The Tom Borrelli Award is presented by the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

to the league's "Media Person of the Year". The award was originally awarded to the

Writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

of the Year, but "was changed to Media Person of the Year in 2011 to allow for a wider range of media members to be considered for the award, including

broadcasters Broadcaster may refer to: * A presenter of any syndicated media program * A broadcasting organization, one responsible for audio and video content and/or their transmission * A sports commentator on television or radio * Broadcaster, currently ...

." The award is named for Tom Borrelli (1957–2008), a writer for

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

who covered the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse team in the East Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). They play at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, t ...

from the team's inception in 1992 to his death in 2008. He was inducted into the

National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame was established on June 16, 2005. The National Lacrosse League's board of governors will vote in the Hall of Fame members based on the individual’s record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character ...

in 2007. The award was created at the end of the 2005 season and, surprisingly, Borrelli was never a recipient. However, Tom Borrelli was the first sportswriter inducted into the NLL Hall of Fame. In 2009, The Buffalo News began awarding a lacrosse scholarship and trophy named for Tom Borrelli to the top high school lacrosse player in Western New York. The inaugural Tom Borrelli Memorial Award winner was Jeff Tundo of Orchard Park, who played collegiately at Ohio State and Stony Brook.

Past winners

References

{{NLL Tom Borrelli Sportscasting awards Sports writing awards American journalism awards +T + Awards established in 2005