Sports Awards of the Year 2011 -11th male finalist chosen |13 January 2012

The selection committee decided yesterday to include Jean to the list of finalists on the basis of his results achieved during the 2011 season.

Selection committee chairman Jean Larue told Sports Nation yesterday that Jean has been included after an oversight by the committee.

“It was an oversight on the part of the selection committee. Jean’s results are OK and had been listed on his form sent to us by the Seychelles Amateur Boxing Federation. We apologise for this oversight,” said Mr Larue.

Gold medallist at the 8th Indian Ocean Island Games, silver medallist at the Zone four Senior Boxing Championships in Gaborone, Botswana and bronze medallist at the 17th African Senior Boxing Championship in Yaounde, Cameroon, Jovet, who fights in the 75kg weight category and is ranked 23rd worldwide out of 52, joins the other 10 male finalists – high jumper William Woodcock, badminton players Georgie Cupidon and Steve Malcouzane, Laser sailors Allan Julie and Rodney Govinden, weightlifters Elvis Jeanne and Charles Siméon, windsurfer Bertrand Lablache, volleyballer Jones Mangroo and footballer Achille Henriette.

The 11 athletes will be vying to succeed Terrence Dixie, who has not been chosen as one of the top two lifters for the year 2011, as Sportsman of the Year.

The 10 female finalists gunning for the Sportswoman of the Year crown are jumps specialists Lissa Labiche and Janet Boniface, badminton players Alisen Camille and Cynthia Course, swimmer Shrone Austin, table tennis player Anniessa Benstrong, volleyballer Nathalie Agnes, weightlifters Janet Georges and Katsia Télémaque, judoka Manuella Volcère.

Georges is the outgoing Sportswoman of the Year and she is aiming to win a record fifth title.

Boxer Keddy Agnes, tennis player Damien Laporte, weightlifter Sirous Farabeau, throws specialist Dean William and swimmer Adam Viktora are the five male finalists for the Young Male Athlete of the Year title. One of the five athletes will succeed boxer Andrique Allisop who is past the age limit of 18 years.

Throws specialist Marie-Helen Rose, swimmer Aurelie Fanchette, weightlifter Rena Agricole, volleyballer Petrina Victor and table tennis player Christy Bristol are the five chosen to run for the Young Female Athlete of the Year title which 19-year-old Lissa Labiche will be relinquishing.

The top five finishers in the senior male and female categories will be rewarded during the crowning ceremony on the night of Friday January 20, while all finalists in the youth division will receive prizes.

The ceremony will start at 6.30pm at the International Conference Centre. Tickets for the event cost R300 and are on sale at the National Sports Council, Stad Linite, and at the Sports Training Centre in the Stad Popiler car park. For more information, please call 4671202.

The ceremony consists of two parts – the presentation of certificates and prizes to the best athletes and people who have made significant contributions in Seychelles’ sports, and a cocktail dinner.

Not only athletes chosen as the best by the sporting federations and associations can make the final. Those selected as second best can also feature among the finalists provided the winners are also chosen.

The top criterion to choose the best athlete is performance. The highest possible performance is a gold medal, and an athlete can also be chosen as the best if he/she gets a personal best (PB) or a Seychelles record in a high-level international competition.

The order of the level of international competitions is as follows: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Jeux de la Francophonie, All-Africa Games, African Nations Cup, Commonwealth Championship, African Championships, African Club Championships, Youth Olympic Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, Africa Youth Games, Indian Ocean Island Games, Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC), Youth Olympic Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, Africa Youth Games, Anoca Games (zone 7), Jeux de la Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l’Océan Indien, and Jeux de l’Espoir.

Other prizes to be given out on the night are for disabled female and male athletes, best coach, best volunteer, best official, best primary institution, best secondary institution and best post-secondary institution.

…………

Respect deadline, says Larue

Selection committee chair Jean Larue is once again urging sports federations and associations to send in the names of their best senior athletes (male and female winners and runners-up) and best young male and female accompanied by their results, on time.

He made this statement after the selection committee missed out boxer Jovette Jean’s results and had to include him to the list of male finalists which now stands at 11.

Mr Larue said sports federations and associations are still not meeting the deadline to hand in the completed forms, thus leaving the selection committee members with not enough time to fully analyse the results of the athletes.

“The deadline to hand in filled in forms was December 17, 2011 and yet we still received forms on Tuesday morning – the day the selection committee met to shortlist the finalists.
 
“We are also having problems with federations and associations not listing the achievements of their athletes and this makes it difficult for the selection committee members to make the best possible judgment,” said Mr Larue.

He added that the selection committee can no longer entertain late comers and to make its work look more credible, it is recommended that sports federations and associations put their houses in order, play their roles accordingly, respect deadlines and co-operate with the different instances whenever there is the need to.
 
G. G.