Club News

---

Elaine McCaffrey wins UK Volunteer of the Year!

---

05 Dec 2007

The UK Athletics Awards 2007, which recognise the people that help to make athletics a winning sport at all levels, were announced at a glittering dinner on Saturday 1 December at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.

Over 300 people from all walks of the sport attended the dinner, supported by Heidsieck & Co Monopole Champagne, which was the culmination of a series of Regional and National award presentations across the UK held in partnership with England Athletics, Scottish Athletics, Welsh Athletics and the Athletics Northern Ireland.

Olympic medallist and broadcaster Katharine Merry hosted the evening and following a five-course meal the audience was treated to the humorous anecdotes and stories of former Derbyshire and England cricketer Geoff Miller.

Nick Hyde (Managing Director of Heidsieck & Co Monopole Champagne in the UK) then joined Katharine on stage to say a few words and present magnums of champagne to each of the category winners.

It turned out to be a successful night for Northern Ireland when Elaine McCaffrey won the UK Volunteer of the Year!

Elaine McCaffrey, who incidentally is the new Athletics Northern Ireland North West Development Officer, received ‘Young Volunteer’ for her work with Abbey AC, University of Ulster and involvement in Athletics NI initiatives while juggling the demands of final year in university and competing at a high standard.

Volunteer of the Year
-Steve Bosley (Services to Club Development Winner in London Region)
-Elaine McCaffery (Young Volunteer of the Year in Northern Ireland)
-Sandra Naylor (Club Volunteer of the Year in Yorkshire & Humberside Region

Elaine starts her new job at Athletics Northern Ireland today as North West Development Officer.


Background:

Elaine has been involved in athletics in Northern Ireland for the past 14 years. She started her athletic career as a cross-country and roadrunner, only later to discover her forte lay in sprinting.

Since this discovery she has competed for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Youth Games, and competed for Ireland at the World University Games and European Cup in her chosen disciplines of 400m and 4x400m relay. At the European Cup in Prague 2006 she was a member of the Irish Senior women’s 4x400m relay squad who set a new national record, breaking the record last set at the Sydney Olympics.

She is currently the Captain of Abbey Athletics Club and successfully captained the ladies team to three consecutive Irish League titles and brought home both gold and silver medals from the European Club Championships in Turkey 2006.

She studied at the University of Ulster for four years and received a BSc Honours Degree in Physiotherapy in 2007. During this time she won multiple Irish University titles for UU and was also a member of the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland and a UU Sport Scholar.

Elaine currently has a UKA Level 2 Coaching licence and has been coaching with the NIAF for 3 years. She hopes to progress to a UKA Level 3 coach and also become a UKA coaching tutor.

Her aims within her role in the NIAF are to give something back to athletics in Northern Ireland as she believes the sport brought her immense enjoyment and success and helped to shape her into the person she is today. She would like to encourage other youngsters to be involved in athletics and use it to strengthen their self-confidence, thus preparing them for their future.

Elaine is currently the Irish Senior 400m Indoor Champion and her personal athletic goal this year is to be a member of the Women’s 4x400m Relay squad at the Beijing Olympics 2008.