Trio of Rugby League winners at sporting awards including Billy Boston and Sheffield Eagles – Total Rugby League

HEADINGLEY hosted the Sporting Heritage Awards last week – and Rugby League was a big winner, claiming three awards.

The Rugby Codebreakers statue, unveiled last year in Cardiff Bay to commemorate Welsh players who left rugby union and moved north to play the game of 13, won the Celebrating Black Sporting Heritage award.

Billy Boston, Clive Sullivan and Gus Risman are depicted in bronze on the waterfront in the Welsh capital, with Boston present at the awards ceremony.

Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas said: “The statue will act as an inspiration for generations to come and I am delighted that its contribution to celebrating black sporting heritage has been recognized with this award.”

Julia Lee was a co-winner of the Celebrating Women’s Sporting Heritage award for her ‘Life with the Lionesses’ project.

Lee’s work, herself a pioneering referee, documented the history of the first female international players.

She ensured that former players were recognized with international caps, certificates and heritage numbers and led to the establishment of the Women’s Rugby League Hall of Fame.

“I feel honored and proud to receive this award,” said Lee, who is currently working on a follow-up project, The Pioneering Years, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of the founding of the first women’s rugby clubs League.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve all accomplished by shining a light on these women who paved the way and left a real legacy for those who followed in their footsteps.

“This award is for lionesses who have been determined to play against opposition and adversity and whose pioneering achievements have had a massive effect on the lives of others and continue to do so today.”

The Sheffield Eagles Foundation, along with Literacy Kicks (the schools program founded by former League Express reporter Gareth Walker), won the Celebrating Sporting Heritage in Schools award.

Their project saw over 650 primary school children in the city learn how to write a match report based on Sheffield’s famous Challenge Cup triumph in 1998, alongside Mark Aston and Keith Senior, who played in that victorious team .

Walker said: “Working with Richard (King, who manages the Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project) and Andrea Dobson at the Eagles Foundation to deliver this project in the city has been a hugely positive experience and we are delighted to have been recognized in this way by Sporting . Heritage.

“Each of the schools that took part really embraced the concept of children becoming sports journalists for an hour, reporting on what is an iconic sporting event for the city of Sheffield.

“They produced some outstanding reports and the presence of Mark and Cory Aston and Keith Senior in the classrooms undoubtedly added an extra dimension to the initiative. It was a privilege to be a part of it.”

First published in League Express Newspaper Issue 3,430 (13 May 2024)

Click here to buy a digital edition of League Express.

Click here to buy an online edition of League Express via pocketmags.com.

Click here to listen to our new League Express podcast.

League Express is widely available from local newsagents across the North of England.