Rob Hunt Column: Save the Date, the Return of the THB Sports Awards

I teased it out a little bit in last week’s column, but here’s your one-month (or so) warning that the biggest night in area sports is coming soon.

The Ninth Annual THB Sports Awards will return to Reardon Auditorium on the campus of Anderson University on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The start time of 7 p.m. will be the same with doors opening at 6 p.m., but please note the different day of the week. Normally held on a Tuesday, this year’s show had to be moved to Thursday because of internal scheduling conflicts.

Remember, admission for the awards show is always free to all and the general public is invited. We encourage everyone to come out and support the athletes and teams they’ve rooted for all year as well as to help us acknowledge the best in the area across the board.

Anderson University has been a great host the last several years and Reardon is a beautiful venue for this event.

Their concession stand is pretty good too.

We are thrilled to share that Doug Anderson will be back for his second year as emcee of the event.

There will be a red carpet entry for all attendees and we’ll take all the pictures you want, they’ll be available on our website afterwards.

That night, we will be presenting the awards for Team of the Year and Coach of the Year, Girls and Boys Athletes of the Year, Boys and Girls Scholars, Mental Attitudes, Comeback, and Breakout Awards. We will present the Heart of Sports Award to honor a key member of a school’s support staff and, for the third time, the Jimmy Erskine Award.

The evening will open with the 19th Annual Johnny Wilson Awards, crowning the area’s top three-sport athletes and we’ll wrap things up with the Program of the Year for the athletic department that has racked up the most points throughout the 2025-26 school calendar. Those points are earned through county tournaments as well as the postseason.

Nomination forms have been sent to all 11 area Athletic Directors and they – and their coaches – will be sending in their picks over the next several weeks. That leads to the always difficult – at times, nearly impossible – decision-making process of picking the finalists and winners.

Finalists will be announced Sunday, June 7 on social media and we will be reaching out directly to all of the finalists. A special Awards Show preview section will appear in print on Wednesday, June 24 and the stories on all of the winners will appear the day after the show in The Herald Bulletin.

For those who are on vacation or out of town, the show will be shared via Facebook Live on the Herald Bulletin’s Facebook page.

Having already received a number of nominations, I can already tell the selection process will be no easier than before.

It’s a night of fun and a great way to wrap up the local sports calendar. There will be more details to come and I hope to see each of you there.