SPORT all-rounder Dennis Woodcock has been rewarded for more than half a century of dedication to York sport with a Service to Sport award.

The 71-year-old Huntington man has spent years coaching, playing, organising and fund-raising for a range of sports in the city, and said he was delighted to be recognised with the prestigious annual award by the York and District Sports Council.

"I was very pleased to receive this award," he said. "You don't really realise all the things you've done until you sit down and think it through but I've always been involved in sport and always enjoyed it."

He was nominated for the prize by friend Mike Anderson and has also received an invite to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in July as a result of Anderson's efforts to get Woodcock noticed.

Woodcock's first love was for swimming, and he was a member of the York Rowntree club committee from 1951 to 1981. He also captained - and organised matches for - York City water polo team, with 20 years as a player and four years in the Yorkshire team.

From 1986 to 2001, he was the chairman of the New Earswick Disabled Swimming Club and delighted in teaching members to swim and snorkel so they could swim with dolphins in Israel -- a trip he still organises now.

He said: "My favourite of all the things I have done is teaching the disabled people to swim and snorkel and then taking some of them to Israel to swim with the dolphins. It's fantastic to see them punching the air when they come out because they have actually done it."

But Woodcock's involvement has not been confined to the pool, though. He was vice chairman and fishing instructor for Haxby Junior Angling Club from 1973 to 1977 during the time when it was crowned the best junior fishing club in the country.

In 1974, he qualified as a Grade 3 rugby league coach and ran the Dreadnoughts - a junior team in York.

Woodcock helped create a constitution for the Huntington Field Target (shooting) club in 1983 and continued as chairman for three years, and was instrumental in setting up the Huntington Petanque Club in 1980 and is still the chairman now. And when faced with a shortage of clubs to play against, Woodcock travelled to other interested towns and villages to help get them off the ground. He is still organising competitions now and ran the Yorkshire Petanque team for ten years.

Official posts held by Woodcock over the years include ten years on the Ryedale Sports Council, 15 on the Huntington Sports Club committee, and three years on the York Rugby League Supporters Committee.

He was a founder member of the Huntington Sports Club and was a major - and at times daring - fund-raiser. He once swam a mile with his hands and feet handcuffed together and did 12 lengths in a straitjacket.

Woodcock has also raised many thousands of pounds for local charities over the years by organising sponsored events, and is the main man behind the Sheriff's Way Walk - a 25-mile jaunt from Malton to York.

Woodcock, who is still a regular swimmer and petanque player, added: "I just hope that everyone I have taught to swim, snorkel or fish enjoyed it."

Updated: 10:47 Saturday, April 17, 2004