Since its inception in 1981 the Quebec Junior Major Football League has maintained a consistent structure for recognizing its outstanding players after each season and prides itself on the talent produced from each team year over year.
The trophies and awards handed out by the league each year consisted of three categories:
1. Each week during the regular season, players who distinguished themselves with outstanding plays on offense or defense were rewarded with the Player of the Week honors
2. At the end of the season, the best players in the league were nominated to the All-Star team
3. At the end of season awards banquet, five players would receive one of the five major awards, which included: – defensive player of the year – offensive player of the year – rookie of the year – league’s most valuable player – special teams player of the year In addition, the Coaching Staff of the Year trophy is also presented at the awards banquet.
At the most recent meeting of the league governors and executives this past December, however, a proposal was put forward to expand the list of award categories in order to better reflect the different roles that players have on a football team. After a lengthy and detailed discussion, a motion was passed to modify the awards categories as follows:
a. The outstanding offensive and defensive player awards, as well as the award for the outstanding special teams player will remain
b. The rookie of the year award will be split into separate awards for players on offense and defense
c. The league’s most valuable player award will also be split into awards for offensive and defensive players
d. A new award for the outstanding kicker has been added
Also, instead of a single All-Star team selection, the league’s outstanding players will now be recognized for their performance on the field with nominations to either the 1st team all stars or the 2nd team all-stars.
The player of the week awards will be discontinued.
All the new award categories will be presented at the upcoming banquet on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.
