Jack shortlisted for HITZ award

By Mark Stevens
8/11/16

Exeter HITZ programme youngster Jack Clarke will be flying the flag for the Chiefs at the upcoming HITZ awards in London after he was shortlisted for one of the night’s most prestigious awards.

The 18-year-old will be battling it out alongside Callum Walker (Sale Sharks) and Jordan Wickens (Bath Rugby) for the HITZ Community Impact award supported by Wooden Spoon.

Alongside Exeter HITZ co-ordinator Gareth Williams, the duo will head to London later this month for the annual awards night, which will be held at the headquarters of Barclays in Canary Wharf.

The Community Impact Award is all about the time and commitment given by a HITZ young person through volunteering. It looks not only at the impact of the young person’s volunteering in the community, but also the impact of the volunteering on the HITZ participant themselves.

Jack demonstrated his transformation by volunteering to coach at rugby festivals and local football clubs, as well as holding down three jobs after he overcame tough personal relationships which had led him into drugs, excessive drinking and mixing with the wrong crowd, to become a pillar of everything HITZ stands for.

HITZ Awards judge Helen Cook from Wooden Spoon admits she was blown away by the diversity of applications for this year’s HITZ Community Impact award.

She said: “It was difficult to separate the applications because you are trying to judge how people have overcome barriers in their life. We were looking for the journey the young people had gone through and the significant life changes that had happened for a lot of them. A number of stories made it very challenging to pick a winner.”