The Professional Bowlers Association has announced its nominees for the PBA Tour’s four major end-of-season awards – Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year, Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year, Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award, and the Tony Reyes Community Service Award.
The 2021 award winners will be announced in December:
Monday, Dec. 13: Tony Reyes Community Service Award
Tuesday, Dec. 14: Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award
Wednesday, Dec. 15: Harry Golden Rookie of the Year
Thursday, Dec. 16: Chris Schenkel Player of the Year
Player of the Year honors will award the Tour’s top player. This year’s nominees consist of the 2021 season’s top seven earners. Candidates in alphabetical order: are, Australia’s Sam Cooley; Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Fla., Canada’s Francois Lavoie; Shawn Maldonado of Houston; Anthony Simonsenof Little Elm, Texas; Kyle Troupof Taylorsville, N.C.; and Chris Viaof Springfield, Ohio.
The Harry Golden Rookie of the Year honors return after a hiatus in 2020 due to complications created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rookie players from 2020 are eligible for this year’s honors and nominees in alphabetical order are: Deo Benardof Henderson, Nev.; Wesley Low Jr.of Palmdale, Calif.; Mexico’s Benjamin Martinez; Anthony Neuerof Lewisburg, Pa.; Matt Russoof Fairview Height, Ill.; and Zac Weidmanof Indianapolis.
The Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award will be given out to the player who has shown exemplary sportsmanship, and the Tony Reyes Award will recognize a PBA member who has done extraordinary community service and/or charitable contributions in the calendar year.
The PBA Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year will be selected by a panel of veteran bowling writers and the entire PBA membership. The Nagy Sportsmanship Award winner is selected by PBA Tour players who have bowled in at least half of the current season’s tournaments. The Reyes Award recipient is selected by a special panel of PBA leaders.
Last year’s winners of the PBA’s four prestigious awards were Jason Belmonte, Player of the Year; Brad Miller, Nagy Sportsmanship Award; and Danny Wiseman, Tony Reyes Community Service Award. There was no Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year for 2020 due to the complications created by the COVID-19 pandemic.