How to add names to Cincinnati Enquirer's high school athletes of the week ballot in 2023

The Cincinnati Enquirer again will conduct its popular Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine high school athlete of the week voting during the 2023-2024 athletic year.

Voters can choose their favorite athletes from each sport and teams of the week throughout each season. The first winter ballot will run Monday, Nov. 27, for all the activity heading up to Nov. 26. After that, the nomination week will run from Monday through Sunday, with nominations due the next morning. 

Enquirer's preseason coverage:Catch up on the Enquirer's 2023 high school fall sports coverage

Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week or team of the week in a variety of ways ‒ through Twitter using the sports' hashtags or tagging @mlaughman, through the Enquirer's Facebook group, Enquirer Preps Plus, or through email to mlaughman@enquirer.com. To be clear, you may NOT email votes. You may only suggest players for the ballot that way. 

Fall Twitter (X) hashtags: Football, #cincyfb; Soccer, #cincysoccer; Tennis, #cincytennis; Girls volleyball, #cincyvb; Cross country, #cincyxc; Golf, #cincygolf; Field hockey, #cincyfh; Water polo, #cincypolo.

Winter Twitter (X) hashtags: Bowling, #cincybowling; Swimming and diving, #cincyswimdive; Basketball, #cincyhoops; Wrestling, #cincywrestling; Ice hockey, #cincyicehockey and Gymnastics, #cincygymnastics.

Spring Twitter (X) hashtags: Baseball, #cincybaseball; Softball, #cincysoftball; Lacrosse, #cincylax; Boys volleyball, #cincyvb; Track & Field, #cincytrack; Boys/girls tennis, #cincytennis.

Other sources for ballot nominations: League websites and information reported to the Enquirer at prepsports@enquirer.com for the nightly cincinnati.com high school scores file.

Here are the basic rules: 

• Deadlines: Send nominations for any sport by Monday mornings at the latest for the late-Monday ballot post. 
• The varsity-level athlete should have made a significant impact on a game within the nomination time frame, which is the week prior to the voting period (Monday through Sunday). It's performance-based, not character-based or academics-based.
• Send stats to support the nomination for these performance-based ballots.
• Once athletes win during the regular season, they're not eligible to be back on the ballot until the postseason. If athletes haven't won in the regular season, they can be nominated more than once. 
• Nominations do not guarantee placement on the ballot. The editor will have discretion on the number of times a particular team's athletes can be nominated. With there being only a certain number of weeks in a season, making sure a variety of schools is represented will be a consideration.
• Voting is one vote per device per hour. Devices include tablets, phones and desktop computers. The Enquirer's software will count only one vote per hour from any WiFi connection so briefly remove your phones from WiFi to make sure your vote counts.
• Nominations and votes are two different things. You nominate someone to be on the ballot. You vote for them once they're there using the ballots at the bottom of each voting story file. You may email nominations by Monday from the previous week. You may NOT email votes. They do not count. 
• The Enquirer has placed every available security on each ballot.
• Coaches only may reach out to Enquirer staff in advance of ballots being released if they believe their team's potential nominees, such as leading scorers, have character issues that should prevent them from inclusion. Those issues might include breaking team rules, lack of sportsmanship or excessive fouls/red cards.
• Have fun with this. Just being on the ballot ensures athletes' achievements from any division and school are recognized by an extremely large number of viewers. The point is for fans to show their support and school spirit. Our all-stars at the end of the season recognize the best of the best. Our athletes of the week show individuals at their best during a specific period.

Winners will receive a certificate and inclusion in a story about that week's winners. The Enquirer will send these certificates to athletic directors. 

Families and schools are welcome to send a photo of winners with their certificates to the Enquirer at mlaughman@enquirer.com or tag her on Twitter, @mlaughman.

Have any questions? Email Melanie Laughman at mlaughman@enquirer.com.