The Martin Laird Award

The Martin Laird Award is an award that seeks to recognise the achievements and efforts of Australian university ultimate players. We're not after the "best" player - we want to find the unheralded stars of the uni scene. The players who wear their team's colours with pride. The players who put in the effort at training and tournaments week after week. The players who help keep their club running. And the players who are the Nationals winners in years to come.


Aims

- To recognise the talents of players that may not stand out at a club level.
- To reward university clubs for their efforts in recruitment and development.
- To recognise a player’s efforts over a whole season, not just at one tournament.
- To serve as a motivator for nominated players to contribute to their club.
- To generate interest in university ultimate between clubs, states and the wider ultimate community.


Structure

- Awarded to one male and one female player.
- Awarded at the end of AUG, in significance of that being the ‘conclusion’ of the uni season.


Eligibility

- Previous nominees may be nominated again provided they still fulfill the rest of the criteria.
- Must be an Australian resident (non-citizens eligible pending other criteria)
- Must be completing their full degree at an Australian tertiary institution recognised by Australian University Sport.
- Have not previously competed at AUC (“Nationals”) or AMUC (“Mixed Nats”).
- Have not previously competed at a WFDF event – WUGC, WUCC or WJUC.
- Are nominated and voted upon following the criteria outlined;

• Overall offensive and defensive abilities.
• Commitment to improving their knowledge and skills.
• Commitment and service to their university club.
• Adherence to the principles of the “Spirit of the Game”.

Process
- Each university club nominates one male and one female player for the award.

• There is no formal process for the clubs’ nomination – clubs may choose to have a vote among their players, or simply have the nominees chosen by senior players or coaches.
• These nominations are submitted to the National Universities Coordinator by 5pm on the Sunday two weeks prior to the commencement of Australian University Games.
• The nominations consist of the player’s name, jersey number (if applicable), recent photo and a short explanation of why they are nominated.
• Nominations will be posted to a public website as they are received.
  

- State University Coordinators may also nominate players not nominated by their club, but are under no obligation to do so – they may choose not to exercise that right. Clubs must not attempt to influence the State University Coordinators’ decisions.
- At AUG, each team is given a list of nominated players at the start of the week (at the captain’s meeting prior to the first day’s play).
- Each team then votes for their preferred candidate.

• Votes are allocated to the preferred candidates, with values from 5 to 1. 5 going to the first choice, 4 to the second, etc.
• Votes are allocated separately for male and female categories.
• Teams cannot vote for their own nominees.
• The Green & Gold Selection committee can also cast votes if they wish to, using the same process as teams.
  

- Votes are to be submitted to the National Universities Coordinator or the Competition Manager by the end of the day on the Thursday of AUG. Votes are then added up and the award is presented at the medal ceremony on the Friday of AUG.