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The Syl Apps Athlete of the Year Award, unveiled by the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame on January 13, 1998, recognizes Ontario's Athlete of the Year. Named in honour of the former Toronto Maple Leafs' captain and Olympic and Commonwealth Games pole vaulter Syl Apps, the award is the first of its kind for Ontario.
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Voting for the award is presented annually by the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Those eligible to vote include Ontario-based sports writers, broadcasters/personalities with at least 10 years covering sports in this province, members of the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors and the Hall's Advisory Board. Points are awarded on a five-, three-, and one-point structure, with voters asked to name their top three athletic performers on their ballot.
To be eligible for the Award, athletes must be Ontario-born or Ontario-based and made an outstanding and memorable contribution to Ontario sports during the previous calendar year.
Online Voting
Since 2015, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame has started to poll online for the public of Ontario to vote for the next Syl Apps Athlete of the Year award recipient. In its first year, Brooke Henderson was selected by the voters of Ontario as the athlete that best deserved the honour. She received an overwhelming majority of the votes beating out professional and amateur athletes like Kyle Lowry, Milos Raonic, and Russell Martin.
In 2016, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame recognized Brad Sinopoli, a Canadian football wide receiver who is currently playing for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League, as the Syl Apps Athlete of the Year. The online public vote to determine the award recipient concluded on March 31, 2016 with Sinopoli edging out other top professional competitors such as Andre De Grasse, Brooke Henderson and Kadeisha Buchanan to win. He received nearly 30% of total votes cast.