The Bob Willis Fund

The shortlists for the 20th Sports Book Awards in association with The Sunday Times have been announced this morning. The nominations feature some of the greatest sportsmen and women in a diverse collection of works across 11 award categories.

The shortlist for 2022 includes Billie Jean King, Siya Kolisi, Michael Holding, Frankie Dettori, Peter Schmeichel, Patrice Evra, Alun Wyn Jones, Clare Balding, Ian Wright, Adam Peaty, Tony Bellew, Troy Deeney, Marcus Rashford, Phil Tufnell, Sir Geoff Hurst, David Flatman and Mark Durden-Smith, Henry Blofeld, Jake Humphrey, Rob Burrow, Paul Merson, Jamie Roberts, Elise Christie, Eddie Jones, Olivier Giroud and many more.

Our Ambassador Michael Holding who is shortlisted in 2 categories with Why We Kneel, How We Rise commented:

“A huge thank you to the Sports Books Awards for nominating Why We Kneel, How We Rise for the Best Sports Writing Book of the Year and for Best Cricket Book. We can only hope my book will continue to open eyes and hearts and educate and inspire people about racism in our society.”

The Sports Book Awards in association with The Sunday Times is the major annual promotion for sports writing and publishing. The awards exist to highlight the most outstanding sports books of the previous calendar year to showcase their merits and to enhance their reputation and profile.

The 2022 categories will include The Pinsent Masons Best Sports Writing Award, The Arbuthnot Latham Rugby Book of the Year, The Fitzdares International Autobiography of the Year, The Heartaches’ Cricket Book of the Year sponsored by Sir Tim Rice, the iPRO Hydrate Sports Performance Book of the Year and the Children’s Sports Book of the Year in partnership with the National Literacy Trust.

Clare Balding – BBC Sports presenter, former judge of the Sports Book Awards and nominated for the Children’s Sports Book of the Year says:

“I’m delighted that Fall Off has been nominated amongst so many great titles for young readers. I think we can learn so much from sport and from those who play sport, particularly about resilience and recovery from mistakes. For me, the really interesting decisions are made off the field of play and that’s what I wanted to share with readers.”

Siya Kolisi who is shortlisted with RISE for International Autobiography Book of the Year says:

The Sports Book Awards are judged by an outstanding academy including The Football Writers’ Association, The Rugby Union Writers’ Club, The Cricket Society, National Literacy Trust, Christine Ohuruogu, Adam Smith – the voice of Sky Boxing, Guillem Balagué – La Liga BBC Sport correspondent, Annie Vernon – Beijing Olympic rowing silver medallist with Dame Katherine Grainger, Seema Jaswal – ITV Sport and BBC Sport host, Jill Douglas and Simon Brotherton – the BBC Olympic Games cycling commentary team, Simon Halliday – former Bath and Harlequins and England Centre and Nick Greenslade Deputy Sports Editor of The Sunday Times.

In addition, a public vote is now open to find the winners in 4 categories at sportsbookawards.com – Autobiography of the Year, International Autobiography of the Year, Sports Performance Book of the Year and Sports Entertainment Book of the Year.

The Sports Book Awards, in association with The Sunday Times will take place at the Kia Oval on 26th May, presented by Mark Pougatch. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the awards a special award to the Best Sports Book of the 21st Century will be presented to a previous winner. Tickets for the Awards Ceremony are available to purchase at sportsbookawards.com.

Sports Book Awards Chairman, David Willis reflects:

“Twenty years of the Sports Book Awards sees a tremendous panorama of brilliant and colourful writing. Sports writing now attracts some of the finest talent in the English language and we are proud to be associated with such a successful and exhilarating genre.”

We are delighted that The Bob Willis Fund is the charity partner for the 2022 awards. The Bob Willis Fund has been set up to raise money for prostate cancer research and awareness, with the aim of achieving a national screening programme in the next 3-5 years.