Behind every successful team is a successful coach.

This certainly proved to be the case for 2007 Premier Division champions Social Club whose veteran player/coach Charlie Marshall guided the Pembroke club to the league and Central Counties 'double' this past summer.

And to cement his club's breakthrough achievement Marshall, Cup Match's highest run getter, walked away with the coveted Coach of the Year Award during last weekend's Bermuda Cricket Board/Digicel annual prize ceremony held at Warwick Workman's Club while club skipper Kevin Hurdle was named 2007 Premier Division Most Valuable Player (MVP) to make it truly a night to remember for the Bluebirds.

A proud Marshall said: "It's a great honour and I feel very privileged and excited to receive this award. It was a great season at Social Club. The respect I recieved from the players was very encouraging; they understood what was expected of them and were prepared to make the necessary sacrifices. We have a wonderful group of players who support each other and so the unity is definitely there at Social Club, which is a bonus. Everybody pulled their own weight and worked extermely hard and the guys ultimatey reaped reward. They really put in the hard work while everybody contributed every weekend, which was also key to our success."

During his fourth year at the helm, Marshall, still regarded as one of the island's top batsman, took Social Club to unprecedented heights relying on simple coaching methods.

"I'm not a textbook coach and I have always believed in working with individuals on a one-on-one basis because that way you get better results," he reckoned. "I coach with the experience I have acquired over the years and as coaches I think it's important to spend as much time as possible coaching your players one on one."

Marshall also praised his players for their invaluable contributions over the past season as well as club and team management and all those influential in the club's success, reserving special mention for trainer Leroy (Curly Joe) Wilson who he described as one of his team's "biggest assets".

Meanwhile, other individual Premier Division awards handed out during last weekend's ceremony went to St. David's' wicketkeeper/batsman Chris Foggo (most runs, 557), Hurdle (most wickets, 31) and left -arm spinner Hasan Durham who had a best bowling average of 10.86. Retired World Cup star Saleem Mukuddem topped the First Division batting averages at 58.78 and compiled the most runs (529) while Bailey's Bay seamer Jim West claimed the most wickets (27) and led the bowling averages at 9.37 runs per over.

Promising Willow Cuts' all rounder and Bermuda Under-19 World Cup hopeful Deunte Darrell received the coveted Young Player of the Year Award while long-serving Western Stars groundsman Glenn (Puddy) Gilbert and umpire Richard Austin were the proud recipients of Groundsman of the Year and Umpire of the Year honours.

Willow Cuts' batsman Ryane Sheperd — son of former Police, Bermuda and Somerset Cup Match slugger Tyrone Smith — received acknowledgement for achieving the season's highest individual score (217) against Warwick at Somerset Cricket Club.

l Young Men's Social Club will be holding an urgent meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening at YMSC, concerning the upcoming tour of the Caribbean.