BASINGSTOKE MAYOR WITH ROTARY SPORT AWARDS FOR SPORT INSPIRATION

The Mayor of Basingstoke & Deane, Cllr Colin Philimore who initiated a sports award program which was introduced during the Rotary Sport Family Festival of July, hosted the award winners at his parlour recently, where he formally presented the Award certificates to them, assisted by the President of Rotary Sport International, RiS Dr Tunde Adelakun.

The ceremony which was held on 12 July was a culmination of the nominations made by members of the public for excellence and inspiration, in a campaign fronted by Rotary Sport.

At the ceremony, Mayor Philimore extolled the good works of the awardees and the fact that many recognised them and deemed them fit for the awards, and praised the continued effort of Rotary Sport in their efforts to keep Basingstoke on the map and keep the sporting tradition going.

The awardees – David Graham, Secretary of the Basingstoke Chess Club – was nominated by a real handful of people, and reading some of the words of the nominees, Mayor Philimore said ‘David was not only a Club Secretary but also a stalwart figure in inspiring young chess players, some as young as 6-7 years old, to play and stay in the thought-invoking sport that needs a fair bit of reasoning and concentration’.

As for the second awardee, Tarik Bilgic, a coach in Jiu Jitsu, founder of the Urso Jiu Jitsu club, a martial arts sport which teaches the art of self defence and composure. Over 50 people voted for Tarik, some of whom said he was ‘consistent in hard work and dedication, has a huge effect on discipline, fundraising and philantrophy. A truly unsung hero who also helps the society, who does not accept praise or reward because he does what he loves, and loves what he does’.

Rotary Sport President Dr ‘Tunde, in his comments, stated that the Club was committed to doing the best it can to always celebrate sporting excellence. He thanked the Mayor and congratulated the awardees on the work they have done which made numerous people recognise and nominate them for the said awards.

“We are determined to make a habit of this, to continue to unearth hidden talent, unsung heroes and elite performers on a regular basis. Awards are good, they inspire others, and make the awardee feel wanted and appreciated. This will be a regular occurrence and many more sports stars will benefit from this in the coming months’, Dr ‘Tunde said.

Mayor Philimore and David Graham reminisced over the past, and expressed hope that the initiatives of Rotary Sport will start to reshape the future of Basingstoke town and make ‘our town a sporting town, as it used to be’.