2026 Gerry Phillips Coach of the Year Award – Premier League Men
As a Premier League Coach for one of the SA Men’s teams in 2026, you are being asked to nominate and vote for your peers, to assist in determining the winner of this year’s prestigious award. The purpose of this award is to recognise an individual who has delivered an outstanding contribution to coaching during the 2026 Premier League season. The recipient of this award will have demonstrated exceptional work and commitment in all aspects of coaching as voted by their peers and the selection committee.
Please Note: Only Head Coaches of a Premier League Men’s team may be nominated for the Gerry Phillips Coach of the Year Award. Nominations and votes must be received by 5pm on Friday 21st August 2026. Nominations received after that time will not be taken into consideration.
Selection Criteria
Four areas will be considered by the Gerry Phillips Coach of the Year Selection Committee. If it is deemed that no candidate is eligible for the Gerry Phillips Coach of the Year, the Selection Committee may exercise the right not to make an award in that category in any particular year.
1. Contribution to Sport
- The nominee has contributed to the development of the Premier League Competition
- Active coaching in the wider community, promotion of hockey and team
- Provide mentoring or coaching opportunities to others
2. Coaching Effectiveness
An effective coach is one that is ethical, progressive and fair. Coaching effectiveness refers to the steady improvement that has been shown by the athletes in addition to their win/loss record.
3. Leadership
Leadership refers to the nominee's conduct. The nominated coach should take a leadership role in the promotion and integration of Fair Play. The Coach should be known as a positive role model for the athletes and should provide stable consistent leadership qualities upon which the athletes can rely and relate.
4. Enthusiasm, approach and a positive attitude
Voting Process
Each Head Coach of a Premier League Men’s team will have the opportunity to vote on their peers with a 3,2,1 voting system, with 3 votes being the highest valued vote. As well as voting you will be asked to provide other supporting comments and or documentation that you may wish to include which exhibits official recognition, such as newspaper articles, letters of support, certificates of achievement, awards etc. Please note that these documents will not be returned.
Once all votes have been submitted, they will be tallied to determine the Gerry Phillips Coach of the Year and will be presented at the 2026 Hockey SA Awards night.
The Award recipient will be the nominee who is deemed by the selection committee to have best met the criteria in an overall sense. The decision of the selection committee will be final, and no correspondence will be entered.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
The nominator understands that Personal Information (as defined in the Information Privacy Act 2000) derived from this form is recorded by Hockey SA for the purposes of the 2026 Hockey SA Awards. The Personal Information will be used solely by Hockey SA for these purposes and/or directly related purposes, including writing to the nominee. Otherwise, Hockey SA may only disclose this information if required to by law. In addition, the nominator understands that he or she may apply to Hockey SA for access to and/or amendment of the information that applies to him or her. Requests for access and/or amendment should be made to Hockey SA’s Chief Executive Officer.
