Unveiling begins for Semoball Awards finalists

The inaugural Semoball Awards banquet doesn't take place until June, but it's already time to find out which high school athletes will be honored at the event as finalists in their respective sports.

Athletes from 19 sports will be honored as Semoball Awards finalists at the event. The announcement begins today with the football offense finalists highlighted on semoball.com/awards and in newspapers across the region.

The football defense finalists will be announced Thursday followed by the boys soccer finalists Jan. 30, the girls tennis finalists Feb. 2, the volleyball finalists Feb. 6, the girls cross country finalists Feb. 9 and the boys cross country finalists Feb. 13.

Finalists for all other sports will be released later this year along with finalists for female athlete of the year, male athlete of the year, comeback athletes of the year, coach of the year and the sportsmanship award. Anyone can nominate an athlete for one of these awards at semoball.com/awards.

Additionally, administrators will have an opportunity to nominate a student for the scholar-athlete award. Fans get their say as well as school pride is tested in the race for which school has the best fans in Southeast Missouri. Log on to semoball.com/awards to cast a vote once per day for the school that has the best fans. The winning school will be honored at the banquet.

The Semoball Awards, presented by SoutheastHEALTH, are unique to Southeast Missouri and will honor the best in high school athletics from across the region, which includes 58 high schools ranging as far north as Perryville and as far south as Cooter. A full list of schools included can be found at semoball.com.

Additional top sponsors for the Semoball Awards include Harry Blackwell auto dealerships, First Midwest Bank and Technomad.

The banquet, which will be held at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, will feature a catered meal and a nationally-recognized speaker who will be announced in the coming weeks. All finalists will be honored at the first-class and fun event, and a player of the year for each sport will be revealed.

The finalists are selected by the sports staff of semoball.com's media partners, which include the Southeast Missourian, the Sikeston Standard Democrat, The Daily Statesman in Dexter, the Daily Dunklin Democrat in Kennett, the Daily America Republic in Poplar Bluff and SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM/1220 and 1470 AM.

A member of the selection committee will appear on The Sports Huddle on SEMO ESPN at 9 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays beginning tomorrow to discuss the finalists for each sport. Additional information about the awards and the banquet can be found at semoball.com/awards. For additional information about becoming a sponsor, contact event coordinator Lucas Presson at lpresson@semissourian.com.