"SportsKid of the Year" was introduced by Sports Illustrated magazine after the highly successful Sportsman of the Year award was introduced in 1954. The "SportsKid of the Year" award honors a young athlete, ages seven to fifteen, for superior performance on the field, in the classroom and service in the community.
In addition to being featured exclusively on the December Sports Illustrated Kids cover, the "SportsKid of the Year" receives a profile article and fold-out poster in the issue. The SportsKid is also honored at Sports Illustrated's annual Sportsman of the Year celebration in New York City and in 2011 was featured on Cartoon Network's "Hall of Game" in Los Angeles.
The award has been given to the following recipients:
Year | Winner(s) | Sport(s) | Age(s) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Brock Heffron | BMX | 10 | [1] |
2008 | Derek Andrews | Baseball, soccer, hockey, basketball, gymnastics, and swimming | 8 | [2] |
2009 | Austin McCarthy | Hockey | 10 | [3] |
2010 | Jessica Aney | Tennis and hockey | 12 | [4] |
2011 | Noah Flegel | Wakeboarding | 14 | [5] |
2012 | Conner and Cayden Long | Triathlon | 9, 7 | [6] |
2013 | Jack Wellman | Wrestling | 14 | [7] |
2014 | Mo'ne Davis | Baseball | 13 | [8] |
2015 | Reece Whitley | Swimming | 15 | [9] |
2016 | Tai, Rainn, and Brooke Sheppard | Track | 11, 10, 9 | [10] |
2017 | Maxwell "Bunchie" Young | Football and track | 10 | [11] |
2018 | Leah Hayes | Swimming | 13 | [12] |
2019 | Ally Sentnor | Soccer | 15 | [13] |
2020 | JuJu Watkins | Basketball | 15 | [14] |
2021 | Zaila Avant-garde | Basketball, spelling | 14 | [15] |
2022 | Carter Bonas | Golf | 11 | [16] |
2023 | Fifi Garcia | Soccer, softball, track, volleyball, and basketball | 11 | [17] |