Bentick makes it three in a row

James Bentick has made it three in a row at the annual National Sports Awards, as for the past three years, he has walked to the podium to collect.{{more}}

Bentick was last Saturday named the 2007 Senior Sportsman, an award he retained, having done so in 2006.

He was among ten nominees vyeing for the award at last Saturday’s event. The judges, though, had trimmed the pack to three. The other two were Tennis player Deron Grant and race car driver Steve Ollivierre.

Bentick, though, got the nod of the awards judges, which included Woodrow Williams, Polly Olliver, Richard Todd, Peggy Ince-Hull and Earl Paynter.

But his treble of awards is a rarity, as he was adjudged Coach of the Year at the 2005 Awards Ceremony.

A man who wears a lot of hats, Bentick is the leading male Squash player, the national Squash Coach and a Fitness Trainer.

Bentick was delighted as he received the award, and stated: “I deserve it”.

But he sees this latest achievement as a motivator to the young Squash players in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“I see this as an inspiration and I want the players to follow my footsteps”, Bentick said.

“I want them to see if their coach can still do it, they can do it too”, Bentick added.

Bentick, who is also the OECS coach to the Caribbean Junior Squash Championships in Tortola, the British Virgin Islands, last year, puts as his major achievement in 2007 his third place at the Trinidad and Tobago Open.

“In 2007, I was able to compete at the top level among the top ten in the Caribbean”, Bentick stated.

He, however, puts his performance at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia as the high point of his career thus far.

Despite being an active player, Bentick wants to see his Schools’ and Junior Coaching Programmes flourish. (RT).