Athlete of the Year

Introduction

In 1952 Sir Gerard Howe, the Chief Justice of Hong Kong and the first patron of the Association, Lady Howe donated trophies for the male and female Athletes of the Year to recognize the athlete's outstanding performance. These athletes were selected by the Executive Committee. Since then the Association expanded and more Clubs became members, such selection was entrusted to the Council which comprised of elected officers and member clubs representatives.

Late in mid-1975, the selection responsibility was passed to the Athlete of the Year Selection Committee which was appointed by the Council each year. The Committee consists of 5 people who are familiar with local athletics and yet not personally involved with athletes and clubs.

As from the season of 1969-70, Junior Awards were introduced to encourage younger athletes. In 2003, the award has extended up to six athletes for each of the category (Junior Men, Junior Women, Senior Men, Senior Women). Five in each category will be honered as EXCELLENT ATHLETES and the best one will be the ATHLETE OF THE YEAR. Apart from a trophy, a cash incentive will also be presented to each awardee as a kind of encouragement.

2007 - Athlete of Year

Selection Mechanism

The Athletes of the Year are selected by a three-step mechanism:

First : The HKAAA affiliated clubs are invited to nominate no more than 3 athletes for each category to the Selection Committee on or before 31 January 2008.

Second : The 2007 registered coaches, judges and athletes are invited to vote for 1 Athlete of the Year of each category at www.hkaaa.com on 15 Mar - 24 Mar 2008. If a person is identified with more than one registration record in HKAAA (e.g. Registeration Coach and Registration Official), he/she can only vote ONCE in using any one of his/her identities. The voting will take 10% of the total scores.

Third : Based on the selection criteria, members of the Selection Committee will select no more than 6 athletes in each category as the Athletes of the Year in March 2007. The athlete with the highest total score will become the “Athlete of the Year”. If required, interviews for the nominees may be arranged. During the selection, members of the Selection Committee reserve the right to decide whether the highest scorer is appropriated to be honored as the Athlete of the Year, also have the discretion to select less than 6 athletes in each category on the nomination list.

Selection Criteria

Criteria for Selection Committee to consider are as follows:

1. Sportsmanship,
2. Enthusiasm in the sport,
3. Service to the sport,
4. Performances in the sport (HK/Asia Rankings, Best Results, New Records, Medals achieved will be counted), and
5. Consistent Progress in Performance (progressive performance in the last 24 months will take into consideration)

Awards

Announcement and presentation of the Athletes of the Year will be made at the 2007 HKAAA Annual Prize Presentation.

1. Trophies will be awarded to all awardees

2. Cash Incentives will be given to all awardees as follows::

• Senior Men/Women

Athlete of the Year HK$10,000

Excellent Athletes (up to 5) HK5,000

• Junior Men/Women

Athlete of the Year HK$6,000

Excellent Athletes (up to 5) HK$3,000

Nomination Procedure

1. Application forms are available at www.hkaaa.com , HKAAA office.
2. Nominees must be the 2007 HKAAA Registered Athletes. After completing the nomination forms, please return them to the affiliated clubs for club's nomination and endorsement.
3. All endorsed nominations must be sent to the HKAAA Secretariat (Fax : 25775392; Address : Room 2015, Olympic House, 1 Stadium Path, So Kon Po, Causeway Bay, HK) on or before 31 January 2008, via the affiliated clubs with authorized signature and chop. Nomination will not be accepted after this deadline.
4. No nomination can be substituted after the submission to the HKAAA.