The Namibia Sports Commission officially launched the 2017 Namibia Sports Awards earlier today in Windhoek. This year's awards will be held on the 27th of October at the Windhoek Country Club Resort and Casino. The annual Namibia Sports Awards ceremony sees Namibians come together to recognise and celebrate their sporting heroes and national icons. Themed "Celebrating our sporting heroes of yesterday and today", this year's event is expected to feature some of the country's most notable and celebrated athletes, celebrities, media personalities and sports legends. Officially launching the event today, the Chairperson of the Namibia Sport Commission, Joel Mathew, urged different sport codes not to discriminate against athletes when entering the best performers into the competition. “We invite all sports federations and umbrella bodies to submit entries of their best athletes and teams who have excelled both on and off the field from the 1st of October to the 31st of August 2017 in all competition categories,” he added. Entry forms are available on request from the Namibia Sport Commission offices from Friday the 25 of August, and entries will be closing officially on the 8th of September. Unlike last year, the 2017 awards will carry a total of 15 categories and no longer 22. Organisers say the realignment was necessitated to fit the Regional Annual Sport Awards (RASA) standards. All categories focus on the period of 1st of October 2016 to 31st of August 2017. Here is the list of categories: Graphics: MTC Sports Star of the year, MTC Sportsman of the year, MTC Sportswoman of the year, NAMPOWER Sportsman with a Disability, NAMPOWER Sportswoman with a Disability, MTC Junior Sportsman of the year, MTC Junior Sportswoman of year, NAMPOWER Junior Sportsman with a Disability, NAMPOWER Junior Sportswoman with a Disability, Tafel Lager Sports team of the year, Coach of the year, UMPIRE/REFREE of the year, Sports Journalist of the year, Development Programme of the year and Namibia Sport Commission Honorary Award. The Chairperson of the Marketing Committee, Monica Shapwa, called upon corporate companies and the public at large to come on board by supporting the government in their effort of recognising the country's sports heroes. MTC, Tafel Lager and Nampower are the only three companies that have already committed to sponsoring some categories.