8th Annual Supconnect Editor's Choice Awards Begins!

SAN DIEGO, California - In partnership with the Association of Wind and Watersports Industries (AWSI) and presented by Turtle Bay Resort, Supconnect has officially launched the 2017 Supconnect Editor's Choice Awards. 

The Supconnect Awards started in 2010 as a way of recognizing individuals that made exceptional contributions to the sport. As such, it’s the world’s first and original awards in the stand up paddle industry. Unlike most awards, winners are not chosen strictly on athletic performance and results. The ultimate objective of the Supconnect Awards is to help to create positive icons for the youth in order to increase the longevity of the sport for generations to come. And what’s more, it also aims at recognizing exceptional brands, products, and shops that help raise the bar in their field, serving as blueprints of excellence for others to follow. In that light, do not expect the usual run-of-the-mill winners. Nominees and winners, at least we hope, capture the all-inclusive culture of the sport, with friendly smiles and awe-inspiring stories and, yes, performances.

Read more about the Supconnect Awards History here.

"The SUP Industry has changed tremendously over the last year, making the Supconnect Awards all the more relevant in tracking those changes," says Andre Niemeyer, Supconnect's Publisher and founding president of the Standup Paddle Industry Association. "Its goal is to identify industry members who set the bar of excellence and athletes who inspire all of us to paddle on. The Supconnect Awards relies on a highly rigorous process involving industry feedback, advisory board input, and deliberations of the editorial team. What's more, it also assesses public sentiment from the nomination process all the way to the final selection. In the end, those who have made an impact over the last 12 months are awarded the Supconnect Awards."

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The selection process for the Supconnect Editor's Choice Awards is a detailed one that involves the Supconnect Staff, an advisory board, brands, shops, other industry members, and the public. The winners of the Supconnect Editor’s Choice Awards are more than just exceptional athletes, brands and shops, they are standards of excellence inspiring the youth and raising the bar for those in the industry.

The athletes chosen for the Supconnect Awards all go through the same criteria which is based on four qualities:

1. Ambassadorship: Conveying the cheerfulness and inclusiveness characteristic of the sport.
2. Involvement: Attending events and gatherings, having a finger on the pulse of the sport.
3. Performance: Showing proficiency in the sport, though top results are not a requirement.
4. Support: Having a following and votes to show you have some support to validate your credibility.

The criteria for athlete brands and shops is:

1. Involvement: Supporting the local SUP community by having demos, putting on events and educating consumers.
2. Support: Great customer service whether it be through sales, warranty or knowlege of the products.
3. Quality: Quality of the products are superb.

The Awards has two major phases, starting with the selection of the nominees and then narrowing the field even further to choose the winners. As people fully immersed in the sport, the members of the Supconnect Awards board had an incredibly hard time selecting only 30 or so nominees for each one of the Awards categories. The pool of talent is so vast and the location of these athletes so wide that it is nearly impossible to present a full array of the world’s top talents with a limited list of athletes. But after much deliberation and some very tough decisions, the committee has chosen a respectable lineup of athletes, brands, blogs, shops, sales reps and products to be part of this year’s awards.

Often times awards play to the ol’ girls and boys club, i.e., industry folks who award themselves for the sake of … “who knows what,” other than perhaps some nice parties. The Supconnect Awards seeks exceptional talents wherever they may be found. It strives to find the unknown hero, the wunderkind in the making, and the quiet production manager cranking out heaven-sent equipment. So without further ado, the Supconnect Editor's Choice Awards for 2017 is now officially open! Get involved with the Supconnect Awards and VOTE!

For more news on the Supconnect Awards click HERE.