Rewarding the best sportsmen and sportswomen-Athlete of the Month Award introduced |14 April 2009
Although the criteria were set a long time ago as to how the final selection is made, some sports administrators and ordinary people don’t bother to understand them before making negative remarks.
Such remarks go as far as damaging the credibility of the selection committee as at times people make their decision purely on the athletes’ popularity rather than on the results they have obtained.
Sometimes, the selection committee finds it difficult to choose the best as the choice made by sporting federations and associations is not always right.
To help smooth the final selection process, the Sports Awards of the Year selection committee has come up with the Athlete of the Month Award scheme. Copies of the letter, in which information is given about the scheme, have been sent to all local sports federations and associations.
It is the sports executive committees that will choose their best male and female athletes in the youth (under-18) and senior categories. They should keep a record of the number of wins of each athlete, making it easier for them to make their final choice at the end of the year.
This is common practice in many parts of the world and it has proved to be effective.
Although athletes are sometimes rewarded for their efforts when they are named Athlete of the Month, this will not be the case here, according to selection committee chairman Jean Larue.
“The ministry responsible for sports is not in a position to reward athletes on a monthly basis in all the sports practised here,” he said.
“However, we encourage federations and associations to do so if they have the means. “The monthly award will give athletes an extra incentive to train hard and get more opportunities for doing so. It will further promote and recognise the invaluable contributions our athletes make towards Seychelles’ sports,” added Mr Larue.
At the same time, the Athlete of the Month Award scheme will help ease the end-of-year selection process. It will remove doubts in the minds of people as they will have a clear idea of who stands a chance of winning the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year trophies.
“The award will help to educate the athletes and the Seychellois public so they will better appreciate the value of local sportsmen and women,” added Mr Larue.
Sports federations and associations have to send the names of their best athletes to Mr Larue’s office by the 29th of each month, starting this month. The names will then be published on a monthly basis.
To win the awards, the recipients must have achieved outstanding performances at national, regional or international level during a particular month.
There is also a need for athletes to work hard throughout the year if they want to stay in the hunt for the best performer of the year trophy in their sport and challenge for the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year titles.
The top criterion the selection committee uses 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 in the senior category: Olympic Games, World Senior Championships, World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Jeux de la Francophonie, All-Africa Games, African Nations Cup, African Senior Championships, African Club Championships, Indian Ocean Islands Games, Indian Ocean Club Championship (IOCC) and Zone 7 competitions.
In the under-18 division, the order of competitions is as follows:
Olympic Youth Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, World Junior Championships, World Youth Championships, African Junior Championships, African Youth Championships and Jeux de la Commission de la Jeunesse et des Sports de l’Océan Indien.
Despite the two categories, athletes who compete in the under-18 division can also run for the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year titles if they compete at senior level.
G. G.