ISLAMABAD, Aug 23 (APP): The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has revealed the shortlists for the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2020-21, with players, coaches, media and fans being able to register their votes for the nominees in the respective women’s and men’s Player, Goalkeeper, Rising Star and Coach of the Year categories from Monday (August 23).
With no Hockey Stars Awards in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic on the international calendar, this year’s awards cover the period from January 2020 through to the conclusion of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, meaning that the 2020-21 edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League has been very much taken into consideration, said a press release issued here.
In another change from the norm, the Hockey Stars Awards nominations and voting would now take place around August and September of each calendar year going forward, moving away from its traditional December-January launch period.
The voting process for the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2020-21 would remain open until Wednesday 15 September 2021, with the winners being announced in late September/early October 2021.
Votes from National Associations, represented by their respective national captains and coaches, will count for 50% of the overall result, while fans and players (25%) as well as media (25%) will make the other half of the votes.
List of Awards include FIH Player of the Year – Women & Men; FIH Goalkeeper of the Year – Women & Men; FIH Rising Star of the Year – Women & Men (Aged 21 or under on 31/12/2021); FIH Coach of the Year – Women & Men.
The shortlisted individuals in each category can be found below.
FIH Player of the Year Awards: Women: Agustina Albertarrio (ARG), Eva de Goede (NED), Agustina Gorzelany (ARG), Gurjit Kaur (IND), Frédérique Matla (NED), Maria Verschoor (NED).
Men: Tim Brand (AUS), Arthur van Doren (BEL), Alexander Hendrickx (BEL), Harmanpreet Singh (IND), Jake Whetton (AUS), Aran Zalewski (AUS).
FIH Goalkeeper of the Year Awards: Women: Maddie Hinch (GBR/ENG), Savita (IND), Belén Succi (ARG) Men: Andrew Charter (AUS), Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh (IND), Vincent Vanasch (BEL).
FIH Rising Star of the Year Awards: Women: Fiona Crackles (GBR/ENG), Sharmila Devi (IND), Valentina Raposo (ARG) Men: Mustaphaa Cassiem (RSA), Sean Findlay (NZL), Vivek Prasad (IND).
FIH Coach of the Year Awards: Women’s teams: Alyson Annan (AUS) – The Netherlands, Mark Hager (AUS) – Great Britain & England, Sjoerd Marijne (NED) – India
Men’s teams: Colin Batch (AUS) – Australia, Shane McLeod (NZL) – Belgium, Graham Reid (AUS) – India.
