SANTIAGO Colts have enjoyed a progressive 2015/16 season with all the development squads making good strides forward.
Under the direction of Mark Whitehouse, Ross Fearon, Carl Shipway, Ian Marsden, Gary Sirrell and Nicola Campbell, both the under-sevens and under-10 Gators won their Winter Cups while the under-10 Raptors finished as runners-up in their respective Winter Cup.
The under-12 Lions finished in a creditable third in Division Three of the Central Warwickshire Youth League, the under-12 Crusaders struggled in Division Five, the under-13 Allstars finished as runners-up in the Premier League on 38 points while the under-13 Superstars won Division Four with 48 points.
The under-14 Lions had title success in Division Three with 42 points, the under-14 Girls claimed a third place finish in the Premier Division with four points while the under-14 Knights found Division Four hard going, as did the under-14 Sirens in their inaugural season.
The under-15s finished mid-table in Division Three West, the under-16s also finished mid-table in Division Three but finished as runners-up in the League Trophy after losing 1-0.
The under-17 Girls had a solid season in Division One and the under-18s Lickey claimed Division Four despite being docked nine points after two teams resigned from the league.
The John Kavanagh Memorial award went to Tommy Brader of the under-18s. Brader suffered an horrific injury in a pre-season friendly in August 2014 and had to have operations to his right knee.
During his rehabilitation, he did a Level One coaching course and a youth module before returning to action in November last year to be part of Lickey’s championship side.
Joe Rushton has become only the third player to receive a ten-year service award. Rushton joined Santiago Colts in 2005 as a defender with the Lickey team.
He was then transferred to the Rednal team where he developed into a striker before rejoining Lickey in 2015 to become top scorer in their winning season.
