Finalists announced for 2021 Victorian Sport Awards

The Victorian Sport Awards (VSAs) is the night of nights for the Victorian sporting community, an event that recognises and celebrates the achievements of our home-grown sporting heroes and legends.

Honouring those who have made an exceptional contribution to sport and active recreation in Victoria, this year’s Awards acknowledge individual and team athletes as well as coaches, administrators, volunteers and the initiatives that promoted participation from both metropolitan and regional areas during the 2021 calendar year.

In addition to those who have excelled at a grassroots and community level are a number of high-profile sportspeople who shone at national and international tournaments including the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Governor’s Award Victorian Male Athlete of the Year – Frank Wilkes Award will be contested by Grand Slam winner and Paralympic gold medalist Dylan Alcott, Australian Boomer and Olympic bronze medalist Jock Landale, NBL Rookie of the Year Josh Giddey and Formula 2 Champion Oscar Piastri.

For the Governor’s Award Victorian Female Athlete of the Year – Kitty McEwan Award, Australian Diamonds captain Liz Watson is up against rhythmic gymnastics champion Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva, Olympic judo representative Aoife Coughlan and artistic gymnast Emily Whitehead who claimed a gold medal at the Oceania Continental Championships.

Emily’s coach, John Hart, has been named a Southern Cross Trophies Coach of the Year finalist alongside Melbourne Victory women’s coach Jeff Hopkins, Melbourne Rebels women’s coach Alana Thomas and national Paralympic table tennis coach Alois Rosario.

The AED Authority Team of the Year award will also be hotly contested with 2021 champions/premiers Melbourne City FC (A-League), Melbourne Football Club (AFL), Melbourne United (NBL) and Melbourne Victory FC (W-League) named as finalists.

Presented by the State Government of Victoria and Vicsport, this year’s VSAs will be held on Wednesday 15 June, 2022, at CENTRPIECE at Melbourne Park, the newest venue within the Melbourne & Olympic Parks precinct.

A total of 19 awards with finalists nominated by friends, family, teammates, club members and/or the recipient’s local community will be bestowed in addition to the most prestigious award of the night - the Victorian State Government Outstanding Contribution to Victorian Sport Award.

Vicsport Chairman Ron Gauci says:

“Vicsport is delighted to recognise and celebrate the wonderful achievements of the sport and recreation community in what was another trying year for our industry.

“The volume and, in particular, the calibre of nominations this year were a wonderful reminder of the successes throughout our industry in 2021. The process of judging the finalists and winners is a challenging but rewarding one and I know we are all now looking forward to honouring them at the 2021 Victorian Sport Awards in June.”

The Hon. Ros Spence, Minister for Community Sport says:

“Congratulations to all the finalists, from Olympic Games competitors to the community teams, volunteers and coaches leading the way at grassroots level.  It is fantastic to see these Victorians receive the recognition they deserve.”

The quality and breadth of the nominations received for the Victorian Sport Awards makes selecting the finalists a difficult endeavour. To this end, 30 highly qualified Victorian sports people including Olympians, world-renowned athletes and State Sporting Association CEOs were invited to constitute the judging panels charged with selecting the finalists and winners across the 19 categories.

Judges included 12-time national hurdles champion Kyle Vander Kuyp OLY, Head of Female Cricket at Cricket Victoria Sharelle McMahon as well as CEOs from Proud2Play (Christine Granger), Netball Victoria (Rosie King), School Sport Victoria (Rayoni Nelson) and Bowls Victoria (Tony Sherwill).