How to add names to Enquirer's high school athlete of the week ballot

The Cincinnati Enquirer again will conduct its popular high school athlete of the week voting, presented by Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, during the 2026-2027 athletic year.

Voters can choose their favorite athletes from each sport and teams of the week throughout each season. The nomination week will run from Monday through Sunday, with nominations due the next morning. The last ballot will run in the last week of the spring season.

Anyone can nominate an athlete of the week or team of the week in a variety of ways ‒ through the Enquirer's Facebook group, Cincinnati Enquirer high school sports, or through email to the Enquirer's beat writers. To be clear, you may NOT email votes. You may only suggest players for the ballot that way. Other sources for ballot nominations may come from league websites and information reported to the Enquirer at prepsports@enquirer.com for the nightly cincinnati.com high school scores file.

Who are the Enquirer beat writers for each sport?

James Weber, jweber@enquirer.com ‒ Ohio and Indiana football, boys and girls soccer, boys basketball, bowling, baseball, archery

Brendan Connelly, bconnelly@enquirer.com ‒ Northern Kentucky football, boys and girls cross country, girls volleyball, girls basketball, swimming and diving, softball, track & field

Alex Harrison, aharrison@enquirer.com‒ Boys and girls fall/winter/spring team nominations, boys and girls golf, field hockey, boys and girls wrestling, boys volleyball

Chase Souder, csouder@enquirer.com ‒ Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Indiana team nominations for football, basketball, baseball and softball, tennis, water polo, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, flag football

Here are the Enquirer's athlete of the week 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 before 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 staff 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 are represented will be a consideration.
• Voting is now unlimited under a new polling system. Refresh the page to vote again.
• The Enquirer has placed every available securitywithin our control on each ballot.
• Please be aware that many schools send out text or email blasts reminding people to vote, especially on Fridays, which accounts for spikes in votes.
• 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-city teams 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.

We got Spirit, yes we do! The Enquirer introduces the Spirit Award.

The Enquirer would like to include cheerleaders, dance team members and their teams in two weekly ballots (individual and team) for the Spirit Award. Nominations will only come from the coaches.

Criteria: We’re seeking VARSITY girls and boys cheerleaders/dancers who exemplify fruits of the spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – while uplifting their squads, the student body and others. Team nominations might focus on teams that came together to help each other, worked hard, did things right that week, showed outstanding virtues when dealing with others, served others, exceeded expectations to prepare something special for the school or any other honorable reason they might be acknowledged.

Coaches can email mlaughman@enquirer.com with questions and nominations by Monday mornings at the latest. The ballots will be separate from the athlete of the week polls but will close at the same time, 4 p.m. on Fridays.

What's the deal with winners' certificates?

• The Enquirer will no longer mail certificates to schools after getting feedback that families weren't receiving them. Alex Harrison will make digital copies of all certificates available to families by 8 a.m. the Monday after the Friday win. Families will access the PDFs through this public Dropbox link.
• Once printed, families can email a photo of athletes with their certificates to either Alex Harrison at aharrison@enquirer.com or Melanie Laughman at mlaughman@enquirer.com, through Messenger on Facebook, or tag her on X at @mlaughman. We'll put those images in a photo gallery.

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

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How to add names to Enquirer's high school athlete of the week ballot