Sports Awards of the Year crowning ceremony back on the calendar |20 December 2023

(From left to right) Ms Belmont, CEO Arrisol and Mr Denis (Photo: Neil Sirame)

The Sports Awards of the Year crowning ceremony is back on the calendar of events of the National Sports Council after a three-year hiatus.

National Sports Council (NSC) chief executive Marc Arrisol made the announcement during a press conference held yesterday at the council’s boardroom at Stad Linite, adding that the prestigious event will be hosted in February 2024.

“The main idea behind the revamp of the Sports Awards ceremony is to recognise the athletes’ achievements during the past sporting year and the contributions and efforts of the coaches and sports officials,” said CEO Arrisol.

He mentioned that the exact date and venue have not yet been agreed upon yet as they are reviewing other factors such as sponsorship following the recent disasters that struck the country.

CEO Arrisol also announced that the selection committee is still working on the set of criteria and will later collect data to award the best primary and secondary schools as well as professional centres.

Chairman of the selection committee, Bernard Denis, spoke about the nomination procedures and how the event will take place.

“After four meetings held, the selection committee reached a consensus on the procedures and proceedings for the nomination of best athletes. We are keeping the same format as for previous awards ceremonies but there are some small amendments,” said Mr Denis.

He explained that sports federations and associations will be able to nominate five athletes in order of preference – one to five – but emphasised that it is the federations/associations that select the athletes for nomination and the deadline to do so will be in January.

“The selection committee regularly meets and once we receive all the nominations in January we will shortlist it to 10 finalists in the senior male and female categories. Following further deliberation, the list will be trimmed down to five and the five names will be announced 15 days before the awards ceremony, giving members of the public time to share their opinion as to whom they think deserve to win the titles for the year 2023. But, the final decision will be taken by the selection committee,” emphasised Mr Denis.

As for organising committee chairperson Penny Belmont, she said the crowning ceremony will be different from past years.

“This year we have decided not to have a dinner due to the recent tragedies, but rather directly present the awards to the athletes, coaches and officials followed by a cocktail which will give the awardees a chance to interact with representatives of sponsors,” said Ms Belmont.

She also mentioned that they will go back to having representatives of sponsors present the awards. “Our committee is discussing what new element to introduce to the ceremony and we have agreed that the atmosphere should be more sportive rather than entertainment.

Ms Belmont added that the venue will be selected according to the budget.

The last time the Sports Awards of the Year crowning ceremony was held was in 2020 to reward the best athletes for the sporting year 2019. Given the financial, health and economic situation of the country as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the NSC board deliberated on the pros and cons of organising the ceremony and eventually concluded that it would not be appropriate to have the event since the majority of the sports federations could not and did not implement their planned activities and programmes to organise competitions in 2020.

Sailor Rodney Govinden and swimmer Felicity Passon are still holding the titles in the male and female senior categories.

Neil Sirame