BATD North West Area Roy Sharpe Medallist Competition Held on Sunday 12 February 2023

We arrived at Alford Sports and Social Club in Warrington at around 8.30am and started to unload the car ready to set up for the annual BATD Roy Sharpe Medallist Competition day. It didn’t seem two minutes since the last competition!

With the stage all set, the tea and coffee stall set up and all the tables and chairs all set out, the students from the 2 schools attending started to arrive in their droves along with Mums, Dads, Grandmas and Grandads ready to watch the children dance their best and compete for a trophy.

Howard, was compare for the day and welcomed the 2 Schools – being Anne Taylors Academy of Dance all the way from Scarborough and Peter Mounsey’s School (PM Dance) from Preston. It was unfortunate that the other two schools who also usually attend couldn’t participate on this occasion – they were sadly missed but hopefully we will see them next year.

At 9.45am the competitions began with our adjudicator for the day, Mr Michael Hayton from Carlisle, ready for a busy day with his pen and pad in hand. The competitions were held over seven sections, with the prizes being presented at the end of each.

After completing all the solo competitions it was time for the children to change into their Off Beat Section costumes. All the teams in this section were absolutely FAB-U-LOUS with all putting on a wonderful show for everyone to watch. We are sure that all the parents and grandparents were very proud. All three sections were very close but the eventual winners were:

Under 12’s Under 16’s Adult

1st Taylors Terrors 1st Limited Edition 1st New Image
2nd Heroes 2nd Sunday Shoes 2nd Viva Elvis

The atmosphere throughout the day was fantastic with everyone cheering and encouraging their children. As the prizes were all given out, there was only the six Roy Sharpe Medallist of the Year trophies left to be awarded. These were presented by Mrs Elaine Sharpe who had kindly donated the new under 12’s trophies for the competition.

The winners were:

Under 12 Ballroom Under 12 Latin
Sophie Rudlington Sophie Rudlington

Under 16 Ballroom Under 16 Latin
Eva Mawdsley Ava Thornton

Under 21 Ballroom Under 21 Latin
Lola Boyes Lola Boyes

Congratulations to all.

The final competition of the day was the Team Match, with six teams competing – 3 from each School. As the teams marched onto the floor the cheers from the crowd were deafening and after the last dance, the Jive, all that was left to do was to present the remaining prizes. Once again we had two new trophies which had been kindly donated by Mrs Margaret Smith and Miss Diane Isaac, both members of the Ballroom Committee. These donations were much appreciated by us and the Medallist committee.

The team prizes were presented:

1st Team C – Spot Light
2nd Team A – Class Act
3rd Team E – Fancy Feet
4th Team B – Peter’s Panthers

Massive thanks must go to the two Schools, their pupils and supporters who attended, but also to the North West Area members who had worked tirelessly throughout the day to make the competition a huge success. Jan and Barrie Greenall who ran the tea and coffee stall and Raffle, Stephen Hargreaves our steward who made sure all the heats were correct and pupils were in the correct heat etc, Rita and David Harrod for assisting with the Raffle, Michael Hayton our adjudicator who must have been shattered at the end of the day. Malcolm McLean who provided fabulous music throughout the day and Mr John Rainey, Howard’s right hand man, for helping with the scrutineering and comparing. And last but not least, Mrs Elaine Sharpe for helping Joanne put a buffet on fit for a king and for doing anything else for that matter that needed doing throughout the day. We couldn’t have run it without all the help on the day. Heartfelt thanks to you all.

The 2023 BATD Roy Sharpe Medallist Competition was over for another year and we wished everyone a safe journey home.

Report by Howard and Joanne Cookson