Finalists for the 18 categories at the 2024 Victorian Sport Awards (VSAs) have been announced, an event that recognises and celebrates the achievements of our home-grown sporting heroes at both a grassroots and high-performance level.

A record 330 nominations were received from the Victorian sporting community, honouring those who have made an exceptional contribution to sport and recreation in Victoria during the previous calendar year.

Individual and team athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, administrators, media personnel and the initiatives that promoted participation from both metropolitan and regional areas were acknowledged as well as the elite sports people who shone at events such as the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

In order to select the finalists and eventual winners from these nominations, 45 highly qualified people from the Victorian sport and recreation industry were invited to constitute this year’s judging panels. 

Judges included four-time Olympian Steve Moneghetti AM OLY, General Manager of High Performance & Pathways atNetball Victoria Sharelle McMahon, Australian 110m Hurdles record holder KyleVan Der Kuyp as well as CEOs from Girls Sport Victoria (Michelle Barry), SwimmingVictoria (Jason Hellwig), Softball Australia (Sarah Loh), Calisthenics Victoria(Jennifer McIntyre), Netball Victoria (Andrea Pearman), Disability SportsAustralia (Ayden Shaw), Bowls Victoria (Tony Sherwill) and Hockey Victoria(Andrew Skillern).

Atthis year’s VSAs, Scotty James (Snowboarding) and Jakara Anthony (Mogul Skiing)will be aiming for three consecutive Frank Wilkes and Kitty McEwan Awards respectively as they have again been nominated for their achievements in 2024.The only person to achieve that feat is skier Kirstie Marshall who won theKitty McEwan Award from 1990-1992.

For outstanding results achieved at a national or international level in a male category, Scotty will be up against Paris Olympic gold medallists Kelland O’Brien (Team Pursuit Cycling) and John Peers (Doubles Tennis) as well as WorldChampion swimmer Sam Williamson (breaststroke). Jakara’s competitors for outstanding results achieved nationally or internationally in a female category are Grace Brown (Cycling) after she won gold at the Paris Olympics, Emily Petricola (Para-Cycling) who claimed a world record to win gold at the ParisParalympics and Para-Table Tennis’ Qian Yang who finished her Paris Paralympics campaign undefeated to win gold.

Other notable finalists include Proud 2 Play’s Pride Hub which is a world’s first pride activation at the Australian Grand Prix (Peter Norman Inclusion Award),Masters Athlete of the Year candidates Glenn Busby (Tennis) and Nadene Gole(Golf) who are ranked number one in the world for their age classes and theVictorian Institute of Sport’s ‘The Moment’ series which explorers the rich history of the VIS through the lens of six former athletes and coaches(Outstanding Media Coverage of Sport Award).

Presented by the State Government of Victoria and Vicsport, the VSAs will be held onWednesday 14 May 2025, in the Members Dining Room at the Melbourne CricketGround (MCG).

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In addition to the 18 awards nominated by the Victorian sporting community, themost prestigious honour of the night, the State Government OutstandingContribution to Victorian Sport Award, will be bestowed to an individual fortheir lifelong commitment to sport in Victoria.

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Previous recipients of the award include Dr.Peter Brukner OAM, Neale Daniher AO, Cathy Freeman OAM and Cadel Evans AM.

VicsportChair Jason Hellwig says:

“It is a wonderful achievement and a credit to theVictorian sporting industry that the nominations records was shattered this year. Combined with the calibre of the nominations, these Awards are a true showcase of the successes throughout the Victorian sport and active recreation community.

“I thank all the judges who took on the challenging but rewarding task of deciding this year’s finalists and winners and I look forward to honouring those recipients at the 2024 VictorianSport Awards in May.”

TheHon. Ros Spence, Minister for Community Sport says:

"Congratulations to all nominees and finalists. Vicsport set a new record for nominations in2024, which shows the high calibre of athletes, coaches, and administrators across Victoria.

“It’s fantastic to see this group of outstanding Victorians nominated by their communities for goingabove and beyond at all levels of sport.

"We're delighted to shine the spotlight on these local icons at the 2024 Victorian SportAwards."

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Event details:

Wednesday 14 May, 2025

6.00pm – 9.30pm

Members Dining Room

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased through the Vicsport website or on (03) 9698 8100.

 Finalists in the 18 nominated categories of the 2024 Victorian Sport Awards are as follows:

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Leas express Coach of the Year

· Ian Ewing – Bowls

· Gerard Murphy – Netball

· Prateeti Sabhlok – ArtisticSwimming

· Jimmy Soufis – Futsal

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Gallagher Community Coach of the Year

· Samantha Batty – Sailing

· Madelaine Braekspear – Football

· Connor Drysdale – Netball

· Tim Watson – Life Saving

Sports Accounting Australia Official of the Year

· Joshua Burt – Hockey

· Alan Hopkins – Table Tennis

· Matthew Quick – Tennis

· Cynthia Tam - Badminton

etrainu Community Official of the Year

· Peter Boulter – Cricket

· Stephen McLennan – Athletics

· Sarah Pinkerton – Life Saving

· Liam Smith – Life Saving

AFL SportsReady Young Team of the Year

· Henri and Miles Levenspiel – Sailing

· Joshua Garner and Jack Benyan – Sailing

· Tri-Series Team – Swimming

· U14 Boys Casey Cavaliers – Basketball

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Team of the Year

· Queens Cup Crew – Rowing

· U18 Victorian Baseball Team –Baseball

· Victorian IntellectualDisability Team – Cricket

· Victorian ISSF State Team –Target Pistol Shooting  

My Sport Live Community Sporting Event of the Year

· Junior State Championships – Hockey Victoria

· National Sports Tournament – Queer Sporting Alliance

· Statewide Senior Football Netball Carnival – VACSAL

· Victorian Cup of Nations – Football Victoria

Love the Game Community Sporting Club of the Year

· Bendigo Hawks Aquatic – Swimming

· Fitzroy Lions Soccer Club – Football  

· Rise Netball Club – Netball

· Sorrento Cricket Club – Cricket

revolutionise SPORT Victorian Sports Administrator of the Year – Eunice Gill Award

· Meaghan Densley – Sailing

· Scott McNaughton – Rugby League

· Natalie Parfalis – Football/Futsal

· Sarah Simpson – Basketball

Bunnings Trade Local Government Initiative of the Year

· Active Holidays – Wyndham City Council

· Active Kinders – Wyndham City Council

· GO Family – Maribyrnong City Council

· Water Safety with Derrimut Weelam Gathering Place – City of Kingston

Vicsport Volunteer of the Year

· Samantha Dwyer – Life Saving

· Kelly Godfrey – Hockey

· David Kearsley – LittleAthletics

· Louise Thornton – Tennis

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VicHealth Sport and Active Recreation Initiative of the Year

· CaliStars – Calisthenics

· Junior West Softball League – Softball

· Specialist Hoops Victoria – Basketball  

· Victorian International Optimist Dinghy Association – Sailing

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Involve Masters Athlete of the Year

· Ashley Braszell – Cycling

· Glenn Busby – Tennis

· Nadene Gole – Golf

· Cindy Rella – Kettlebell

rebel Young Athlete of the Year

· Brock Batty – Trampoline

· Tahlia Denham – Basketball, Cricket, Netball

· Jack Howell – Para-Triathlon

· Joshua Jolly – BMX

Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme Outstanding Media Coverage of Sport Award

· Leah Keh – Sailing

· Ocean Racing Club of Victoria – Sailing

· Victorian Age Short Course Championships – Swimming

· Victorian Institute of Sport’s ‘The Moment Series’ – various

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Polytan PeterNorman Inclusion Award

· Big Issue Community Street Soccer – Football

· Inclusive Sports Training – Triathlon

· June Bamblett – Football, Basketball, Netball

· Pride Hub – Proud 2 Play

Frank Wilkes Award

· Scotty James – Snowboarding (won gold in the World Cup halfpipe (16^th career World Cup medal), silver at the FIS Snowboard World Cup and gold at theX-Games, his third straight X-Games halfpipe gold medal)

· Kelland O’Brien – Cycling (gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the TeamPursuit, Australia’s first track gold since 2012)

· John Peers – Tennis (won gold at the Paris Olympics in the Doubles alongside Matt Ebden, dropping just one set all tournament)

· Sam Williamson – Swimming (World Championship gold medal in 50m breast stroke in an Australian record time and a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay)

Kitty McEwan Award

· Jakara Anthony – Mogul Skiing (won 14 World Cup events for the season, three more than the next most ever by a mogul skier, collected threeWorld Cup Champion Crystal Globes)

· Grace Brown – Cycling (won gold at the Paris Olympics in theWomen’s Road Individual Time Trial, Australian cycling’s first Olympic medal ina women’s individual time trial and the nation’s first gold medal on the road since Athens 2004)

· Emily Petricola – Para-Cycling (gold medal in the C4 3000m Individual Pursuit gold medal at the ParisParalympics, beating her world record from the Tokyo Paralympics by over three seconds)

· Qian Yang– Para-Table Tennis (won two golds at the Paris Paralympics in Singles Class 10and Doubles Class 20, finished the year ranked world number one in her discipline)