Nominations sought for Hamilton Spectator’s Jeff Dickins Memorial Award

Courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator

The Hamilton Spectator is looking for nominees for the Jeff Dickins Memorial Award.

The award is named after the late Jeff Dickins, a Spectator sports reporter. Jeff had the special gift of being able to recognize and nurture talent in young people. The award named for Jeff celebrates that which he valued so highly: sports potential in a high school student, high academic standards, and community involvement.

Submissions should be received at The Spectator or via email no later than Jan. 20, 2017. Download a nomination form.

CRITERIA

The three criteria are athletic involvement, academic achievements and community involvement.

Athletic involvement should not be limited to abilities and skills demonstrated in any number of sports, but should include those students who act as trainers, fundraisers, or managers of teams. There may be individuals whose contributions to a team are not reflected on score sheets.

Academic achievement points to the student’s ability to consistently maintain high grades while competing or being involved in multiple sports, although participation in a single school sport would not necessarily disqualify one for consideration. For example, an individual could be a member of the school’s rowing team and a member of a provincial or national team which has earned recognition for its efforts By the same token a student could be a manager of a school team and coach or manage a team away from the school.

Community involvement would show a student-athlete’s participation outside the school environment. Volunteer work with various social agencies, visiting seniors in nursing homes, and coaching non-school teams, are just some of the possible considerations.

NOMINATIONS

Consideration for this award comes from the individual schools who are encouraged to seek nominations from the entire school bodies, not just coaches or athletic department heads. But it should be the schools and not parents. Letters from individuals and organizations in support of a candidate could be included with the nominations.

ELIGIBILITY

A Grade 12 student from the Hamilton or Halton board who will be going on to post-secondary education.

THE AWARD

We give a specially designed plaque and a monetary gift from the Jeff Dickens Memorial Bursary.

Nomination forms can be downloaded here or picked up at The Spectator.