2026 NSW Sports Awards Finalists announced

Jess Fox, Laurie Daley and Sydney Kings among 77 finalists for 2026 NSW Sports Awards

Triple Olympic paddle champion Jessica Fox, State of Origin rugby league series-winning coach Laurie Daley, National Basketball League champions the Sydney Kings, and medal-winning Glasgow Commonwealth Games athletes headline 77 finalists from more than 30 sports for the 2026 NSW Sports Awards.

They share the finalists’ shortlist with a goalballer from Hornsby, a blind tennis player from Prestons, a fencing coach from Willoughby and a young Cherrybrook athlete who competes in both Para alpine skiing and blind cricket.

The Team of the Year category alone reads like a weekend of the state’s best sport. The NSW Blues rugby league women, NSW Waratahs rugby union women, and the Sydney Kings are up against the UNSW Wests Magpies water polo club, sailing crew Kairos Racing, the NSW Blues Women’s lawn bowls side and the NSW Junior squash team.

The finalists across 12 categories span the state, from Byron Bay surfer Leihani Zoric, Scone’s equestrian Lisa Martin to Mollymook Beach cricket Test umpire Rodney Tucker. Recognitions extend further to Thurgoona’s Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist Sienna Toohey, Cootamundra swimming administrator Mark Lake and Tamworth’s goalball official Louise Carriage.

The winners will be announced at the gala NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony at The Sydney Event Centre, The Star, Pyrmont, on Monday 23 November.

It will be a family affair for gymnastics on the night, with Londonderry’s Alexsa Kachan, a finalist for Young Athlete of the Year, and her father, Dzmitry Kachan, a former Moscow Circus acrobat, nominated for Coach of the Year.

Lauren Parker, a dual Paralympic champion in Para triathlon and Para cycling, is nominated across three sports after representing Australia at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in both Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing.

Lawn bowls, a mainstay of social life and activity for generations of Australians, has finalists in five categories, from elite competitors to coaches and Para-sport teams. The sport’s list of finalists includes Karen Murphy for Coach of the Year, alongside the NSW Blues Women's and Para Blues Men's State Sides.

The state’s recent calendar of world-class events is reflected in the Event of the Year shortlist, which includes the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, the World Triathlon Championships in Wollongong, the Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race around Sydney Harbour and the AFLW’s Australia v Ireland Test.

Sailing is represented across three categories, with Rushcutters Bay’s Jiang Lin nominated for Athlete of the Year and local crew Kairos Racing a finalist for Team of the Year. Fairlight’s Olympic coaching great Victor Kovalenko is also in the running for Coach of the Year.

Ahead of its Olympic debut as a sport, squash is also well represented in the shortlist, including the NSW Junior Team, Hunters Hill coach Geoff Davenport, Leumeah administrator Scott Murray and Miranda's Masters athlete Peter Bastow.

Athletics and Triathlon each have finalists in six categories, basketball and rugby league have four finalists apiece, with hockey, swimming and wheelchair basketball among the sports with three nominations each. Volleyball NSW also features twice, as a finalist for Organisation of the Year and for its Premier League event. Inclusive cricket is also represented with Blind Cricket NSW and the NSW Blind and Low Vision Mixed Team both finalists for Team of the Year with a Disability, showcasing the breadth of opportunity across different formats of the game. 

Coastal communities continue to produce outstanding talent with finalists including athletics star Rose Davies from Merewether, surf lifesavers Dane Sutton from Cronulla and Jemma Smith from Daleys Point, and Masters surf lifesaver Paul Lemmon from Forresters Beach, highlighting that NSW’s beaches and waterways are more than natural assets, but vital sporting arenas where people develop skills and community connection.

Sport NSW CEO Ellie Laing-Southwood said the finalists represent the extraordinary range of talent and commitment across the state’s sporting community.

“Our impressive list of finalists includes household names like Jessica Fox, but also other athletes, coaches and officials most people won’t have heard of yet, but whose contributions to NSW sport deserve to be showcased at our most prestigious event of the year,” Mrs Laing-Southwood said.

“That’s why these awards matter so much – that we tell the stories of sport at all levels and all abilities.

“This is a night where we celebrate the people who bring us great joy and pride by achieving at the highest levels, as well as those who are the enablers of those achievements, creators of opportunity, and masters of fun in NSW sport.

“This list also shows how the depth of NSW’s sporting talent isn’t always just emerging from metropolitan high-performance centres, but also community sports facilities in the bush and on the coast.

“I also want to acknowledge that behind every name, event and organisation listed as a finalist is likely a team of volunteers, often with few resources, but a deep understanding of the positive power of sport.

“With Brisbane 2032 on the horizon, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to further strengthen sport in this state, knowing that any investment in sport is an investment in the strength, health, connectedness and wellbeing of the NSW community,” she said.

The Ceremony will also see five NSW sporting greats inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions: Stephen Davies (hockey), Jennifer Luff (rowing), Rick McCosker OAM (cricket), David Pescud OAM (sailing) and Kathleen Shannon-Bazzano (cycling).

Tickets to the NSW Champions of Sport ceremony are available HERE.

Further information:
- Greg Campbell, PRISM Strategic Communications, Ph: 0418 239 139
- Ellie Laing-Southwood, Ph: 0416 007 830

VIEW THE FULL LIST OF FINALISTS HERE