On November 7th, 2009 the Grizzlies faithful gathered at the Kangaroo & Kiwi's lavish lower ballroom to see who would take out the 2009 Jim "Trenerry" Best and Fairest award which is arguably the Pacific Northwests highest amatuer sports honor.
With new blood (Thanks Ed) taking charge on the always well received powerpoint presentation it was certainly a night to remember with some amusing awards along the way.
The evening kicked off with a year in review. A total of 49 players wore the Grizzlies jumper for 2009 for at least one game with 9 rookies being added to our list. After taking out the National Championship Division 2 title in 2008, we made the jump to Division 1 for 2009 and in the process had 7 new players on the squad for 2009 anf inished runners up to Denver in the Divison 1 National Championship game. 2009 was our biggest year of footy ever with 22 games being played (12 Interclub and 10 MetroFooty).
The first award of the night saw a brand new award given out - the "Johnny Fun-Pants Award" which although up against some stiff competition went to Johnny "Fun-Pants" McGinnity (pictured below). John was also a joint winner of the Coaches/Captains Award for 2009.
John "Fun-Pants" McGinnity with his newly embroided fun pants and his Coaches/Captains award.
The next award was for the Rookie of the Year, which was taken out by Greg Such who had a great first season and also brought post match beer from his Polish homeland.
Greg Such with his Rookie of the Year award.
In a tough new category of "Comeback of the Year", Chris Richmond managed to take out the award dubbed the "Rich Man" award after battling gout during the year and managing to play on.
Richo with his "Rich Man's" Award - obviously very happy about it.
The next award was for "Most Consistent" on the field which went to a player not unfamiliar with awards of the years, Jeff Purcell. Jeff was absent from the gala event so we do not have a photo of him accepting his prized trophy.
Even though he went out early in the season with an achilles injury, Eric Butler managed to take out the Clubman of the Year award.
After our biggest season ever of MetroFooty with 10 total games being played, there was certainly a lot of competition for the MetroFooty MVP which in the end went to Adam "Stinger" Cannane.
The Most Improved Award for 2009 went to Aran Parker who played great all season across the back line in our Interclub and MetroFooty matches.
Aran Parker with his Most Improved trophy.
In the next award of the evening Ed Fayette took out the Best Defender award after also having a great season in the back line.
Ed Fayette with his Best Defender award.
The Goal Kicking award was up next and for the 3rd season in a row it was taken out by the Grizzlies co-captain, Josh Anfinson.
Josh Anfinson with his 3rd Grizzlies Goal Kicking Award.
One of the most important awards from the standpoint of how we did at the National Championships in 2009 was awarded to Damon Wills after playing an amazing game at Nationals in a tagging role, holding his very experienced Australian opposition to only a few touches.
Damon Wills with his Best Game at Nationals Award.
Keeping to the Nationals theme, the next award was for the best player overall at Nationals. Accepting his second award of the evening was Adam Cannane who despite dislocating his shoulder in one of the games at Nationals, played on and helped to inspire the team.
The Coaches/Captains award for 2009 was split for the first time in Grizzlies history with Dan Choate and John McGinnity jointly taking out the award.
Dan Choate with his Captains/Coaches Award.
The final award for the evening was the 2009 Jim Trennery Best & Fairest award. After taking out both the MetroFooty MVP award and the Nationals MVP award, the deserving Adam Cannane made it three awards for the night. "Stinger" had a great season on the field while also helping to take the club to the next level with it's young new American recruits.
2009 Jim Trenerry Best & Fairest winner Adam "Stinger" Cannane, also with his MetroFooty MVP trophy and Nationals MVP trophy.
With the official awards over with, the speeches turned to thanking our great sponsors the Kangaroo & Kiwi Pub and Vitamin Water. Zach Johns also spoke about his upcoming trip (on November 9th) to Australia where he'll be pre-season training with the Claremont Tigers.
Finishing off the awards night, the Grizzlies awarded Walter Buck with a Life Memberhship award. Walter has played for the Grizzlies for over 10 years and has decided to retire and hang up the boots. Coach Donlen thanked him for his commitment over the years. The Grizzlies certainly hope that we will continue to see Walter around the club.
Walter Buck with his Life Membership Award.
All award winners from the night.
You can see all the above photos and more in our Photos page.