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US Sailing's Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) today announced that the nomination period has opened for the 2014 US Sailing Coach of the Year Awards. The OSC will honor coaches in five categories who have distinguished themselves at the youth, national and international levels.

The awards are a part of the United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) Coach Recognition Program, which highlights the accomplishments and contributions of U.S. coaches who train athletes at all levels of Olympic and Paralympic sports. In 2013, the National Coach of the Year Award was given to Mark Ivey (Tiburon, Calif.), who won it for a second time.

Nominations will be accepted from the public until December 31, 2014, via e-mail to nominations@ussailing.org

Each nomination should include the following information:

• Which of the five coaching awards (see below) the individual is being nominated for.

• The nominee's 2014 coaching record

• Honors or recognitions received by the nominee in 2014

• A description of the nominee's service and support to the sport in 2014

• Contact information, including a phone number and email address, for both the nominator and the nominee

All accomplishments eligible for review by the panel are required to have taken place in 2014. Additionally, each nominee must be actively coaching in 2014, or be less than one year removed from his or her date of retirement.

Categories

National Coach of the Year nominations fall into five categories:

• National Coach of the Year

• Volunteer Coach of the Year

Will Ricketson/US Sailing

HONORED -- US National Coach of the Year and Senior Olympic Coach Luther Carpenter (La Porte, Texas) coaching US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider athlete Jonathan Rudich (Clearwater, Fla.) at the 2014 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Test Event, August 2014.

• Development Coach of the Year

• Paralympic Coach of the Year

• "Doc" Councilman Science Award

Announcement In Spring

In early 2015, the OSC will announce the winners of US Sailing's 2014 Coach of the Year Awards. The committee will then submit the list of honorees to the USOC for potential recognition as Coach of the Year Awards recipients across all Olympic and Paralympic sports. The USOC will announce the National Coach of the Year Award sometime in the late spring.

The goals of the USOC's Coaching Recognition Program are to recognize the accomplishments and contributions coaches make to sports at all levels of athlete development and to elevate the status of coaching as a profession.

For more information about these awards or to submit a nomination, please e-mail nominations@ussailing.org