is all about people – a great coach focuses on a participant’s character, their feelings and motivations to help them thrive. They create healthy and happy lives and in many cases, can even change the trajectory of someone’s life for the better. You cannot fail to be inspired by the finalists and winners at tonight’s Awards. Congratulations to all of them – and to the work of all coaches doing great work all over the UK”.