Fran Gamble, Junior Manager at Stone Hockey Club, has won the BBC’s Unsung Hero of the Year Award for the West Midlands for going above and beyond with the junior players.
Thanks to Stone Hockey Club for sharing details of Fran’s amazing achievements with us.
Fran was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality Unsung Hero Award by Anna Wright and a group of parents whose children attend the club.
Her nomination stated how Fran has an amazing ability of making young people feel welcome and wanted in the sport of Hockey, irrelevant of background or ability.
She has been involved at SHC for over 10 years and in that time numbers of young players have increased by a massive 200%. She is loved so much by both players and parents… but why?
Fran dedicates her life to giving young people access to hockey. In completely her own time she gives hours and hours each week for training sessions, matches and junior tournaments. Every week, no matter what the weather, she runs multiple training sessions for different age groups. On a Saturday, she has two sometimes three matches for young players that she coaches and manages, as well as playing for her own team. She also manages junior tournaments all over the region on a Sunday, often hosting the tournaments at our club.
Fran has a lovely ability to think outside the box when players are feeling troubled or having a tough time. Where young people are feeling insecure, she awards them with ‘star of the week’ or ‘top player’ awards. Where young people are emotional or angry, she nurtures them and encourages them to become sports leaders or train as umpires.
Indeed, many players that started playing aged 7 or 8 are now, 10 years on, umpiring the games that she is managing and coaching. This led her to develop a Sports Leaders Programme where players are trained to help younger players, developing their own skills in coaching and building confidence. Fran also organises a presentation event each year to ensure every young person feels valued. She presents medals, trophies and prizes to anyone and everyone she can. It is a massive boost to their self-esteem. Fran’s motto is ‘be the best you can be…’ she believes there is something for everyone in hockey regardless of age or ability.
Not happy with helping just the young people of our Club, Fran has started a ‘Back to Hockey’ scheme where parents and grandparents are encouraged to have a go! Some parents now play in club teams. She also organises parents versus children matches, which are hilarious to watch!
Wanting to attract even more younger players, Fran implemented England Hockey’s ‘Hockey Heroes’ program where children aged 5-6, are taught hockey following a superhero theme, with special capes and powers. The children love it! The instructors are the players who she coached 10 years ago who are now giving something back to the club.
The young people Fran has coached have developed into excellent players with Stone HC’s U18’s (Most of whom have been coached by Fran at the younger age groups) progressing to the 2021 National Final in Nottingham.
BUT…
There is more to sport than sport!
This nomination is not just about hockey… during lockdown, many young players felt cut off and emotionally down. Fran set about making fun videos of hockey challenges to do in their own back garden. Watching each other and parents playing hockey kept some of our young people going at a very difficult time.
During lockdown, the list of events that she organised was unbelievable. We had bingo, Taskmasters… even a padlocked parcel delivered to every child containing challenges to reveal a number to the padlock. Inside was a Quest medal, pens, chocolate, sweets… she had made and delivered them all herself! For parents during lockdown, she planned a Murder Mystery evening and hosted an Escape the room party!
All of this, in addition to overnight Hockey camps, Christmas parties, winter orienteering and a trip to London for our under 10’s team to play in an indoor tournament are just some of the reasons we nominate Fran for this award. And… the best thing of all is that she does not see that she is special. She has no idea how valued she is at our club, no matter how many times we tell her! But don’t take my word for it,
this is what the young players say…
“Fran is amazing because she tells us to never give up and to keep on trying” (Sandra, age 10).
“Fran is amazing because she is really kind and lovely and because of how much work she does for our club” (Joe, age 12).
“Fran has helped me since I started playing hockey age 9. She has taught me valuable life lessons which have helped me develop into the person I am today… playing for England Midlands Performance Centre, achieving a hockey scholarship and off to university” (Sam, age 17)
“Fran’s always there to support us. She makes training fun & helps with our team play” (Fraser, age 14).
“Fran has been teaching me hockey since I was 5. She is encouraging and fun. She is helpful if I have problems. Fran is ace!” (Harry, age 11).
We hope that in this nomination, you see how Frantastic Fran really is and understand why we think she is so worthy of this award.
Fran will join other regional Unsung Hero winners at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards on 19th December where the overall winner will be announced.
