Sports awards show goes on

THERE is no glitzy night out but the Otago sports awards will live on.

The Otago Daily Times will outline each award, revealing the finalists and the winners over the next month as it looks back on what has been another good year for sport in Otago.

From the deeds of snow sport athletes such as Alice Robinson and Adam Hall, to the exploits of swimmer Erika Fairweather and the North Otago rugby team, all the achievements will be under the spotlight.

The awards are usually the focus of a night out later this month at the Dunedin Town Hall, but when that was no longer possible because of the Covid19 pandemic, thoughts turned to how to keep the awards going.

Sport Otago and the Otago Daily Times, along with naming sponsor ASB and all the other sponsors, agreed to continue with the awards and have come up with finalists in what is now 10 categories.

One new category has been announced this year: the team support person of the year.

This is for those who are not an official, such as a referee or an umpire, but who is around the team and still plays a vital role.

That could be a trainer, a physiotherapist or a baggage person. As the sporting world becomes more professional and standards lift, the support person becomes very important to the running of a team.

The final award to be given out will be the supreme award and will be hotly contested.

It was won last year by snow sport athlete Zoi SadowskiSynnott.

The awards will be judged by former New Zealand test cricketer and sports commentator Craig Cumming, Athletics Otago board member and coach Megan Gibbons, High Performance Sport New Zealand regional manager Kirsty Fairbairn, Otago Daily Times sports editor Steve Hepburn and Sport Otago chief executive John Brimble.