Trinity Basketball Club, Trinity Camogie Club and Trinity Volleyball Club have dominated the 2019/20 Sports Awards, combining to sweep up all awards but one.
The award ceremony would usually have been held at a venue to include a three-course meal along with guest speakers from the sporting community. But as with most live events these days, the pandemic left us with a prerecorded Zoom webinar instead.
Trinity Meteors star and Irish basketball phenom Edel Thornton was the recipient of the most prestigious award on offer – Trinity’s Sportsperson of the Year.
Thornton, with her experience playing in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament for Quinnipiac University, was an unstoppable force and leader for both the Meteors and Trinity’s intervarsity team last season. Her talent was key in seeing the Meteors gain promotion to the Super League.
Thornton was also instrumental in the women’s varsity team’s success which earned Trinity Basketball the club of the year award. Their women’s varsity team went the whole season undefeated – a season which also saw them top their conference and win the NBCC All Ireland Division 1 league. The club’s women’s freshers team won the Fresher Plate.
Trinity Men’s Basketball also had a successful season, earning promotion to Division 3 of the intervarsity league.
The fabled former Trinity Men’s Basketball player Manus Darby was handed the alum of the year award, capping off for Trinity Basketball a massively successful showing at the awards ceremony.
Laura Stack, a nominee for sportsperson of the year, was awarded with last season’s performance of the year. Stack, the clear MVP for Trinity Camogie all throughout the season, stepped it up a notch when it mattered most. In the Fr. Meaghair Cup final, Stack put the team on her back, scoring a phenomenal 12 of Trinity’s 13 scores to see off University College Dublin.
For their championship in the Fr. Meaghair Cup, Trinity Camogie were also recognised as team of the year.
Trinity Volleyball saw plenty of successes as well, picking up three sports awards in total. Maria Jimenez secured the coach of the year award, Mark Escoto earned club administrator of the year and Simran Saini took home the volunteer of the year award for Trinity Volleyball Club.
Trinity Barbell were the only other club to be recognised with a sports award this year. They scooped best social media campaign of the year for their efforts in growing the female powerlifting team.
Five Trinity student athletes were also awarded with Pinks. Distributed annually since 1950, the Pinks are bestowed by Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC) to student athletes who have shown outstanding individual merit – in much the same vein as a ‘Blue’ is allocated in Oxford and Cambridge. Over 1,220 students have received the prestigious accolade since its inception.
Robbie Kearns from DU Equestrian Club, Diarmuid McGowan of DU Sub Aqua Club, Manon Nouvian of DU Fencing Club, and Conall Hayes and Muireann McGinley from the Dublin University Harriers and Athletics Club were the four recipients of the Pink awards this year.
