Former cricketer and West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) president, Wavell Hinds, Olympian Michael Frater, netballer Nadine Bryan and Paralympian Alphanso Cunningham are the shortlisted individuals for the Courtney Walsh Awards for Excellence, which will be announced tonight.

Jamaica Netball Association’s nominee Bryan has been a member of the national netball team — the Sunshine Girls — for more than a decade and has captained the team since 2009. Bryan has represented the country at three Commonwealth Games, 1998, 2002 and 2006. She has been to the last three World Netball Championships in New Zealand (1999), Jamaica (2003) and Australia (2007) where the teams finished in fourth, third, and third, respectively. She is a recipient of the Carreras Foundation Award.

Former West Indies cricketer Hinds has played on and captained numerous Jamaica national cricket teams, from age-group level upwards to the senior outfit, contributing to many title successes. Off the pitch, Hinds has worked his way through the ranks to become president of the regional players’ representative body (WIPA). He is also chairman of selectors for the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Under-19 team.

Olympian Frater has also scored big on and off the track. In addition to individual medals mined at the World Championships and Pan American Games, he has been an outstanding team member of Jamaica’s 4×100 metres relay units. He has won two Olympic and two World Championships gold medals, all coming at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, and the 2009 and 2011 World Championships in Berlin and Daegu, respectively. Frater was bestowed with the National Award, Order of Distinction (Officer Rank), in recognition of his achievements at the 2008 Olympics.

Only recently he stepped into a different corridor — that of leadership — where he was elected to serve on the executive of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association, as third vice-president.

Frater is considered an inspirational athlete, quite similar to Paralympian Cunningham. With World and Paralympic records to boot, Cunningham aptly nicknamed ‘Ambassador’, has been winning major medals for Jamaica since stepping onto the international stage in 2003 at the World Games in Birmingham, England, where he won a gold medal in the discus event.

A wheelchair athlete, Cunningham predominantly participated in the discus event for much of his career, before recently picking up the javelin. In a relatively short time, he has shot to the top of the heap in the javelin and is now ranked number one in the world.

This number one ranking comes as a result of his gold medal performances at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England. For his outstanding achievements, he was awarded the 2012 Commonwealth Awards, for being the Most Outstanding Athlete with a disability.

The Courtney Walsh Award is presented annually to an outstanding male or female Jamaican athlete who has represented the country at the senior level in a sport that is approved by the Jamaica Institute of Sport and the Jamaica Olympic Association.

The Award is determined by outstanding achievement in a sport recognised by the Jamaica Institute of Sports and the Jamaica Olympic Association; representation at the national level, notable community service and a high level of integrity, national pride, dedication, decorum, humility and discipline both on and off the field.

Past winners of the Award include cricketer James ‘Jimmy’ Adams in 2005; Olympic gold medallist and hurdler Deon Hemmings-McCatty in 2006; netball champion Elaine Davis in 2007, cricketer Nehemiah Perry in 2008; Brigitte Foster-Hylton – hurdler and 2009 IAAF world champion (2009); Aleen Bailey, Olympic gold medallist (2010), Olympian Dr Neil Gardner (2011) and most recently sprint queen Veronica Campbell Brown.

This year the Award will recognize two students, male and female, who have an excellent academic record and have represented their school in sport. The schools of the winning students will receive $250,000 from the Supreme Ventures Foundation towards a specified project.

The Courtney Walsh Award for Excellence is administered by the CHASE Fund.

HINDS… has played on and captained numerous Jamaica national cricket teams, from age-group level upwards to the senior outfit

FRATER… as won two Olympic and two World Championships gold medals, all coming at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, and the 2009 and 2011 World Championships in Berlin and Daegu

BRYAN… has been to the last three World Netball Championships in New Zealand (1999), Jamaica (2003) and Australia (2007) where the teams finished in fourth, third, and third

CUNNINGHAM… has been winning major medals for Jamaica since stepping onto the international stage in 2003 at the World Games in Birmingham, England