In recognition of outstanding sportsmanship
In April 2021, the world lost a wonderful man. He is dearly missed by his family and friends as well as his GPC family. Since he passed away during lock down, we were unable to share our grief and memories or celebrate his life at that time. When we re-launched, the committee all agreed we wanted to proceed with the same tenets of inclusiveness and good sportsmanship that Phil embodied. Hence the Phil Sherry Memorial Award was founded.
Phil was an amazing lifter. And I don’t say that because of the records he held as a lifter, I say that because of the man he was. If Phil was at a meet, he made you feel welcome. It did not matter if you’d been lifting as long as he had, or if you were only in the door, he made you feel welcome and included. And he would be competing himself, but still looking around to help anyone who needed it, answering questions, encouraging everyone, cheering for everyone. If someone looked nervous or lost in the warm up room, he always had a kind and calming word for them.
Now, every year at our national championship, this award is bestowed upon someone who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship.
In 2021, it was only fitting that the award go to Phil’s brother Dave. We were honoured to have the family present to re-launch the GPC and honoured that they’ve given us their blessing to continue to remember Phil with this award each year.
In 2022, the award was presented to Scott Wheeler. Although it was Scott’s first competition, instead of focusing on his nerves or his own lifts, he was making sure all the young ones in the gym were having fun and looked after. It was only fitting that his sportsmanship be recognised.
In 2023, the award was presented to long time lifter Liam Gannon. Although not lifting that day, Liam took time out of his day to help with the set up and running the platform. Liam has been a stalwart supporter of GPC events for years, and it only seemed appropriate that he receive this award in his training partner’s memory.
2024 saw the come back of world champion Angela McNamara. Although she could have easily focused on herself and her mission to set world records that day, (which she did by the way), instead she could be found in the warm up area cheering for and supporting first time lifters. Which is of course true to form, as she once drove her motorbike from Limerick to Galway just to meet me and welcome me, when she heard there was another female lifter in the country. (This was back when you could count the girls in our sport on one hand, and she’s always showed that support to other lifters.)
Our goal is to continue to build on GPC’s ethos of inclusion, and recognising and celebrating outstanding sportsmanship is one way we will continue to do this.