Alberta Sport Recognition Awards

Recognizing and celebrating the significant achievements, performances and contributions of Alberta’s athletes. These athletes are outstanding role models who inspire other Albertans to higher achievements at the recreational or competitive level.

The 2024 Alberta Sport Recognition Awards are open to Alberta male and female athletes meeting the following criteria:

• Junior Female Athlete 
• Junior Male Athlete 
• Open Female Athlete
• Open Male Athlete
• Athlete’s primary residence must be in Alberta, 
• Athletes, who live temporarily in other locations for education or training purposes and are products of the Alberta sport development system are eligible for nomination. A significant portion (at least three years) of the athlete’s sport development shall have occurred in Alberta.
• The athlete must meet Junior and Open, national and international age requirements for their sport.
• In the Athlete categories, the individual must have represented Alberta nationally or Canada internationally in the calendar year of 2024.

Submit a nomination for Athlete of the Year Award

Recognizing and celebrating the significant achievements, performances and contributions of Alberta’s amateur athletes. These athletes are outstanding role models who inspire other Albertans to higher achievements at the recreational or competitive level.

The 2024 awards are open to Alberta teams meeting the following criteria:

• Junior Team of the Year
• Open -Team of the Year
• All eligible team members must meet their national/ international age standards for their sport.
• The Team must either compete in a domestic league and be based in an Alberta municipality, or be a National Team based in the province with the majority of team members that are Alberta Residents
• Teams, whose athletes live temporarily in other locations for education or training purposes and are products of the Alberta sport development system are eligible for nomination. A significant portion (at least five years) of the athlete’s sport development shall have occurred in Alberta.
• In the Team categories, the team must have represented Alberta nationally or Canada internationally in the 2024 calendar year.

Submit a nomination for Team of the Year

This award recognizes and honors coaches for their successful and outstanding achievements in developing Alberta’s  athletes.

This award is open to Alberta coaches meeting the following criteria:

• Actively coached in Alberta for a minimum of three years;
• Consistently contributed to the successful development of Alberta’s young athletes;
• Recognized as a leading coach in his/her sport;
• Coached at provincial, western, national or international competition levels;
• Achieved a minimum of NCCP Level II certification in the old NCCP or equivalent in the current NCCP (Competition -Development), if available, in the sport;
• Contributed to coaching by leading or assisting with NCCP clinic facilitation, coaching seminars, provincial development camps, or production of resource materials, etc.; and
• Actively pursued professional development by attending clinics, seminars, etc. to enhance coaching skills.

Submit a nomination for Coach Recognition Award

Recognizing and honoring officials for their successful and outstanding achievements in officiating sports that involve Alberta’s athletes.

This award is open to Alberta Technical Officials meeting the following criteria:

• Actively officiated in Alberta for a minimum of three years;
• Endorsed as a leading official by his/her sport association;
• Achieved a high level of certification, as defined by the sport;
• Actively pursued professional development by attending clinics, seminars, etc. to enhance officiating skills;
• Contributed to officiating by leading or assisting with official clinic instruction, seminars, provincial development camps, production of resource materials, etc.
• Officiated at provincial, regional, national and/or international level competitions.

Submit a nomination for Technical Officials Recognition Award

This award recognizes and honors the significant contributions of individuals who devote their volunteer time and effort to the development of sport.

Volunteers may be nominated for outstanding service or contribution to sport within the Province of Alberta at the local/club, regional/zone and/or at the national/international level. 

This award is open to Alberta sport volunteers that meet the following criteria:

• Actively volunteered in sport in Alberta for a minimum of five years;
• Endorsed as a leading volunteer by his/her sport association;
• The individual has a consistent and continuous record of volunteer service to the sport community of Alberta during the period of nomination. Service to sport development within the province, however, will be the most important factor in the selection process. 

Submit a nomination for Sport Volunteer Recognition Award

This Coach Developer award is named in honor of Don Watts. Don dedicated over 3 decades to the NCCP as a course conductor, coaching advisor and a learning facilitator. He was the coaches coach, an advisor and renowned as one of Canada’s best Learning Facilitator.  Don positively impacted thousands of coaches and hundreds of Learning Facilitators across Alberta.

The award acknowledges the tremendous impact NCCP Learning Facilitators/Evaluators have on Alberta’s sport development system. The award recognizes and celebrates the significant achievement in developing Alberta’s coaches. This individual is responsible for training and certifying amateur coaches, they dedicate thousands of hours to attend training and then countless weekends to facilitate coach workshops. 

This award is open to Alberta National Coaches Certification Program (NCCP) Learning Facilitators/Evaluators meeting the following criteria:

• Trained and/or Certified as a NCCP Learning Facilitator/Evaluator;
• Actively facilitated NCCP workshops in Alberta for a minimum of five years;
• Endorsed by the Provincial Sport Association or Provincial Coaching Representative;
• Consistently contributed to the development of Alberta’s coaches;
• Recognized as a leading Learning Facilitator/Evaluator;
• Contributed to coach training by leading or assisting with NCCP workshops, coach seminars, development camps, development of coaching resources, etc.; and
• Actively participated in professional development by attending clinics, seminars, etc. to enhance Learning Facilitator/Evaluator skills.

Submit a nomination for Don Watts Coach Developer Award