2015 SP sports awards launched

Caption: Rapilla, Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko, and Reg Monagi signaling the start of nominations.

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, January 11, 2015 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

THE 23rd consecutive SP Sport Awards for 2015 was launched last week at naming rights sponsor South Pacific (SP) Brewery’s Brewkettle.

With one of the biggest year in sport in the country to take place in the South Pacific games, the theme for the awards this year awards is ‘Our Year’- the event has been moved ahead from its usual schedule as explained by SP’s Corporate Affairs Manager Reg Monagi.

“This year is very significant as we all know that we are hosting the pacific games, and you all have noticed that we have brought the event forward this year in recognition of the July games and also that the PNG Olympic Committee will be very busy in organizing and preparing the games for us,” Monagi said.

“Usually we have the awards night in May, and this year’s will be at the end of March.”

“This is the event where which we recognize and reward our sports men and women, our sports administrators, technical officials, and sports reporters.”

He called on citizens to be positive towards the award as a platform to inspire the country’s athletes and motivate them to prepare themselves for the pacific games in July.

“Our aim is to be in the top three, but also I think our aim is to win the games on top,” he said.

“I would like to acknowledge our support sponsors who have been with us for a number of years in Air Niugini, City Pharmacy Group of Companies, Crown Plaza, EMTV, FM100, Graffiti Signs, Theodist, and Deloittes as well for assisting in the nomination process.”

PNG Olympic Committee Secretary General Auvita Rapilla hailed SP for its involvement in the prestigious event and sport in the country as a whole. This year marks 23 years of SP Brewery’s partnership as the official sponsor of the prestigious event.

“The event marks the level of commitment that has been given in various sporting codes- SP’s commitment to the awards and to PNG sport through its many other sponsorships validates their position as an organization that is behind PNG’s finest,” Rapilla said.

“The awards came about straight after the 1991 South Pacific Games, and SP has been a part of it since and the SP Sports Awards have truly been our awards, because they reward our athletes, our teams, our coaches and our sporting heroes.”

She highlighted that 2014 was a successful sporting year for the country with many great performance worthy of nominations for the awards.

“We saw Team PNG win two gold medals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games through Steven Kari and Dika Toua,” she said.

“The SP Hunters had a groundbreaking first year of competition in the Queensland Cup and the PNG games in Lae showcased the amazing sporting talent that can be found throughout the nation.”

The 2015 SP Sports awards will see a slight variation to the awards on offer with 12 awards in the categories of Male and Female athlete, and Team of the year awards based on international performance.

Junior male and female athlete of the year, Best sportsperson with a disability, Sports photo of the year, and Sports Media Award

New award include the National Performance of the Year and Peoples Choice of the Year, which will see the public given the opportunity to vote on each finalist of the top four categories they feel deserve to win this award.

Sports official of the Year- will be open to those playing the role of coach, technical official such as referees and umpires, or administrators.

Community Sports Initiative- is an award recognizing the best use of sport to address social development at a community level.

“Nominations for this years awards close on February 25 and it would be fantastic to see in a year where we hope to see many records broken in the pacific Games, a record number of nominations come through for the awards,” Rapilla added.

SP Sports Awards presentation night will be on March 28 at Crown Plaza in Port Moresby.