D-Day has been reached for entering the 2013 Ray White Wanganui Sports Awards and Sport Wanganui cannot hide its disappointment over a lack of nominations so far.
Country music artist Mac Davis once sang about how hard it is to be humble but the organisers of the awards have sent a message that now is not the time for Wanganui sportspeople and administrators to show such humility.
As of press time yesterday, only 31 nominations had been received from 12 sports for the 50th anniversary of the ceremony from its original conception in 1963.
Sport Wanganui cannot believe that in a year when so many athletes and administrators have made big strides in their fields, from internationally to grassroots clubs, that they could go unrecognised by their colleagues on such an illustrious occasion.
The awards are scheduled to be presented at Wanganui Racecourse on November 15.
"The success of the Sports Awards is highly dependent on the number of nominations, but with every year, despite dedicated publicity efforts, the nominations are becoming slower to arrive," read a press release.
"Though the awards ceremony itself appears to be a highly anticipated event on Wanganui's social and sporting calendar, the increasingly lacklustre nature of nomination submissions makes for a difficult time for Sport Wanganui's event planners.
"The ceremony is made possible only by nominations, and the event's future after 2013 is not guaranteed."
Chief executive Danny Jonas said any athletes who felt their national or regional successes did not measure up to the likes of multiple winner Rebecca Scown had to remember there were now junior national as well as international categories for eligibility.
And that was not to mention other areas like teams, coach, administrator, referee, masters and outstanding conduct awards which the everyday Joe or Jane could deserve - but only if a hand had gone up or someone had put a name forward.
"We're aware that there is a world of sporting successes happening in our region on a regular basis, and that includes volunteers doing wonderful things in their roles.
"So it is disappointing that the number of nominations across the categories are not reflecting that," said Jonas.
The qualifying criteria for contention is accomplishments achieved by Wanganui, Rangitikei and Ruapehu people between October 1 last year and September 30 this year.
Entries are due to close today at 5pm, and forms are still available from the Sport Wanganui offices or from the website at www.sportwanganui.co.nz