Celebrating success in the sun
Nestling neatly between the end of a supremely successful season and the start of the Euros, Eagles presentation night was once again, in a league of its own.
Firstly, thanks to the sun for coming off the bench in the nick of time to make its customary awards-evening appearance after event organisers spent the afternoon looking skywards for signs of light while sheltering from the wind and rain.
And it was just as well it did, because with more than 800 Eagles coming along to St Stephen’s Primary School to join in the celebrations, we definitely needed to show any dark clouds the red card!
Trophies and tournaments
With the weather onside, Eagles co-chair Tony Payne things kicked-off just after 4pm with players from across our 23 teams coming up to the ‘stage’ to be recognised for their contribution to the season with an individually named squad trophy.
As is tradition, each team also chose its ‘Manager’s Player’, ‘Most Improved Player’, ‘Supporters’ Player’ and ‘Players’ Player’. This year, alongside these four categories, a new ‘Respect’ trophy was awarded to the squad member who most displayed club values, respect to others, and encouragement of teammates throughout the season.
The running order went up in age groups from our youngest teams of U8s right up to the U16s, and with most managers doing too good a job at sticking to their 7-minutes max on the mic, the event was miraculously running ahead of time. So much so that our U12s girls made their allocated time slot by the skin of their teeth as they’d been busy winning a tournament in Kennington – fantastic effort on both fronts girls!
Once they’d collected their awards, all teams headed over to have their photo taken by super snapper Stuart in front of a lovely letter-light Eagles sign – a very attractive addition to this year’s presentation proceedings! (There are hundreds of pics available to view on the club’s parents and carers Facebook site.)
Finally to the founders’ cup
Each year the club chairs select a special someone to receive The Founder’s Trophy. This is a cup that formally recognises a volunteer who’s shown exceptional dedication to the cause over the season, and the 2023/24 award went to the excellent Nathan Hunt.
Congratulations to Nathan, who’s not only the manager of the U9 Romans, but also heads up the club’s marketing and media function, and contributes to every committee meeting, event, and social occasion too!
Everyone’s a winner at an Eagles event!
As well as an award for every player, there was free ice cream for all the kids, a prize-packed tombola and club merch stall (which between them raised more than £800 for the club, so thank you to all who contributed to that amazing total), a well-visited burger van, and the annual all-ages match on the school’s lower field.
Glory to the u13 Girls
In terms of silverware, the 2023/24 season was Canterbury Eagles most successful ever, and with the event wrapping up with a huge cheer for the title-winning U13 girls’ team, we might need to invest some of the presentation-night proceeds in a bigger trophy cabinet.
So, bobble hats off to everyone who attended, and to all our volunteers who helped set the event up, hosted it, organised the 500+ trophies, managed the promotions, supervised the gate, kept everyone safe, ran the tombola and merchandise stand, and did the zillion other jobs that need to be done to make such a large-scale event happen!
Thanks also to anyone who donated a prize, and to our sponsors who continue to support our teams to play the beautiful game each season.
Enjoy the summer break and we’ll see you soon for another season of football, friends, and fun.
Fancy being a volunteer too?
We have lots of ways to get involved, from becoming a highly prized fixtures secretary (games can’t go ahead without them), to signing up to be a welfare officer (essential for the club to keep going), or a registration and membership officer (we’re growing and so is the need to fill this role), see Club Roles for more available roles, and more information.
Photography by Stuart Woods @zerothreephotography
