VX International are delighted to be announced as Sports Organisation of the Year in the Yorkshire Prestige Awards.
In a ceremony held at Hazlewood Castle near Leeds and featuring organisations in variety of categories from all around the region, Directors Tom and Paul Hildreth were presented with the award.
VX International is a small organisation – but with a wide reach. VX is a young Yorkshire-born sport. It was designed and developed in Yorkshire. Even though the sport is centred in Yorkshire it has silos of activity all over the country, has a foothold in 26 countries and is making especially good progress in India, Hong Kong and Africa.
The sport has grown from nothing to a sport that has 3 official versions, has independent clubs, national teams, international competition, leagues and tournaments. There is an annual singles world cup, a team world cup every 4 years, a European championship every two years and there has been the first Test Match series and the first set of international friendlies. All this for a Yorkshire-born sport.
Sadly the sport has been hit very hard by Covid-19– all events where VX was due to be present were cancelled, all VX competitions and tournaments were cancelled, all school sessions and all clubs. This, of course, is no different to other sports, however as such a young sport this had an even more devastating impact on VX but progress has still been made:
Despite the impact of Covid the team at VX International has continued to work with the global administrative body, in particular:
• Has helped the Ripon VX Club twin with the Canaan VX Club and ship some donated equipment over to Uganda
• Has donated equipment to VX Kenya and VX Uganda to help them move to the next level
• Has partnered with the Sports Aid Network, based in Kampala Uganda
The judges were impressed by the professionalism evidenced in this rapidly growing sport. There are already independent clubs, leagues and tournaments and strong international growth too. The judges applauded the diversity of players; welcoming those of all ages and abilities is a testament to the nature of the sport and its organisation. The impact of the pandemic has meant many cancelled tournaments, leading to limited income used to keep the game going. Despite this, VX International has still provided support for VX
Paul said: “We are very honoured to receive this award and it is recognition of the work of all the volunteers in the sport and how they have worked to keep the sport alive and to start rebuilding. We aim to return to Africa as soon as possible as our colleagues in Uganda and Kenya want us to help them spread the sport to Rwanda, Tanzania (and from there to Zimbabwe and South Africa).
We also plan to return to Hong Kong at the earliest opportunity to help our colleagues there move to the next level and prepare for the next World Cup which has been postponed. Thank you very much to Yorkshire Prestige Awards and the judges for recognising the efforts of everyone involved in the sport.”