More nominees needed for sports award

Nominations for the 2015 Kapiti Sportsperson of the Year Awards are coming in but according to Judge and SPOY committee member, Peter Ellis, there should be a lot more.

Peter says that there are a number of issues that organisers face. Firstly, the person receiving the email about the Awards doesn’t necessarily make a nomination, “trying to find the right person who knows who should be nominated can be difficult as this might not be the committee member who we’re sending our correspondence to – and if they don’t pass it on within the club it comes to a dead end.”

“Also, people often think that they don’t have someone worthy of nominating. But the Awards aren’t just for sportspeople achieving at a high level, they’re also for officials, volunteers, administrators and coaches. There are a lot of people involved in sport who do it for love and although they don’t think they should be rewarded for it, we think they should be.”

Peter and the Lions organising committee have been phoning clubs and sportspeople over the last few weeks encouraging them to think about who should be nominated. Peter spoke to a member of a club who said she was cutting back after 21 years of service organising and coaching. When Peter suggested she should be nominated for her years of service she was surprised and modest and didn’t think she was someone who should be nominated. According to Peter “there are heaps of people like this in our District. If no one in the club thinks to nominate them, they won’t put their hand up and say “I’d like to be recognised for everything I’ve done.”

Apparently people also have a feeling that their team or players who have won awards in SPOY before shouldn’t enter a second time. “If they’ve preformed well then of course they should be nominated again. There is nothing stopping them from being nominated and being recognised for their new achievements.”

Lastly, Peter would like to dispel a myth that some sports don’t get a look in because they’re not a major sport. “There is no truth to this at all. All sports are judged equally and decisions are made based on the information provided in the nomination form – so the more detailed information you can give us the better.”

Nominations for the Awards close on 23 March. For more information and to make a nomination (or enter as a Club) go towww.kapitispoy.org.nz

ENDS

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