CPL Reveals Players’ Player Of The Year Nominees

With the 2023 CPL Awards set for this Thursday, the very last award now has its nominee list: The Players’ Player of the Year Award.

Introduced last season, the award is the only one where a player will be adjudged by their peers on the pitch rather than a media vote from a league-curated shortlist.

Each CPL athlete was asked to provide a three-man shortlist to determine the ten finalists and the ultimate winner. Players, of course, could not vote for themselves or include a teammate on the ballot.

Without further ado, here’s the list of nominees for the 2023 CPL Players’ Player Of The Year Award:

·      Manny Aparicio (Pacific FC)

·      Ollie Bassett (Atletico Ottawa)

·      Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)

·      Lorenzo Callegari (Halifax Wanderers)

·      Terran Campbell (Forge FC)

·      Massimo Ferrin (Halifax Wanderers)

·      Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)

·      Ali Musse (Cavalry FC)

·      Dan Nimick (Halifax Wanderers)

·      Ayman Sellouf (Pacific FC)

Leading the way for nominees is Halifax with three, while Cavalry, Pacific, and Forge all have two apiece, with Atletico Ottawa getting their only player nomination of the year through golden boot co-winner Ollie Bassett.

The Englishman took home the inaugural award last season, also winning the league’s Player of the Year award.

It’s worth noting that just three of the seven haven’t been nominated for one of the other awards: for Terran Campbell, Massimo Ferrin, and Ayman Sellouf, this will be their only shot at winning an individual trophy.

That also means that York United are the only club to get a total snub from any player nominations at the 2023 CPL Awards.

The player-voted winner will get a beautiful Inuit soapstone carving to honour their accomplishment. Carved by Ruben Komangapik, the Muskox statue will represent their effort – it’s an animal that earns the respect of his herd through its leadership and organization, reflecting the player themselves.

The 2023 CPL Awards will take place this Thursday at 7:00PM EST in Hamilton, Ontario. That’s where we’ll see the awards for Golden Boot (which finished as a tie for Ollie Bassett and Myer Bevan, each on eleven goals), the Golden Glove, Coach Of The Year, Defender Of The Year, the Best Canadian U-21 Player Of The Year, the Player Of The Year, and the Players’ Player of the Year.