Congratulations to the award winners from the 2022 MPJFL Presentation Night!
Last Friday night, on the eve of the 2022 White Division Grand Finals, we hosted our annual Presentation Awards Night, to celebrate the achievements of clubs, individuals, volunteers and umpires within the MPJFL.
The night was held at the New Peninsula Centre, and it was great to be back at the full capacity venue after a couple years away due to covid.
A special thankyou goes out to our guest speakers, Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne Football Club) and Jacob Weitering (Carlton Football Club), for attending the evening, as well as Jordyn Allen (Collingwood Football Club). All three players begun their footballing career within the MPJFL, and it was great for our next generation of stars to gain an insight into their journey to the elite level.
The top 10 vote getters for each age group were invited to attend the evening, along with all award winners.
The night featured a vote count for each age group, running through Rounds 13 & 14 before a break, and then finishing the count with Rounds 15 & 16.
Please click the below links for a full leaderboard for each age group:
As well as the League Best & Fairest Awards, Presentation Night is our time to congratulate and thank our hard-working volunteers on a terrific season, with a number of different award categories. Please see below a list of these award winners:
Club Awards
Best Conducted Club – Rosebud JFC
Championship Club – South Mornington JFC
Umpire Awards
Best First Year Umpire – Dakota Litchfield
Most Outstanding Umpire – Olivia Keogh
Golden Whistle – Benn Eccleston
Volunteer Awards
Junior Coach of the Year – Craig Christie – Dromana JFC
Youth Coach of the Year – Michael Giarrusso – Rosebud JFC
Female Coach of the Year – Ella Hilton – Rosebud JFC
Trainer of the Year – Chantel Taylor – Somerville JFC
Interleague Coach Awards (Carnival Champions)
Under 14 Girls Division 1 – Cam Price (Balnarring JFC)
Under 16 Boys – Jamie McPherson (Rye JFC)
Under 14 Girls Division 2 – David Simmonds (Tyabb JFC)
Under 14 Division 2 – Jim Scown (Tyabb JFC)
Under 16 Girls Division 2 – Marc Bressan (Mount Martha JFC)
Presentation Night is also our opportunity to award players from the MPJFL who have represented our league and their club with distinction throughout their junior careers. We call this award the MPJFL Hall of Fame, with the recipients added to our list of Hall of Fame players for the years to come. These players are presented with a framed interleague guernsey, along with photos of their journey with the MPJFL and their particular club. To be added to the Hall of Fame players must have played over 100 games entirely with the MPJFL, represented the league within our interleague program, and represented their club with respect and integrity throughout their career. This year, the following players were recipients of this award:
Harley Boles – South Mornington
Kai Marshall – South Mornington
Amber Haslem – Balnarring
Pax Sheffield-Gunn – Somerville
Riley Cazaly – South Mornington
Skye Mitchell – Rye/Sorrento Waves
Charlie Bell – South Mornington
Harry Van Raay – South Mornington
This year, we also inducted our first umpire into the MPJFL Hall of Fame – Steven Brindle
Steven has been a long-time umpire within the MPJFL and MPNFL, umpiring over 1200 games. Steve’s contribution to our game, and football on the peninsula, has been immense, having served over 25 years on the club executive committee at Dromana JFC (12 as President), and also 10 years at the executive level for the MPJFL. We thank Steve for his efforts and congratulate him on his extensive list of achievements within our league.
This year the MPJFL also added a new Life Member – Stephen Burt. Stephen has played an integral role within the MPJFL for a number of years now, beginning as the President of the Mount Martha Junior Football Club, before transitioning into a role on the MPJFL Executive Committe. Stephen initiated the MPJFL ‘Keep Your Cool’ program and has led the MPJFL Integrity Department as the Integrity Officer for the last few years. Congratulations to Stephen on this achievement and thank you for your years of service to junior football on the Mornington Peninsula.
Each year the MPJFL awards a Mark of the Year Trophy, which is sponsored by our official trophy suppliers – C&D Trophies. This year’s winner of the MPJFL Mark of the Year Award was Harry Dobson of the Red Hill Junior Football Club. Harry took the winning mark during this year’s Tasmania Tour, against the Northern Tasmania Junior Football Association. C&D Trophies supplied all of the awards for the Presentation Night, if you are looking for a community minded, reliable trophy provider, please get in touch with them.
Congratulations to all award winners, and also to the participants and volunteers who received an invitation to the presentation evening. As always, a special thankyou goes out to Gary Bradshaw and his team for capturing the special moments for the award winners on the night.
2022 Mark of the Year – Harry Dobson (Red Hill JFC)
