Eligibility Criteria

5 to Watch
About
Eligibility
Nomination Window
Voting Process


Sport and Event Alumni Achievement Award
Awards Criteria
Eligibility
Nomination Period
Voting Process


5 to Watch

About

The 5 to Watch Awards recognize excellence. They annually celebrate five sports industry professionals who have achieved remarkable career success before the age of 40.

 
A well-written nomination is critical for candidates to be considered for an award. The most important element in the evaluation process will be whether the candidate’s nomination demonstrates that their actions have driven identifiable results. Judges will look for detailed information on each nominee’s accomplishments including relevant success metrics (e.g. sales, growth numbers) or examples of creative problem solving and innovation.
 
Nominees should be regarded as leaders and have uncommon influence for a person their age in both their workplace and business sector. They should be role models and mentors for developing industry professionals.
 
The nominee’s entire career will be taken into consideration by the judging committee so any relevant awards or promotions should be included. The candidate’s accomplishments should be clearly separated from those of their organization where appropriate. They should not receive credit for successes they were not responsible for.
 
Academic and volunteer backgrounds may be included in the nominations but work achievements are the key driver of these awards. It is important to note that although George Brown College is a sponsor of the awards, candidates from any academic background are eligible.
 
Eligibility
 
The awards are open to sports business professionals from all sectors of the industry. Candidates must be Canadian citizens and have been employed in the business of sport for a minimum of five years. Nominees must also have been under the age of 40 as of December 31, 2019. Canadians working internationally are eligible.
 
Sports journalists (e.g. reporters, commentators, photographers, bloggers) and ‘field of play’ staff (e.g. players, coaches) will not be considered for the awards. Prior winners of the 5 to Watch Awards are also not eligible.
 
Nominees must be available to attend the 5 to Watch Awards Ceremony in person. The ceremony will take place on in the month of June at George Brown College's Waterfront Campus in downtown Toronto. Award winners based outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will have their travel and hotel accommodations covered by the event.

Nomination Window
 
Nominations for the 2020 edition of the awards will be open from 12 pm EST on Monday, January 27 to 12:00 am PST on Friday, March 6. All nominations must be submitted through the nomination form on the 5 to Watch website. 
 
Any member of the public may submit a nominee although candidates may not nominate themselves. Candidates may receive multiple nominations provided they are from different individuals.
 
Late nominations due to technical difficulties and other issues will be considered on a case-by-case basis. All decisions on eligibility will be made at the sole discretion of the 5 to Watch Organizing Committee.
 
Nominations will remain confidential. The information will only be used for judging purposes.
 
Voting Process
 
The entire pool of candidates will be reviewed by the Nomination Review Committee in March 2020. This committee is comprised of accomplished sports business professionals from a variety of backgrounds. Each committee member will identify their top ten candidates from the pool.
 
A second round of voting may be required by the Nomination Review Committee to determine the top dozen candidates. The call for a second round will be made at the discretion of the Organizing Committee. In the event of a tie or a clear divide in the scoring, the final candidate list may be more or less than the anticipated dozen. 
 
Once the final Nomination Review Committee votes have been tabulated, the top candidates will move on to the final round of voting. Finalists will be contacted directly by the Organizing Team. They will be asked to submit a resume for review by the Selection Committee in April 2020. This committee is comprised of senior sports business executives from across the country.
 
The resumes will be the sole criteria used by the Selection Committee to rank the finalists. Each finalist will be given the same opportunity (a two-page resume) to tell their story to the judges. Each committee member will independently review the finalists’ resumes and vote for their top five candidates. The nominees with the five highest vote totals will be declared the 2020 winners of the 5 to Watch Awards. In the event of a tie, a second round of voting focused on the relevant candidates will be administered.  


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Alumni Achievement Award
 
Awards Criteria
 
The awards criteria are based 70% on what the nominee has achieved in their sports business career and 30% on what they have done to give back to the sports community.
 
The career component focuses on their significant achievements in the business of sport. The primary consideration will be whether the nominee's actions over the course of their career have driven identifiable results for the organization(s) they have worked for. They should have initiated strategic decisions which have driven positive change. Nominees should differentiate their individual achievements from those of their organizations. 
 
The "giving back" component may be volunteer or work-based and take a variety of forms including (but not limited to) mentoring students, volunteering with youth sports teams, working with sports-related charities or hiring sports business interns & graduates. Nominee accomplishments need not have been done in conjunction with George Brown College or the Sport & Event Marketing Program.
 
Eligibility
 
The Alumni Achievement Award is open exclusively to graduates of the Sport & Event Marketing Program at George Brown College. Candidates of any age may be considered provided they have worked in the business of sport for a minimum of ten years. Candidates should be an inspiration to both their peers and the next generation of leaders in the sports business community.
 
Candidates may be located in Canada or abroad. If the award winner is based outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), their travel and hotel accommodations will be covered by the Organizing Team.
 
Nomination Period
 
Potential candidates will be submitted to the Organizing Committee for consideration by members of the Sport & Event Alumni Committee.
 
Three candidates will be selected for consideration by the Organizing Committee. The candidates will be contacted directly and will be asked to submit a nomination application that highlights both their professional and volunteer accomplishments as they relate to the world of sport.
 
All decisions on candidate eligibility will be made at the sole discretion of the Organizing Committee.
 
Voting Process
 
The completed nomination forms will be circulated to members of the Sport & Event Marketing Alumni Committee for review. Each committee member will vote for their top candidate. In the event of a first place tie, committee members who voted for the third place candidate will be asked to vote again for the remaining two eligible candidates. The Alumni Committee will have an odd number of members which will eventually ensure a clear winner.

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George Brown College's "5 To Watch" is a ground breaking event that has become a "must-attend" within the Canadian sports marketing industry and sets the standard for identifying the next generation of industry captains.
 
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