JESS student named male athlete of the year
#COMMITMENT
23/09/2021
Imagine being named Male Athlete of the Year! This incredible honour has been awarded to Yannick, a Year 10 JESS student who at just 14 years of age is already competing across 5 sport disciplines. Yannick collected the trophy at the inaugural Gulf Youth Sports Awards that were held on 17 September where sporting heroes from across the UAE were recognised.
Training with Ultimate Athletics and taking also part in Football and Basketball teams and Strength and Conditioning at JESS, Yannick has some very impressive statistics on the athletics track. His personal bests so far have been:
- Sprints 100m - 11.99secs
- Javelin - 35.6m
- High Jump - 175cm
- Long jump - 5.78m
- Shot put (4kg) – 11.5m
Asked what message he had for other students keen to follow in his footsteps, he said, “Follow your dreams, train hard and your dreams will come true. I was very surprised to be nominated for this award and I am very grateful for everyone who voted for me. I was nervous but enjoyed meeting all the other athletes at the Awards many of whom I know and compete against in sporting events across the UAE.”
Gulf Youth Sport’s Managing Director Mr Andrew Cook explained why they started these awards, “In a challenging year for everyone involved in youth sports these awards gave athletes, teachers and coaches the opportunity to gain the recognition they deserve for their amazing contributions to UAE sporting family.
With over 31,000 votes cast across social media and the awards website, interest in the finalists was sky high as each individual’s story was given a platform ahead of the awards ceremony.
With the online voting counting towards 50% of the overall decision, a panel of five independent judges made up the remainder of the vote which crowed winners across eight prize categories.”
Mr Mike Waller, HeadTeacher at JESS Secondary meet with Yannick to congratulate him and had this to say. “Yannick is a very talented athlete who has shown amazing all-round ability with outstanding performances across so many disciplines – he is a true decathlete and I look forward to seeing him represent Germany in the Olympics one day.”
#TeamJESS #JESSsuccess #JESSSports #GulfYouthSports
