The University of East London celebrated another great year of sporting success at their annual Sports Awards at Indigo at the O2 on Wednesday night.
Professor Amanda Broderick welcomed students and unveiled UEL's impressive new branding, while extolling the virtues of quality education, before director of sport Matt Tansley highlighted some of the achievements of the academic year.
Tansley gave special mention to the men's and women's basketball teams, the women's football team and countless individual medals, including a third successive gold medal for the men's 4x100m relay squad at the BUCS Indoor Athletics Championships.
"The power of sport is there for all to see," said Tansley, who spoke of students delivering sessions to 200 pupils from Gallions Primary and how a happy, healthy active lifestyle was so important and of plans to grow the community to reach 10,000 pupils by 2028.
Tansley thanked UEL students for being an inspiration and motivation and revealed his immense pride at their success. "I've got the best job, the UEL Sports team give everything," he added, while greeting colleagues, partners and guests as 'a community with sport at its heart'.
Then began the awards ceremony, with Daniela Bishop and Tijde Visser taking Sport & Exercise Science student of the year prizes, as Emily Marie Piazza was named the Sports Management student of the year.
Broderick handed out service to sport awards to Sam Few, Adam Payne, Alvie Lyn Co, Jasmin Hladkij, Ailsa McDonald, Isaac Charles, Mohamed Sheikhnor and Laura Pakenham, while British and Commonwealth boxing champion Lawrence Okolie, a former UEL student, made a short address.
Okolie, who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics and has his sights set on becoming world champion, spoke of how Tansley had given him a sport scholarship at the age of 18, which led to him becoming an Olympian, and told the current cohort to always work hard, keep believing in themselves and believing in their 'sauce' in a nod to his own nickname.
He then handed out international excellence awards to Livinia Da Silva (basketball), Juan Diaz (baseball), Ibby Akani (football), Saidou Khan (football), Gina Akpe-Moses (athletics) and Faris Ben-Lamkadem (jiu jitsu).
The British Basketball League and Cup winners London Lions were named Partner of the Year, with coach Vince Macauley and marketing director Lolly Marlborough receiving the award from Khai Riley-La Borde, and UEL's club of the year award went to the Boat Club, while hockey took the most improved club award and the men's basketball walked off with team achievement of the year after reaching the BUCS Premier final.
Canoeist Chris Bowers received the Mike Brace CBE award for individual achievement from former Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu MBE, while the UEL Sports charity award went to the rugby squad who raised £541 for CALM.
Meanwhile, the UEL Sports tournament winners were Shepherds, following a host of intra-mural competitions over the course of the year.
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