Nominations open for awards

SPORT

By ZOE ASKEW

EVERY year, home-grown sportingstars and legendsare recognised and honoured for their achievements and exceptional contributionsto sport in Victoria at the Victorian Sport Awards (VSAs), dubbed ‘the night of nights’ for the state’s athletic community.

The VSAs acknowledge the whole gamut of Victorian sport,fromgrassroots heroes to highperformance athletes who competed nationally and internationally, including individual athletes, sportingteams, coaches, officials, volunteers, administrators, media personnel and sport initiatives. Of the 20 awards to be won, 19 will be available for nominations via the Vicsport website until Friday, March 3.

With awards such as Victorian Local Government Initiative of the Year, Victorian Community Sporting Event of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Victorian Community Coach of the Year, Victorian Community Official of the Year, and Victorian Community SportingClubofthe Year up for grabs, now is the time to nominate aGippsland local who has made exceptional contributions to sport in the region.

Vicsport chiefexecutive,Lisa Hasker,saiditwas crucial to recognise and celebratesportingsuccesses across the state, especiallyinregional areas, having faced consistent hardships from firestoCOVID to floods.

“We’ve got alot of athletes, volunteers, administrators, coaches, thatworktirelessly in sport to make it asuccess and awonderful place for people to be, and we want to make sure that each year we are recognising and highlighting all that work,” she said.

“Whether that be from acoachingside, administration side, officiating, umpiring or whatever that might be, so we encourage people to stay in sport and to help in building sport as awelcoming place for people to come along.

“Particularly in regional towns,sport is one thing that brings the community together, and it relies on the volunteers to keep the club going, which is buildingthe community connectedness at the club, so it’s really vital to reward those people who are putting in the hours and hours and hours to keep sport going because without our officials, coaches, and all the rest of our volunteers, we wouldn’t have sport.”

Alongside local legends recognised for their commitment and contribution to sport, the VSAs have recognised some of Australia’s biggest names in sport, including Cathy Freeman, Leisel Jones, Meg Lanning, Dylan Alcott, Cadel Evans, and the late Shane Warne, bringingtogether all facets of Victorian sport.

“Most award things just award the top, the person who won amedal at the Olympics, or the Commonwealth Games, or somethinglike that, but we wanted to make sure that the local president of afooty club in asmall town that has been putting in for 50 years is also someone who is awarded for all their effort because it is just as much as an elite