The Western Australian Sports Star Award, currently presented at the SportWest Awards, is an annual award for sportspeople from the Australian state of Western Australia and/or playing for teams based in Western Australia. It has been running since 1956 and has grown to celebrate sport in the West Australian community along with high-performance achievements that have been part of the tradition of the Awards.
The award has had several multiple winners. Cricketer Dennis Lillee won the award five times (1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, and 1981), and is the only person to win the award in consecutive years on two separate occasions. Another cricketer, Rod Marsh, was the second person to win the award four times (1972, 1973, 1974, and 1981), and is the only person to win the award in three consecutive years. Golfer Graham Marsh (1973, 1977, 1985, and 1986) and hockey player Ric Charlesworth (1976, 1979, 1986, and 1987) also won the award four times, while swimmer David Dickson (1961, 1963, and 1966) and tennis player Margaret Court (1969, 1970, and 1973) won the award three times.
Cricket has produced the most winners of the award, with 14 winners. Ten athletes and ten swimmers have won the award, as well as eight footballers, six cyclists, and six hockey players.
The most recent edition of the SportWest Awards was presented at Optus Stadium on 23 February 2023 where Jai Hindley became a two-time winner of Western Australia's most prestigious sports award following victory in the 2022 Giro d'Italia.
In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or on a specific team. The purpose of the award is to recognize the contribution of the individual's efforts amongst a group effort, and to highlight the excellence, exemplariness, and/or outstandingness of a player's performance amidst the performance of their peers in question.
Margaret Court, also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles are the most in tennis history.
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, and nationally in U Sports, winning 119 national titles. UBC has won an additional 21 national titles competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics against collegiate competition from the United States and 43 national titles in sports that compete in independent competitions.
The Northern Star Award, formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy, the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy and Lou Marsh Award, is a trophy awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. It is awarded by a panel of journalists, with the vote taking place in December. It was first awarded in 1936, named in honour of Lou Marsh, a prominent Canadian athlete, referee, and former sports editor of the Toronto Star. The trophy is made of black marble and stands around 75 centimetres high. The words "With Pick and Shovel" appear above the engraved names of the winners. The voting panel consists of sports media voters from across the country including representatives from the Toronto Star, The Canadian Press, FAN590, The Globe and Mail, CBC, Rogers Sportsnet, CTV/TSN, La Presse and the National Post.
Shane Elizabeth Gould is an Australian former competition swimmer. She won three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze, at the 1972 Summer Olympics, becoming the first woman swimmer to win five individual medals. In 2018, she won the fifth season of Australian Survivor, becoming the oldest winner of any Survivor franchise.
The BBC Sports Team of the Year Award is an award given annually as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony each December. Currently, the award is given "for the team in an individual sport or sporting discipline that has achieved the most notable performance in the calendar year to date. The team should have significant UK interest or involvement". From 2012 the award's recipient is decided by an expert panel selected by the BBC. For some years before 2012 a panel of over 30 sporting journalists, each of whom voted for their top two choices and followed a defined set of voting criteria. Before that, the winner of the Team of the Year Award has been chosen by public vote and picked by listeners of Radio 5 Live.
The BBC World Sport Star of the Year is an award presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. The award is presented to a non-British sportsperson considered to have made the most substantial contribution to a sport in that year. The award was decided by a panel of over 30 sporting journalists. Each panellist voted for their top two choices; their first preference was awarded two points, and their second preference was awarded one point. The winning sportsperson had the most total points. In the case of a points tie, the sportsperson chosen as first preference by the most panellists is the winner. If this is also a tie the award is shared. In 2015 the public voted for this award.
The Western Australian men's cricket team, formerly nicknamed the Western Warriors, represent the Australian state of Western Australia in Australian domestic cricket. The team is selected and supported by the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA), and plays its home games at the WACA Ground and Perth Stadium in Perth.
Kelvin David George Nagle AM was an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.
Graham Vivian Marsh MBE is an Australian golfer. In 1968, Marsh turned pro and won several tournaments on the Australasian circuits early in his career. He joined the PGA Tour in the mid-1970s and won the 1977 Heritage Classic. However, he elected to focus the remainder of his career overseas, ultimately winning ten times on the European Tour and twenty times on the Japan Golf Tour. As a senior, he continued with much success on the Champions Tour, winning two senior majors, including the U.S. Senior Open.
Awarded during the Australian Cricket Awards, the Allan Border Medal is considered to be the most prestigious individual prize in Australian men's cricket. First awarded in 2000, the medal is named after former Australian men's captain Allan Border and recognises the most outstanding male Australian cricketer of the past season as voted by his peers, the media and umpires. Votes are cast after each game on a 3–2–1 basis, with a weighting applied to give both One Day International and Test players an equal chance of winning the award.
Richard Ian CharlesworthAO is an Australian sports coach and former politician. He played first-class cricket for Western Australia and international field hockey for the Kookaburras, winning a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and winning the World Cup in 1986. Charlesworth served as a federal member of parliament from 1983 to 1993, representing the Labor Party. After leaving politics, he was appointed coach of the Hockeyroos, leading them to Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000. Charlesworth later coached the Kookaburras from 2009 to 2014, and has also worked in consulting roles with the New Zealand national cricket team, the Australian Institute of Sport, and the Fremantle Football Club.
Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an independent Anglican coeducational primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Guildford, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Sport is an important part of the culture of Western Australia.
The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 years until 2001.
Stephen William Marsh was an Australian rules footballer who represented South Fremantle and East Fremantle in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL) during the 1940s and 1950s.
Elspeth Denning (OAM) a former Western Australian field hockey player. She was born in Kenya on 19 June 1956 and moved with her family to South Africa when she was six. She played representative hockey for Western Province before moving to Western Australia in 1975.
Justin Cain Eveson, OAM is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player who has won Paralympic medals in both sports.