Coach of the Year Awards 2024 Announced at BAFCA Conference

At the BAFCA Conference held in Loughborough in early July, ten coaches were recognised for their hard work, dedication, and innovation within their specific discipline. All the nominations for each category can be seen in the graphics below and the winners were announced as part of the BAFCA Celebration Evening.

Let's get started and review each category and the nominees before announcing the winners, using the graphics created by BAFA/BAFCA.

Innovative Coach of the Year

As teams and organisations look to gain a competitive advantage, the use of modern-day technology and facilities keeps seeing our sport grow! Whether it is hosting online clinics or combined training sessions for a positional ground, some coaches continue to elevate and excel at what they do.

The overall winner has created a wide receiver specific coaching school that holds sessions each month. These sessions focus on route running, catching skills, releases, and much more. The winner of Innovative Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Dave Gibbs - Dangerous WR Camps

Futures Coach Award

This award is given to coaches who are still very new in their careers and spans every discipline with British American Football. The winner of this award is both young in years and experience, but the experience he does have is the envy of a lot! First of all, to come through the Yorkshire Academy is a great experience but then to be part of the University of Nottingham setup raises that bar even further! Now part of the Manchester Titans and Great Britain programme, there is no telling how far, and how successful, this coach could be! The winner of the Futures Coach Awards 2024 is -

Eliot Hutton - Manchester Titans

Engagement Coach of the Year

The engagement coach of the year is someone who helps attract new participants to American Football or has delivered a new programme which has allowed people to take part where they not have done previously. This award spans all formats of the sport and the winner mostly spends his time around flag football for youngsters in the U11, U14, U16, and U17 formats. The winner of the Engagement Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Dave Winter - Nuneaton Jaguars

Women's Coach of the Year

This award goes to a coach who plys their trade in the Women's game. With several teams stepping up from 7s to 9s this year, this coach has helped guide one of those teams through their journey, both playing and coaching, as well as being a qualified referee too. The winner of the Women's Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Benita Grant - Peterborough Royals

Youth Football Coach of the Year

The Youth Football Coach of the Year spans all age group football from under 13's through to under 19s. This coach also works with other disciplines but the work he has done with his U19 team in the past couple of years is remarkable. He led his team to an undefeated season, up until the immovable object met the unstoppable force in the Final. The winner of the Youth Football Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Sean Endicott - Nottingham Caesars U19's

Flag Coach of the Year

With the introduction of Flag Football into the Olympics, you might see more and more focus being put on this format in years to come. The overall winner of this award is involved with several different programmes in several different roles. This is why he was nominated in the first place and why he eventually won the award outright. The winner of the Flag Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Neil Henderson - GB Youth Flag & South Coast Spitfires

BUCS Coach of the Year

Some coaches only coach within the BUCS Season and this award recognises those across any division. This coach stepped up to become the Head Coach last off-season and in her first season, got the team promoted from Div 2 up to Div 1. She has done all this while playing for her country and doing her day job! The winner of the BUCS Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Georgia Teague - Brighton Panthers

Adult Coach of the Year

This award spans all divisions of the Adult Contact league and the winner managed to get their team promoted from Division 2 up to Division 1 ahead of this summer's action. He led his offense to some staggering numbers which helped the team remain undefeated all season, finishing with a 55-point performance in the Division 2 Bowl game. The winner of the Adult Contact Coach of the Year 2024 is -

Adam Lillis - East Kent Mavericks

Lifetime Achievement Award

This award recognises the hard work and dedication a particular coach has given and still may be giving, to the sport in general. The winner of the award this year has currently amassed 40+ of experience both at a domestic level and also on a European and International level. He isn't content with developing his players, coaches and organisation, he has also started up an online platform which shares best practices, and hosts webinars for other coaches to share/learn their trade. The winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 -

Riq Ayub - London Olympians & ShareTheKnowledge

Coaches Coach of the Year

Arguably this is the most prestigious award of the year. There is nothing more fulfilling than receiving recognition from their peers. This award spans the previous 12 months and is voted for by coaches at any level across all disciplines of British American Football. Over the last year, the winner of this award has coached Offensive Line at various age groups and levels. He has set up an independent OL coaching school and offers specialist sessions as well as coaching at GB level as well. He is also still hungry to learn and travels to continue his personal development to ensure he offers the best knowledge he can to his athletes. The winner of the Coaches Coach of the Year 2024 -

Kev Keohane - GB Adults & U17s & OLUK Academy

Everyone at Inside Britball wishes to recognise the outstanding work done by all nominees for each award and congratulate and celebrate the 10 overall winners in each category. This event showcases the plethora of talented coaching across the UK, at every level and discipline of the game. We hope this awards evening continues to grow and we see more categories and more winners at next year's conference.