Ken McDonald Memorial Manning Valley Sportstar of the year to highlight a night celebrating our sport

The Greater Taree City Sporting Hall of Fame will also be revived.

Previously known as the Manning River Times Sportstar of the Year, the award has a history dating back to 1960 when test cricketer Johnny Martin was the first winner. It will still retain the history, but will have a name change.

This follows negotiations between the Times and a community group headed by Steve Atkins and Garry Stephen, who have both been heavily involved with sport and sports administration in the Manning for many years.

The sportstar of the year, or sportsman of the year as it was then known, was originated by former Manning River Times editor Ken McDonald. This followed a State-wide sponsorship in country newspapers by the Heinze company. This also included a sportsman of the week award.

When the sponsorship lapsed the majority of newspapers dropped the sport awards. Both were by then popular features in the Times and Mr McDonald made the decision to maintain the awards. The yearly award was named in his memory following his death in 1998.

In recent times the sportstar of the year has been presented in conjunction with the Taree Australia Day celebrations.

Both Mr Stephen and Mr Atkins believe the area currently lacks an event to properly celebrate sporting achievements and acknowledge the work of volunteers to sporting groups. This will change from March 3.

The night will include awards for:

It is also planned to have a high profile guest speaker.

Mr Atkins said finalists for the sportstar of the year would be largely determined by the weekly Times-Iguana award winners. However, the public can nominate potential finalists.

The junior, administrator and disabled awards would require input from the public, whether it be individuals or clubs. More details on how to nominate a candidate will be released soon.

The former Greater Taree City Council inaugurated a sporting hall of fame in 2000. However, there have been no inductions since 2010.

Mr Atkins said the plan is to add one member to the hall of fame each year at the award night. He said criteria will remain the same as for the GTCC hall of fame and as is the case with the Times sportstar of the year, the history will be recognised.

"It will be known as the Manning Valley Sporting Hall of Fame and will include those in the council hall of fame,'' Mr Atkins said.

He added his group is looking for a permanent home for the hall of fame.

Manning River Times editor Toni Bell applauded the community group's initiative. Mrs Bell started her career in journalism when Mr McDonald was the editor of the Times.

"Our award showcases the unbelievable sporting talent the Manning has produced and will continue to produce,'' Mrs Bell said.