Sports Star Awards

LJ Hooker Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year Awards

Lithgow City Council, Energy Australia and LJ Hooker Real Estate are very proud to be major sponsors the annual LJ Hooker Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year awards.

Reg came to Lithgow in the late 1930’s when his family moved to the area. Whilst Reg himself didn’t play sport, he was heavily involved in the administration and coaching of basketball in the Lithgow area from it’s inception in 1946, including being the Secretary of the Association for many years. Reg was also instrumental in organising the weekends of the McWilliams Wines Tournaments. 

His other passion was all forms of racing, including greyhounds, horses and trots. Reg called the Lithgow Greyhound Racing every Saturday, until ill health forced his retirement.

His wonderful sense of humour saw him take part in celebrity races at the trots, and he was involved in anything for sport, and any event that was held to benefit local charities. Reg also wrote a sporting column for the Clarion for many years until the Clarion ceased printing, and also wrote for the Lithgow Mercury. Reg was best known for the Saturday morning Sports Show on 2LT, which he performed for over 25 years, and was honoured with an annual dinner for this achievement until his untimely death in 1987.

Reg was a lover of all sports, and diligently promoted all sports within the Lithgow area, providing any assistance he could to any sportsman, including Lithgow’s Commonwealth and Olympic representatives.

The LJ Hooker Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year Awards are a legacy for Reg and his lengthy dedication to sport in the Lithgow region.

Lithgow City Council undertakes the administration of the Awards through it’s Sports Advisory Committee, which meets on the last Tuesday of every month. The Sports Advisory Committee comprises of members of various different local sporting organisations, and each month, a Junior and Senior Sports Star of the month are selected from the nominations received.

At the end of the year, all monthly winners submit an updated achievement sheet, detailing their sporting achievements during the year, and the Sports Advisory Committee use this information to determine the annual Junior and Senior Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year Award winners.

Nomination Criteria

The following summarises the nomination criteria for the Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year awards:

• Nominations for sporting achievements will be accepted for the LJ Hooker Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year Awards, in both Junior (18 years and under) and Senior categories, for residents of the Lithgow Local Government area, of the Year Awards must be received within seven (7) days of the end of the month, for example, nominations for achievements in January will be accepted until 7 February. 
• All Applications for Financial Assistance are automatically nominated for the LJ Hooker Reg Cowden Memorial Junior Sports Star of the Month Award. 
• Nominations for the LJ Hooker Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year Awards may be made by any member of the community on behalf of the nominee, however, supporting documentation verifying the Applicant’s achievements is required from either the team the Applicant has been selected in, the local sporting organisation of the sport the Applicant has been chosen to represent, or the School Principal (should the Applicant be selected in a school representative team). 
• Monthly Sport Star winners (junior and senior) will be presented with a trophy donated by the major sponsor of the Awards (presented at the annual awards night), and a gift certificate from a local business (issued immediately if sufficient minor sponsors are obtained), and monthly recipients are to be voted for and determined at the regular monthly Sports Advisory Committee meetings. 
• Monthly nominations and award winners are to be published in Council’s regular column in the Lithgow Mercury on the Thursdays preceding the Sports Advisory Committee meeting, and broadcast over Radio 90 (2LT). 
• The annual Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star Award winners will be selected by the Sports Advisory Committee, after Applicants supply an update of their achievements for the year, and this updated information needs to be verified by the relevant sporting bodies the Applicant has listed as representing. 
• The criteria for the Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star Awards is as follows, however, the Sports Advisory Committee reserves the right to select a lower achievement provided a vote of the Sports Advisory Committee is undertaken and the majority supports the decision:
• Junior category is eligible for nominees aged eighteen (18) or under in the year of the Award. 
• Merit is awarded in the following order, however, the selection of the recipient is at the Sports Advisory Committee’s discretion; 
  1. Local Achievement
  2. Intertown Representation
  3. District Representation
  4. Zone Representation
  5. Regional Representation (Western) etc
  6. Half State Representation North, South, etc
  7. State Representation
  8. National Representation
  9. International Zone Representation (Oceania) etc

• Possible/Probable selection is classed the category immediately prior to the selection, ie. Possible/Probable selection for Western Region Hockey Team would be classified in the same category as d) Zone Representative. 
• School achievements will be considered in the same order as above, provided the nominee is a resident of the Lithgow Local Government area at the time of their achievement, indifferent of which Local Government Area their school is located. 
• Whilst selection in a representative team is an achievement, this does not meet the criteria for a monthly achievement. As a monthly achievement, a nominee must have competed in an event, as either an individual or as part of a team, to be eligible for nomination, for example, if a nominee is selected in a Regional team in June, but the team does not compete at an event until August, then the achievement is for the month of August, not June. 
• Merit Certificates will be distributed on a quarterly basis at a meeting of Lithgow City Council, with merit certificates being presented by His Worship the Mayor, and an article published in the Lithgow Mercury regarding the presentation. 
• The monthly award can only be won once per person per season per sport. Applicants are eligible to win the monthly award in separate sports during the year. 
• Junior Annual Award and Senior Annual Award winners are eligible to win the Annual Award in future years (including consecutive years). 
• It the end of each year, monthly winners will be requested to provide updated details of their sporting achievements during the year. Based upon this information, the Sports Advisory Committee will determine the annual Junior and Senior Reg Cowden Memorial Sports Star of the Year Award winners. Should there not be a consensus between the members of the Sports Advisory Committee for these winners, a secret vote will occur, with the winner determined via a ‘first past the post’ points system. Winning recipients of the following annual awards will be determined as detailed below: 
• Reg Cowden Memorial Junior Sports Star of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from the junior monthly award winners
• Reg Cowden Memorial Senior Sports Star of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from the senior monthly award winners
• Junior Team Achievement of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from junior nominations made by the community as well as any junior monthly teams nominees
• Senior Team Achievement of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from senior nominations made by the community as well as any senior monthly teams nominees
• Bunny Abbott Volunteer of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from nominations made by the community
• Laurie Muir Official of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from nominations made by the community
• International Sports Achievement of the Year Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from nominations made from the community as well as any junior or senior monthly award winners
• Whitty Perpetual Trophy Selected by the Whitty Family from any nomination during the year
• Mac Scott Memorial Trophy for All Round Achievements Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from any individual nomination during the year (teams are not eligible)
• Encouragement Award Selected by the Sports Advisory Committee members from any junior individual nomination during the year (teams are not eligible)