Canadian Sport Awards

AthletesCAN Social Responsibility Award

This award honours a current or retired national team athlete who used their platform to make a positive impact in their sport or community at the local, national, or international level. This award recognizes the significant contributions of an athlete leader in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, community, volunteer and/or social change initiatives.

Specific Criteria:

1. This award can be presented to an individual only once in their lifetime.
2. This award must be presented to a current or retired national team athlete.

True Sport Award

The True Sport Award recognizes an inspirational Canadian citizen who exemplifies true sport values of fairness, excellence, inclusion, and fun in a meaningful way. Through the pursuit of sporting excellence this Canadian hero showcases dedication, perseverance, sportsmanship, respect for others, and a true love of sport. 

Specific Criteria:

1. This award can be presented to an individual only once in their lifetime.
2. This award must be presented to a Canadian citizen.

#AthleteVoice Award – Rep of the Year

The #AthleteVoice Award – Rep of the Year recognizes the significant contributions of an athlete representative within their national sport organization, multi-sport organization or international sport organization. The athlete representation movement is only as good as the athletes chosen by their teammates to effect positive change. This award highlights the initiative, courage, and leadership of these individuals.

Specific Criteria:

1. This award must be presented to a current or retired national team athlete who was an official athlete representative, Athletes’ Council/Commission member, and/or Athlete Director within a national, international, or multi-sport organization within the Qualifying Period.
2. The nominator must be involved in the rep’s respective organization as an athlete, administrator, volunteer, or director.

Bruce Kidd Leadership Award

The Bruce Kidd Leadership Award is presented annually to a retired national team athlete, sport leader, or organization, who has provided meaningful contributions to the betterment of sport as a leader, advocate, change agent, or builder. This award highlights the ground breaking work that contributed to the betterment of sport through inspirational leadership, innovative practices, and/or positive influence on the Canadian sport sector. The Bruce Kidd Leadership Award is named in honour of 1968 Canadian Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Dr. Bruce Kidd, who has made enormous contributions to Canada’s sporting community as an athlete, advocate, author, historian, and academic.

Specific Criteria:

1. This award must be presented to a retired national team athlete, sport leader who represents a national sport organization, or an organization at the national or provincial level.
2. Eligible sport leaders must represent a national organization working for the betterment of Canadian sport.
3. Eligible organizations include those that operate at a national or provincial level and whose mandate includes the betterment of Canadian sport.
4. This award can be presented to an individual only once in their lifetime for individual recipients.
5. This award can be presented to an organization more than once provided the contributions noted within subsequent nominations differ from those in any previous win.

The Randy Starkman Award for Leadership in Sports Journalism was initially created in 2012, following the sudden passing of its namesake just a few months prior, who served as a long-time Toronto Star amateur sports reporter and advocate. The award recognizes the extraordinary career and unparalleled contributions of the late Randy Starkman in telling the stories of Canadian athletes and sport for over 30 years from an athletes’ perspective. This award will serve as an ongoing recognition of his legacy and will be a call to action to inspire current and future Canadian sports journalists to strive for the kind of sports journalism that he demonstrated throughout his career.

Specific Criteria:

1. This award must be presented to a Canadian journalist or current and/or retired athlete (whose sport qualifies for AthletesCAN membership) pursuing a career in journalism.
2. Eligible candidates are permitted to win the award more than once in their lifetime.
3. Eligible candidates must be well-respected within the industry and sport, maintaining integrity and humility within their work and throughout their career.
4. The eligible work must cover the stories of Canadian athletes who represent sports under the qualification of AthletesCAN membership.