The NUI Galway 2010 Sports Awards were announced and presented at a special ceremony last night (Thursday, 25 March) in the Ardilaun House Hotel, Galway. It was a successful year for NUI Galway sport that included many International caps for students, a Fitzgibbon Cup win in Hurling and a narrow loss in the Collingwood Cup for Soccer. The individual award winners include Tipperary Hurler, Seamus Hennessy, Irish Women's Rugby back row from Mayo, Carol Staunton and Galway Footballer Gareth Bradshaw. Mary O Riordan, Vice-President for the Student Experience at NUI Galway, said: "Each year NUI Galway recognises the outstanding contribution of individual student athletes across many diverse sporting disciplines for their achievements in sport. This year's awards ceremony has been extended to reflect not only the achievements of individual students but also the contribution of the sports clubs to campus life and the importance of participation by all students in sport and recreation". Sports Connect, a leadership programme which culminated in a partnership between Sports Clubs, NUI Galway Alumni Office, the Student Volunteering programme (ALIVE), the Career Development Service and Student Services, was also recognised at the ceremony. Sandra Butler chair of the Alumni Board presented the Award to the winners the Ladies Hockey Club. The guest of honour for the evening was the recently retired Head of Sport at NUI Galway, Tony Regan. Tony instigated the sports awards in 1983 and it was appropriate that his enormous contribution, dedication and enthusiasm for more than 30 years be recognised by the University. A former Roscommon footballer he has also been a leading coach and trainer, who supported the development of sport in NUI Galway as well as numerous successful sporting careers. In spite of his retirement Tony continues to provide support to sport in NUI Galway. He was a selector for the NUI Galway Hurling team that ended its 30 year wait for a Fitzgibbon Cup win and who won the team award in this years NUI Galway Sports awards. The Club Captains Award recognises the enormous contribution of individual students to the successful running of sports clubs. The first recipients of these awards were David O'Reilly-Healy, a third year Commerce student as Snow Sports Captain and Jose Ramirez who is a second year Arts student and Captain of the Muay Thai Club. Most Improved Sports Club Recognition was awarded to the Badminton Club who raised the profile of their club through increasing student numbers, evaluating training methods and providing that key element of fun in all their training sessions. Sporting life on campus is not just for the Elite performers and this is reflected in the Outstanding Recreational Participation Award which was awarded to Frank Quinn, a second year Science student for his outstanding contribution to the development of Futsal. The Outstanding Recreational Participation Team Award was received by a team of postgraduate students known as the Red Devils captained by Neil Mc Donald. This year's Sports Awards recipients are:

• Archery: Joe Gill, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
• Athletics: Eilish Fitzpatrick, Newmarket, Co. Cork (First year Biomedical Physics)
• Boxing: Colin Whitla, Barna, Co.Galway (First year Engineering)
• Camogie: Attracta McPeake, Lavey Co. Derry (Third year Speech and Language Therapy)
• Hurling: Seamus Hennessy, Cloughjordan Co. Tipperary (Second year Science)
• Ladies Gaelic Football: Sarah Conneely, Dunmore, Co. Galway (First year Arts)
• Men's Gaelic Football: Gareth Bradshaw, Moycullen Co.Galway (Third year Arts)
• Mountaineering: Louis Mulloy, Westport, Co. Mayo (First year Engineering)
• Men's Soccer: Martin Conneely, Casla Co. Galway
• Ladies Rugby: Carol Staunton, Westport, Co. Mayo (Postgraduate Arts)
• Surfing: Ollie Flaherty, Lahinch, Co. Clare (Second year Earth and Ocean Sciences)
• Windsurfing: Katie McAnena, Salthill, Galway (Medicine)
• Team Award: Senior Hurling Fitzgibbon Cup Team.
• Team Award: Sailing
• Participation Award: Frank Quinn
• Club Captains Award: David O Reilly Healy Snow Sports, Foxrock, Dublin (Third Commerce)
• Club Captains Award: Jose Ramirez Muay Thai, Scariff, Co.Clare
• Most Improved Club Award: Badminton Club

ENDS