A Night To Remember At 2023 Presentation Evening

The 2023 Presentation Evening was a night to remember with more than 375 people in attendance to celebrate the individual and team winners in what has been another incredible year for the club.

More than 260 awards were presented across Tribal League, National League, Local League & Community categories. The awards were presented by Rachel Oates of JSC Electrics, Dave Smith of Ryze Agency and Andy Thomas of CIPHER Medical.

Stephanie Riddiough, the winner of the 2022 Supporter of Year presented Luke Mitchell with the Fans Player of Year Trophy.

Luke Mitchell, Josh Thomson, Ben Grimes & Sophie Simms were the big winners on the night after stellar seasons. Their consistency both at training and games were also key considerations.

While the nominations in comparison were few and the winners fewer still, there were many who did not win and while this is unfortunate, it can be the driving force to further development and progression if channelled in the right way.

This was not only for the junior players but also for the senior National League team with Aaren Smith missing out on any awards. Smith has been one of, if not the best players since joining the club in February and had he been with the team for the whole season he would most certainly have been pushing Luke Mitchell for the accolades.

There were others such as Theo Thomson who was a prolific winner of many awards in 2022 and only one individual honour this year. The U12 group, especially those transitioning into National League is a difficult one as they are no longer in the community group and are now competing with established national league players.

The promotion of dominant players from the Mini League to Junior League also affected some players, but it is much more important that they are challenged in the right league and other Mini players are able to step up from out of the shadows.

The resilience developed through disappointment will make players better, and everyone at the club is looking forward to witnessing this progression over the Summer.

A full photo album of the evening can be viewed on Teesside Lions Facebook page.

The full list of nominations and winners can be viewed by clicking link below:

https://teessidelions.com/uplo...