By Neto Baptiste
Head of the judges’ panel for the recently-held Cool and Smooth National Sports Awards, Agatha Dublin, said adjudicating this year’s submissions was tougher than previous years due to the “impeccable” performances by the nominated athletes, officials and coaches.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo sports show following Saturday night’s awards held at the St John’s Pentecostal Church located on Lauchland Benjamin Drive, Dublin addressed concerns regarding some results, chief amongst them the Sportsman of the Year accolade awarded to kite-boarder, Tiger Tyson, who claimed the prize ahead of West Indies fast bowler, Alzarri Joseph.
Dublin said that although both nominees had fantastic performances spanning the judging period of January 1 to November 30, 2023, it came down to the overall impact of the performances on the final results.
“What do we look for when we go to competition? Results. Correct? When we look at the results we are seeing clear wins in the case of the eventual winner, whereas we had very good performances or exceptional performances by Alzarri, and I want to give them credit, but a decision had to be made and the nod went to Tiger Tyson,” she said.
“We looked at the personal performances initially, but how does your personal performance impact the results of the overall team. It you’re playing in a team sport you may be the MVP and this has nothing to do with Alzarri, I am just making a general statement, but you might be the MVP of the team that came fifth,” she added.
Dublin, a former national netballer, also sought to clarify the judges’ decision regarding coach of the year, where bodybuilding’s Ollyn Martin was adjudged the winner.
“I recognise that Ted Daley came up in the discussions, and yes, Ted had acquired two gold medals, one silver and three bronzes regionally, and one bronze internationally, while Ollyn Martin had five first places or gold, three second places, three third places, including one international third place,” the chief judge said.
Dublin went on to urge nominees to become more involved in the process by vetting and or approving what associations and federations submit on their behalf.
“I want to say to all the competitors that we see you, we hear you, we applaud you, but I keep saying that the nominees for each category should have an opportunity to review what is being sent in on their behalf, and if they are not able so to do, have their competent representative review the submission forms and sign-off on them before they are submitted,” she said.
Figure fitness athlete, Ambassador Kimberly Percival, was named Sportswoman of the Year for a second straight year, and fourth time overall, while track athletes Kasiya Daley and La’Nica Locker were junior men’s and women’s athletes of the year.