GIPPSTAR AWARDS
GIPPSLAND’S premier athletes will be acknowledged and celebrated when the annual bankmecu Gippstar awards ceremony takes place next week.
An eclectic collection of athletes representing a diverse cross section of disciplines including: judo, motorsport, athletics, swimming, archery and sports with disability will be considered for champion in senior, junior, team of the year and special achiever categories.
In a first for the Gippstar awards, judo juggernaut Aoife Coughlan has been nominated in junior and senior categories with monthly nominations in both throughout the year.
“We believe this is the first time someone has been successful in both the junior and senior categories of monthly nominations in the same year, no surprise really Aoife is an outstanding athlete, congratulations to her,” Gippsland Sports Academy chief executive Judi Buhagiar said.
“As always we have an exceptional field of monthly award recipients to choose from, that include national champions and Olympians.”
Buhagiar said the beauty of the awards was their ability to showcase the ongoing growth of Gippsland talent over time.
“The bankmecu Gippstar Awards are great because they have allowed the Gippsland public the opportunity to watch the development of the nominees in their sporting lives so far,” she said.
“Aoife Coughlan for example has been a regular monthly nominee for a number of years seeing her win the overall junior award last year, which the public has shared in.”
This year’s awards will also see three special achievers acknowledged for their selfless work in the Gippsland sporting community.
Club and team of the year will also be announced.
“The finalists for team of the year have achieved success at very different levels this time around but it’s about keeping it in perspective” Buhagiar said.
The 53rd Gippstar Awards will be hosted on Wednesday at the Waratah Restaurant in Morwell.
