The Hampshire Thrashers won Team of the Year at the recent Winchester and District Sports Awards.
The Hampshire Thrashers firmly put American Football on the radar in Winchester in 2009. The team played an exciting brand of football rarely seen as the team set new records across the board. The game can often we reduced to power running teams relying heavily on size and strength alone but the Thrashers produce a balanced attack both on the ground and in the air. With 308 pass attempts and 299 rushes the team ripped up many records on track to an unbeaten regular season.
The defense was stingy when it came to points allowed. Only 2 passing touchdowns and 4 rushing touchdown were allowed during the regular season. Considering the Defense weighed in with 6 scores of its own just showed what a dominant year 2009 was.
The team will be looking to build upon this success in the 2010 season when they will be joined by a brand new youth team led by Head Coach Jason Walker. Training for both teams will be starting in the New Year, with the season expected to start in May.
THRASHERS - AWARDS NIGHT 2009
The Thrashers finished the 2009 season in style at their Awards night in October. Sky Sports Nick Halling was on hand to help hand out the awards the Thrashers at Winchester Rugby Club.
Nick Watson - Team MVP
Nick set new team records with over 2,000 yards passing and over 30 touchdowns. He completed almost 50% of his passes and showed great experience and leadership all year. Nick will be returning next season and will be aiming to better those numbers in 2010.
He was ably assist by a group of receivers also with impressive numbers as Brennan Peterson, Paul Brady, Kyle Latore, Rikki Lear and Dan McMillan all gained over 300 receiving yards and at least 4 TD's.
Tim Iles - Offensive MVP
Tim was the work horse on the ground last year - helping to balance the offense. He was able to break many tackles and gaining many valuable first downs. His 620 yards is the 2nd best season mark in team history and he now ranks 3rd all time. He was the teams leading scorer with 56 points. Tim will be setting up his own local team in 2010, so we wish him the best of luck.
Nic Jones - Defensive MVP
Nic had another great season, his 2nd with the Thrashers. Nic lead the team in total tackles despite missing a number of mid season games with an ankle injury. He captained the D making certain all assignments were met as the defense suffocated many bigger teams.
James 'Tetley' Tildsley - Players Player
Tetley was in a fierce competition for the tackling title until the final game. Adding to an impressive tackle count he also contributed with sack, interceptions and fumble recoveries. He racked up 6 turnovers himself and returned 2 of those for scores.
Paul Whitefield - Defensive lineman of the year
Paul has played on both offensive and defensive lines in his 5 year Thrashers career and this season he was allowed to wreek havoc at DT. He was one of the key elements which allowed the Thrashers to play a 3-4 defensive front for much of the season.
Joe Craven - Offensive lineman of the year
Joe has now established himself at Center for the Thrashers after converting from DL 3 years ago. He showed is leadership as team Captain and led by example often making blocks downfield to assist with some long gains.
Nick Watson - Team MVP
James 'Tetley' Tildsley - Players Player