The Narberth Otters (http://narberthrugbyclub.teamsnapsites.com) held their annual award ceremony this past weekend. The U-15 players who combined with Media this season were congratulated for winning a Rugby PA State Championship and all of the seniors on the U-19 team were acknowledged for their contributions to the Club through the years which culminated in a season that saw them go 10-1 and win the Lancaster Frostbite Tournament along the way.

Also acknowledged was U-15 Coach Andrew McKendrick who is stepping down from his coaching duties. Coach McKendrick is a pillar of the Narberth Rugby community and his absence will be felt. Many of Narberth’s top U-19 players in recent years owe a lot of their success to Coach McKendrick for the work he put in developing these players on the younger sides.

On to the awards:

The Most Valuable Player this year was Cameron McKendrick. Cam is the total package as a rugby player. He’s a talented front row with a ton of experience (see paragraph above about his father helping to develop players) and his knowledge of the game basically makes him a coach on the field.

The Rookie of the Year was Davon Collins who not only was new to rugby, but was also new to team sports in general. It took a little while for Davon to understand the game but once he got used to the physical elements of rugby he started growing by leaps and bounds. Davon and Cameron are both front rows so that should be a strong combination for Narberth in 2018.

Best Forward was awarded to Ray Fullbright who was great in the set piece and did all of the dirty work around the field to set things up for his teammates. Ray also did a great job dishing out stiff arms when he found himself in open space.

Best Back was awarded to Nate Nagvajara who scored 84 points in the team’s 6 league matches hitting kicks at an over 80% success rate. Nate also led the team in tries scored and stepped up his defense substantially this year.

Comeback Player of the Year was awarded to Michael Boken. Boken missed most of the past two seasons due to injury but he hung around the program and found ways to contribute, such as by becoming our cameraman, when he couldn’t play. This season Boken was finally healthy from start to finish and he did an excellent job out there.

Great job to all of the Narberth players, coaches, and administrative staff on another successful season. Can’t wait to see what next year brings.