Big L Awards

You may use this form to send a nomination to the President of Stevens Creek Striders. Please note that the IP address of your computer is recorded along with visible data that you submit. You may also vote at club on Saturday, by post (to the PO Box) using this form: BigLs.pdf

Rules for 2006 

As decided at the board meeting on October 15, 2006.

1. There will be 4 Awards in 2006:

   • Strider of the Year
   • Most improved Strider
   • Achievement
   • Best Volunteer

2. Anybody may nominate any Strider for an Award.
3. All nominations are anonymous. So there is no way to exclude votes from non-members. The IP address of on-line votes will be recorded.
4. Nominations can be on-line or at Saturday Club. A nomination box and papers will be provided at Saturday Club Meetings.
5. The "Awards Committee" will meet in late November to discuss the nominations.
6. Only the President will read the nominations before the Award Meeting. Last year's retired Board Members (Jack and Amanda) will be invited to attend and vote. Any member who attends the "Awards Committee" may vote if they wish.
7. The Chairman of the "Awards Committee" will be either the President or a Board Member or Strider and is ineligible for an award. The Chairman reads the nominations, leads the discussion, conducts the ballot, and tallies the votes. The Chairman is the only person who knows to whom the awards are to be given.
8. Voting of the "Awards Committee" will be the scheme explained below. The "Awards Committee" vote is decisive and final.

We are flexible. If anybody wishes to challenge these rules, please email the Board and explain your concern. It is the Board's wish that the Awards are given on merit and reflect the wishes of the members.

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This is how it has worked in the past 

Eight awards are presented:

7 "Achievement" Awards and
1 "Strider of the Year" Award.

Achievement is intentionally defined vaguely, to encourage nominations based on effort, not just raw times. Generally speaking, we are looking at athletic achievement but, not necessarily restricted to running.

The "Strider of the Year" award was designed to acknowledge a member's personal contribution to the club over a period of years. Generally, we are looking at members who have continually worked overtime for the benefit of us all and, who have made this club the friendly one it is.

Nominations are solicited during the month of November, requesting as much documentation as possible, not just names. People are encouraged to nominate themselves as well. Who ever you are nominating, the more elaborate the documentation, the more the "Awards Committee" will be impressed.

The "Awards Committee", consisting of this year's and last year's Boards of Directors, meets in December to review nominations. The thought was that Board members were the people that should best know the membership as a whole, especially the new members who might be too bashful to broadcast their accomplishments.

After all committee members have reviewed all nominations, ballots are distributed and filled out in secret, with each member voting for his/her top 7 choices for "Achievement" (choices earn 10,8,6,4,3,2 or 1 point) and top 4 choices for "Strider of the Year" (choices earn 5,3,2 or 1 point). The point system is designed to minimize the possibility of a tie. The current club President collects the ballots and later tabulates the results, keeping everything secret until the awards presentation at the party.

It may not be a perfect system but, it seems to work.

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History of the Big L Awards 

As told by Jim Bordoni

The scene is the first Stevens Creek Strider's Christmas Party, back in 1982. Everyone is crammed into Sandy Kane's living room after having made a mess of her kitchen, devouring the pot luck offerings brought by attending members. When everyone is seated, Lirio Guevara stands up and announces he is awarding the 1^st Annual "Big L" Awards and, unveils numerous trophies he has made up and paid for out of his own pocket. "Lirio, stand up!" someone hollers. "I am!" is the response.

For those of you who have never met him, Lirio (rhymes with Cheerio) is not big. He drives a big pickup truck, he has a big heart but, he is not big in stature. So, his use of "Big" along with his initial was very tongue-in-cheek and, appreciated as such. For the first 4 Strider Christmas Parties, he would present "Big L" Awards based on his awareness of club achievements (the club was smaller then and, he actually did a pretty good job of keeping track of all the races and times). He would pay for the trophies himself, occasionally passing the hat on the Saturday before the party (an unwritten rule was, if you won one the year before, you felt obligated to donate). Categories for awards were very much like races; age groups, male and females categories.

The best part about the "Big L" Awards was Lirio's presentation. This was often the highlight of the evening's entertainment. Perhaps presentation is not the correct word. "Roast" might be more appropriate. Especially if Lirio knew you well. I remember Liz Ross taking heat for winning her age group because, she was the only runner we had that was old enough to qualify. And, you could always expect the unexpected. I remember Lirio naming a long list of nominees for a category and then awarding it to someone not even on the list! In any event, it became a beloved ritual, looked forward to by all and, used for inspiration by many.

By the 1986 Christmas Party, your Board of Directors decided it wasn't fair for Lirio to continue footing the bill personally for club awards, while recognizing the need to require more input to actually reward the efforts of the growing club. After a few refinements, the current system settled in. The major changes were: 1) the club paid for the awards; 2) an "Awards Committee" voted on recipients; and 3) age and gender categories were trashed.

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