by Lindsay Nash | Jan 13, 2023 | Articles
For the last 3,000 years, humans have sought out sport. In early times, physical activity was typically centred around the need for hunting or the call to war. But what started with spears and sparring quickly evolved into much more.
We have the Ancient Greeks to thank for planting the seeds of today’s organised sports. The first recorded Olympic Games were in 776 BBC in Olympia and included events such as foot races, wrestling, boxing, horse and chariot racing and more.
Throughout history, humans have craved a bit of healthy competition and have often felt an innate need to push ourselves to new limits.
The fastest runner, the highest jumper, the strongest weightlifter—the accolades in sports are impossible to list. As long as sports have existed, we have recognised winners and stand-outs.
These days, that recognition takes the form of sports awards programs, and there are thousands of such awards across the globe.
There’s more to celebrate, however, than the athlete at the top of the podium. And awards programs now are as diverse as the sports and activities themselves.
What are some examples of sports awards? You might have heard of some of these popular programs, for example:
The list could go on for days! But sports awards don’t have to be massive in scale or even well-known to successfully recognise excellence. Award Force, for example, works with sports programs big and small —each with unique characteristics and outcomes.
If you are considering running a sports awards program, or simply want to improve an existing one, we can help!
Read below for our 6 tips on running a winning sports awards program.
The most important step in creating or managing your awards program is to make sure it follows an organised outline. This means creating a basic plan on what your sports awards will include. In the outline, answer the following questions:
Deciding this information in the beginning will help you get organised early and help you make decisions along the way as you manage the sports awards.
Once you know what information you need to collect from any entries, you can create your entry or nomination form. This of course relates to your specific awards program. Some examples of information you might need to collect:
Keep in mind the fact you’ll want to keep the entry or nomination form relevant and accessible. Add contextual information to help the entrant along the way. And make it easy for your entrants to complete the form.
Everyone is different, and showcases their skill or athleticism in different ways. Perhaps you want to judge entries on skill or background. Think about ways you can request evidence of that skill. It might be in letters of recommendation, live scouting reports, video highlight reels or other mediums.
You’ll want to make sure you offer diverse ways for the athletes to show themselves in their best light.
Judging an awards program can be complex. You want to avoid any bias, make it easy for your judges to access all entries and have all the information they need on hand to make sound decisions.
To do this, provide a streamlined review process for your judges, making it clear what entries they are assigned and any rubric or scoring matrix from which to judge. Provide a way for judges to recuse themselves if necessary, and communicate often to remind them of any deadlines.
The secret to awards program success is often the simple act of communication. Share information regularly to keep your community in the know. Inform your participants about upcoming awards program dates, entry instructions, deadlines and more.
Video is a great way to do that, and the Award Force platform makes it easy to embed videos in relevant places for users.
“I suggest creating a video tutorial to share with your audience, which in our case is our member coaches, that walks them through how to submit, review and edit their nomination,” said Award Force client Kirtana Bhat, who helps organise the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s extensive awards program, which recognises and celebrates coaches and players for their excellence on the court and in their communities throughout the season.
“As simple as the Award Force platform is, I found the video tutorial I made very helpful for our coaches to follow.”
The best way to manage an awards program (and, yes, we’re biased) is to use awards management software to help streamline your processes. This can save your management team hundreds of hours (if not more).
Award Force, for example, provides one platform for all your program participants. It provides a great user experience so you’ll increase the number of submitted entries and make it easier for your judges to decide winners. And good experiences means your participants will come back, season after season.
“Award Force has been a great tool that has helped us streamline the process,” said Bhat, of the ITA. “I’m able to create the nomination form on the platform and our member coaches can easily create an account to submit their nominations.”
“Once an account has been created, they’re able to review their nominations, make edits, or save their nominations to return back to at a later date. It has also been great that I can add our judges (or awards committee members) to the platform and give them access to submit their votes. I’m able to keep track of who hasn’t yet submitted their ballot and send reminders directly from the platform.”
(Learn more about how Award Force can help your sports awards program.)
No matter whether your awards program is for spear-throwing and sparring or football or tennis or rather the photos or commentary on sports in general, the recognition is important in continuing to motivate your athletes and engage your sports community.
These tips will help you manage your sports awards program successfully and with ease. And, if you’d ever like more help, don’t hesitate to reach out.
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