Victorian Official Phillip Craig has been nominated for the Vic Sport Community Official of the Year award.

The Vic Sport awards recognises individuals, teams and initiatives that have had a positive impact on Victorian sport throughout the previous year. 

As the only motor sport representative across all categories, Craig will be up against Peter Cramp from Touch Football, Jenny Forssman in Gymnastics and Little Athletics’ Nicole Lopes. 

Click here to view the full list of 2018 Vic Sport nominees.

Despite Craig serving the Victorian Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) in motor sport for up to 17 years, the 60-year-old was still surprised to be acknowledged, dedicating the nomination to all officials in the sport.  

“It’s a bit special really, it’s something that is unexpected,” Craig said.

“It’s quite an honour to have someone nominate you in the first place, I suppose it’s a really nice feeling.

“I think motor sport officials as a group are quite under regarded in the world of sport, so anything that can promote what we do is a really good thing.

“Sometimes I feel that we are under appreciated by everyone outside the industry because people don’t realise we exist.

“Hopefully I can be successful which will draw attention to what we do, it can only be a real positive thing for the sport.”

While Craig has spent only a small amount of competitive time behind the wheel, taking part in motorkhanas during his late teens, the Victorian has had a passion for motor sport his whole life. 

After dedicating a majority of time to both the Australian army reserve and the country fire authority during his 20s and 30s, Craig eventually managed to find the time to volunteer for his beloved sport in 2001. 

Since joining the sport, Craig hasn’t looked back, putting in a lot of hard work and dedication into a majority of events around the state, something Craig believes is deserving of the award. 

 “To win this award would really justify the time that I put into the sport in a way,” Craig laughed.

“While it is a selfish way of looking at it, it reinforces the fact that at least somebody is recognising what we do as officials. 

“If I was a lucky to win and take home the award, I think it would give us the ability to highlight what we do and get some younger people into our ranks.

“There is not much I can do now but just wait and see what happens but it is still an exciting feeling.”

The Vic Sport Awards take place at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday 20 February 2019.

Anyone interested in joining the 10,000 plus CAMS officials can find out more here.