The Canadian Premier League on Friday evening officially unveiled its end-of-season individual player and coaching awards.
The five awards – Golden Boot, Golden Glove, Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year – will be handed out at the 2019 Canadian Premier League Awards ceremony in Toronto on Nov. 26.
Each award is a unique piece of Inuit art soapstone carved by artists from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut.
“We wanted the player awards to be unique, special and truly Canadian,” said CPL Commissioner David Clanachan.
“Each year, we will have the players’ version carved based on the main soapstone carving giving each winner their own one-of-kind piece of art. We are proud of these awards and what they represent and are thrilled to have worked with these talented artists from Cape Dorset.”
The awards will take into account the nominees’ performance for the full 2019 CPL season (Spring, Fall and Finals) from April 27, to Nov. 2. The winners of four awards will be selected from three nominees in each category by a judging panel comprised of media writers and reporters from across Canada.
Canadian Under 21, for example, will be “based on performance and overall attitude on and off the pitch.” Coach of the Year will be selected as biggest contributor “to his club’s all-around performance.” Golden Glove will go to the CPL’s top goalkeeper, while the Player of the Year will go the MVP of the league based on his overall play and importance to his club.
The Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer, it was confirmed, will include goals from the Spring, Fall and both legs of Finals 2019.
Forge FC’s Tristan Borges, who had his red card suspension lifted for Leg 2 of the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals, leads in scoring with 13 goals.
Last week, the CPL unveiled in championship trophy, the North Star Shield.
Leg 2 of the 2019 Finals will take place on Saturday at ATCO Field at Spruce Meadows when Forge FC take on host Cavalry FC (3:30 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. MT/available on OneSoccer). Forge has a 1-0 advantage going into Leg 2 after beating the Cavs in Hamilton last week.
