THE PREMIER PLAYER AWARD
The Next Big Thing In Youth & High School Sports
In 2010, we asked a bold question: Why don’t fans have a voice in who wins college football’s most prestigious awards?
So, we created one. The Premier Player of College Football Award was born, giving fans around the world the power ,via online polls, to decide who earns our 23-pound trophy produced by the same manufacturer as those prestigious awards.
Three years later, we placed leadership in the spotlight with the Premier Coach of College Football Award, once again decided by the fans. Along the way, we introduced the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, honoring college athletes who win beyond the field.
Our trophies have been proudly held, and often seen in the background, by some of the greatest athletes and coaches in the world. NOW, THE MOVEMENT EXPANDS.
Introducing the Premier Player Award for youth and teen athletics, because character shouldn’t start in college. It starts now Read on to learn more.
Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
Travis Hunter, WR/DB, CO
Nick Saban, HC, Alabama
Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens
Deion Sanders, HC, CO Buffalos
MAILING ADDRESS P.O. Box 341064 Tampa, FL 33694-1064
Premier Players is our registered trademark. Premier Players, Inc. is a sports information, marketing, training, event management and apparel company that focuses on how athletes use sports to help themselves and others. The company also gives fans opportunities each season to vote for the player they believe is the Premier Player of NCAA College Football, Men & Women Basketball, Baseball & Softball and Men & Women Hockey. Polls and events are then used to help The Premier Players Sports Foundation raise funds to support orphaned, foster, special needs, and at-risk children participation in sports.
The Premier Player Trophy
A New Youth Sports Award Recognizing The Complete Athlete
Youth sports just raised the bar. The Premier Player Award was created to recognize something deeper than statistics. It honors the complete athlete.
According to the official framework, the Premier Player is a young leader who excels not only in performance, but in character. Yes, they compete at a high level. Yes, they contribute to team success. But what separates them is how they do it.
A Premier Player:
* Competes with intensity and discipline
* Shows leadership through example
* Encourages teammates instead of criticizing
* Demonstrates respect for coaches and officials
* Maintains strong academic and personal standards
* Gives back to their community
This award celebrates performance and principles. It recognizes the athlete who understands that talent may be natural, but character is intentional.
In a sports culture often driven by numbers, the Premier Player Award shines a spotlight on something far more lasting: Who you are becoming.
The Premier Player vs The MVP Award
The MVP award typically answers one question: Who produced the most?
The Premier Player Award answers a better one: Who represents the best of what sports should be?
While the Most Valuable Player often focuses on scoring output or measurable statistics, the Premier Player Award evaluates athletic performance, leadership, character, community service, and team impact through a structured 100point system.
Performance matters, but it is not enough.
The Premier Player:
* Elevates team culture
* Makes others better
* Competes with integrity
* Represents their program with excellence on and off the field.
The MVP may win the game. The Premier Player wins respect. In youth sports, where development shapes futures, the better award is the one that builds leaders, not just stat lines.
An Award That Brings It All Together
The Premier Player Award does something rare. It aligns everyone involved in youth sports.
* Parents want their children to grow into respectful, responsible leaders.
* Coaches want accountability, discipline, and culture.
* Fans want athletes who represent their community with pride.
The award’s clear criteria and scoring rubric remove popularity contests and replace them with
measurable behaviors such as leadership, sportsmanship, accountability, and community involvement.
When everyone understands the standard, tension decreases and unity increases. Instead of arguing about playing time or points scored, families rally behind values; coaches teach beyond strategy; and fans cheer for something bigger than the scoreboard.
The Premier Player Award doesn’t just recognize excellence; it creates alignment around it.
Eligibility & Criteria A Look At How To Become The Premier Player
Becoming a Premier Player isn’t about flash. It’s about being the most complete.
The official criteria makes it clear: athletes are evaluated across performance, leadership, team impact, character, and community.
To become a Premier Player, a young athlete must:
* Show consistent effort & discipline
* Demonstrate coachability & preparation
* Encourage teammates
* Maintain emotional control
* Accept responsibility for mistakes
* Represent their team positively in public settings
The journey is intentional. It requires daily choices - to respect, to lead, to serve, and to compete with integrity. And here’s the secret: when athletes focus on becoming better leaders and teammates, their overall performance improves naturally.
To be a Premier Player is not an accident. It’s a standard.
The New Standard: Build Leaders, Not Just Stats
Youth sports should be training grounds for life.
The Premier Player Award represents a new national standard built around complete development. It recognizes athletes who not only perform, but also strengthen team unity, model integrity, and serve their communities.
Through structured evaluation, ceremony recognition, and consistent messaging, this award reinforces a powerful
truth: Development matters more than statistics.
When young athletes are rewarded for leadership and character alongside performance, they carry those habits into school, careers, and adulthood.
The Premier Player Award is not just another trophy. It is a movement. And it may very well become the defining standard of youth sports nationwide.
When Players Win, Coaches win
How Players and Coaches Can Earn Scholarships and Funding For Programs
The Premier Player Award was never meant to be just another end-of-season trophy It was designed to build leaders. Now, it does something even bigger.
Each year, parents and coaches can submit their local Premier Player Award recipient into the National Premier Player Competition, giving that athlete the chance to earn a scholarship and national recognition for embodying the very best of youth sports.
A Pathway Beyond the Team
Throughout the season, coaches use the Premier Player framework to evaluate athletes across performance, leadership, character, community, and team impact through a structured 100-point system. When a player earns the Premier Player Award at the team or league level each year, by December 1st, parents or coaches may submit their Premier Player recipient into the national pool of nominees
Scholarship Opportunities for Athletes
National finalists are evaluated based on the same values-driven framework that defines the award at the local level. In January of the following year, national winners are announced, and scholarship awards are presented to those athletes who best represent what sports should be.
This scholarship opportunity sends a powerful message that character counts and leadership matters.
For parents, this provides a meaningful incentive to support the award throughout the season. The Premier Player standard strengthens scholarship applications, builds résumé credibility, and demonstrates maturity that colleges value deeply.
A Reward for Coaches & Programs
The impact doesn’t stop with the athlete. Coaches of national winners will receive scholarship funds designated for their team or overall sports program. That means equipment upgrades, travel support, facility improvements and program development resources
When a coach builds a culture that produces national-level character leaders, the entire program benefits.
How to Participate
The process is simple:
1. Present the Premier Player Award at your team or league level.
2. Document the recipient’s performance, leadership, and community impact.
3. Submit the nominee and picture holding the award by December 1st to editor@premierplayers.com
4. National winners are announced in January.
By submitting your local recipient each year, you are doing more than nominating an athlete. You are affirming a standard, and each year the nation will look for the next Premier Player The question is, will he or she come from your program?
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HELPING YOU WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF LIFE: RELATIONSHIPS, HEALTH, FINANCE & GIVING BACK
PROUD