Recognising truelocalsporting champions

Zoe Askew

EVERY year, home-grown sporting stars and legends are recognised and honoured for their achievements and exceptional contributionsto sportinVictoria at theVictorian Sport Awards (VSAs), dubbed ‘the night of nights’ for the state’s athletic community.

The VSAs acknowledge the whole gamut of Victorian sport, from grassroots heroes to highperformance athleteswho 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.

Withawards suchasVictorianLocal Government Initiative of the Year, Victorian Community Sporting Event of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, VictorianCommunity Coach of the Year, Victorian CommunityOfficial of theYear, and Victorian Community Sporting Clubofthe Year up for grabs, now is the time to nominate aGippslandlocal who has made exceptional contributions to sport in the region.

Vicsportchief executive, Lisa Hasker, said it was crucial to recognise and celebratesporting successes across the state, especially in regional areas,having faced consistent hardships from fires to COVID to floods.

“We’ve got alot of athletes, volunteers, administrators, coaches, that work tirelessly 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 acoaching side, administration side, officiating, umpiring or whatever that might be, so we encourage people to stay in sportand to help in buildingsport as awelcoming placefor 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 building the communityconnectedness at the club, so it’s really vital to rewardthose people who are putting in the hours and hours and hours to keep sport goingbecause without our officials, coaches, and all the restofour volunteers, we wouldn’t have sport.”

Alongside local legends recognised for their commitment and contribution to sport, the VSAs haverecognisedsomeofAustralia’s biggest names in sport, including Cathy Freeman, Leisel Jones, Meg Lanning, DylanAlcott, Cadel Evans, and the late Shane Warne, bringing together 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 something like that, but we wanted to makesurethat 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 theireffortbecause it is just as much as an elite athlete to keep that club rollingalong, particularly in tricky times,” Hasker said. “So it’s very much afocus having awards available to everyone right through the Victorian sporting system.”

Vicsport receives afew hundred nominations for the Victorian Sport Awards each year, which are presented to aseries of judging panels that select four finalists in each category.

The 2022 Victorian Sport Awards finalists will be announced in April before the winnersfrom each category are revealed on Wednesday, June 7atMarvelStadium.

Vicsportchair,Ritchie Hinton, urges all Victorians to submit their nominations to ensure their sport is well represented on the night.

“The premierevent on the Victorian sporting calendar, Vicsport is delighted to once again recognise and celebrate the wonderful achievements of our state’ssport and recreationcommunity through theVictorian Sport Awards,” Hinton said.

“Theseawards provide an opportunity to honour the grassroots heroes who keep our sport and recreation sectorthriving,aswellasthe professional athletes who starred on the world stage in 2022 at events such as the Commonwealth Games and Winter Olympics. Iurgeall Victorians to submit their nominations to ensure their sport is well represented on the night.”

More information on the 2022 Victorian Sport Awards can be found at https://vicsport.com. au/2022-victorian-sport-awards