The Frank Leverett Award

The Frank Leverett Award was created in 1992 and is the most presitguous honour in Australian Football umpiring in the Canberra region. It is an acknowledgement of a person who has provided outstanding and meritorius service to the Association and umpiring. Nominations are called for in June and it may only be awarded to a maximum of one person per year.

Frank Leverett umpired from 1969 until the end of the 1988 season and in that time became the first Field Umpire to officiate in 300 First Grade Matches, and still remains the only Field Umpire to achieve this benchmark.  He was made a Life Member of the Association in 1978 and served as President of the Association in 1972.  Following his long and distinguished umpiring career Frank has served as a member and chairperson of the AFL Canberra Tribunal.

Members of the Association can submit nominations to the Executive of potentially worthy recipients for the Frank Leverett Award at any during the season. The Executive considers the nominations it has received and endorses any it agrees would be worthy recipieints for consideration by the Membership. A formal criteria and process for nominationg, endrosement and conferring of the Award were endorsed by the Membership at the 2022 Annual General Meeting and can be found below.

The recipients of the Frank Leverett Award are:

The framework for awarding the Frank Leverett Award is as follows:

• The Award is to recognize and honour outstanding and meritorious service to the Association and.or umpiring in the Canberra region.
• ‘Meritorious service’ can be interpreted broadly as seen fit by the Membership- for example it could include both of (but is not limited to only) consistent service over an extended period of time, or extraordinary service on a specific project or activity.
• A person must be a current Member of the Association to be eligible to receive the Award
• A person may receive the Award multiple times
• No more than one person may receive the Award per calendar Year.

The process for conferring the Award is:

• Nominations are to be open at all times, however the Committee should formally solicit nominations by June 1st each year at a time they determine is most appropriate.
• Nominations must be received by June 30th in order to be considered in that calendar year. Nominations received after that date will be considered in the following year.
• Nominations must be made by a Member of the Association and seconded by another Member of the Association
• Members cannot self-nominate or second their own nomination
• All valid nominations will be considered by the Association Committee, they will “endorse” any they believe are worthy of receiving the Award for consideration by the Membership.
• Should a member of the Committee be the nominee, nominator or seconder; they shall be excused from the discussion and voting.
• Endorsements may be held via secret ballot simple-majority vote at the discretion of the Committee
• The ‘Endorsed Nominations' will then be presented at a General Meeting for consideration by the Members
• If there is only one Endorsed Nomination, a secret ballot simple-majority vote will be held by the Membership to determine if the Award is conferred on the nominee.
• If there are multiple Endorsed Nominations, a secret ballot first-past-the-post vote will be held by the Membership that contains all Endorsed Nominees and a 'None' option. The Award is conferred on the nominee that receives the most votes, or will not be conferred if 'None' receives the most votes.
• The award, if conferred, is then presented at the Annual Umpire Awards Night or similar alternate event

For clarity: 'Member' includes Life Members, proxies are counted for these votes, and in the event of a tied vote the Chairperson of the meeting will cast the determining vote.