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THE 122nd PSWA BANQUET IS SET FOR JANUARY 11, 2027!

The 122nd PSWA Banquet will be held on January, 11, 2027!

For the first time in our storied history, we will hold our banquet at the Cathedral of College Basketball, the historic Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the landmark hoops hall.

Click here to jump to our honoree and guest list below. Check back for new additions.*

DOORS OPEN/COCKTAILS/SILENT AUCTION – 5:00 P.M.
BANQUET – PROMPTLY AT 6:00 P.M.

Banquet Ticket

(Select your number of tickets by toggling the number box below, left)

$125.00

Banquet Table (12 Seats)

(If purchasing more than one table, select your number of tables by toggling the number box below, left)

$1,400.00

If you prefer to contact us for specific ticket inquiries or need more details, please contact pswabanquet@gmail.com or visit our contact form. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Our complete list of 2027 guests and honorees* is coming together… Check back for updates:

In the meantime, below is a recap of our guests from the 121st PSWA Banquet…

GOOD GUY AND TEAMS OF THE YEAR JUST ANNOUNCED: Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson is slated to appear, discuss the upcoming season and also accept the PSWA’s Good Guy Award. Thomson owns the second-most wins (346) and has the second-best winning percentage (.580) in club history. His straight forward approach, availability and cooperation with the media have earned him the Good Guy Award.

The year that passed was bookended by two great performances on the gridiron and two teams (one pro and one college) are being recognized as co-Teams of the Year. Of course, back in February 2025, the Philadelphia Eagles captured the second Super Bowl title in franchise history, dominating the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Lombardi Trophy and gain the PSWA’s Professional Team of the Year. And, just recently, Villanova University’s football team put on a tremendous run, advancing to the national semifinals in FCS play. The Wildcats, under the guidance of head coach Mark Ferrante, have earned recognition as the PSWA’s College Team of the Year. Villanova won 12 games in a season for the first time since 2009 when they won the national title.

Philadelphia Phillies left-handed pitcher Cristopher Sanchez has been named the association’s Pro Athlete of the Year. Sanchez, who was the runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award in 2025 after a season that saw him pile up more than 200 strikeouts and post a 13-5 record with a 2.50 ERA, will be on-hand to accept the award.

Our Most Courageous Sportsperson of the Year is Frankford (PA) High School baseball coach Juan Namnun. Also a health and physical education teacher, Namnun is a resident of Delran, NJ, and a survivor of male breast cancer. Since his diagnosis and a number of surgeries, Juan has worked closely with Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society to create awareness of this specific cancer that often goes undiagnosed among men. He has also created the Philadelphia Public League Coaches vs. Cancer High School Baseball Fest, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society. As a coach, Namnun has led Frankford to a record seven Philadelphia Public League championships and owns one outright City Championship during his 18 seasons as the Pioneers head coach. He has been a health and physical education teacher for 26 years, the last 25 at Frankford from which he graduated in 1995.

^{Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)}

The Campbell Award winner for excellence in broadcasting this year goes to Temple University product and ESPN anchor Kevin Negandhi. In 2024, he signed a new contract with ESPN that will see him enter his third decade of work at the Bristol, CT-based family of networks where he continues to be a staple on SportsCenter and a studio host of college football pregame, postgame and halftime shows. The Phoenixville, PA native was inducted into the Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Hall of Fame by Klein College at Temple in 2013. He is a 1998 Temple graduate.

Our Native Son Award will be presented to a man who has returned to his hometown to coach his alma mater on the hardwood, Fran McCaffery. McCaffery entered his first season at Penn this year with a career head-coaching record of 548-384 and his Quakers played for the Big Five title on Dec. 6 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. As a player, he led the Ivy League in assists (105) and steals (51) as a senior in 1981-82 and was voted recipient of the Bus MacDonald Award as the team’s most inspirational player that season. Penn went 36-6 in Ivy League play across the three seasons that McCaffery wore the Red and Blue, winning three Ivy League titles. The Philadelphia native played his high school ball at LaSalle College High School.

Coach McCaffery will be joined among the honored guests by his brother, Jack McCaffery, the long-time sportswriter from the Delaware County Times, who will be this year’s recipient of the Stan Hochman Award for excellence in sports writing. Along with his duties as a writer, columnist and editor, Jack has also spent time as a part-time sports radio talk show host on both WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic while doing full-time work in journalism. Jack originally joined the Delco Times back in 1984.

Our Living Legend is two-time Stanley Cup champion and a man still known as one of hockey’s toughest enforcers, Flyers great Dave Schultz. Schultz was more than an enforcer; he scored 20 goals for Philadelphia in 1973–74 and netted the series-winning goal in overtime in the first round of the 1974 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Atlanta Flames as his team went on to win the cup.

Sticking with the Philadelphia Flyers and their first home, the Spectrum, the PSWA is pleased to present Lou Scheinfeld with a Special Achievement Award for his career as a sports and entertainment executive which includes being the founding Vice-President of the Flyers hockey franchise and President of the Spectrum, Scheinfeld is credited with fathering innovative sports marketing concepts and establishing the Flyers and Spectrum as North American brands. Scheinfeld spent nearly 15 years as an executive of the Spectrum, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Philadelphia-area cable network, Prism, before joining the 76ers as chief executive officer in January 1980.

The PSWA’s Amateur Athlete of the Year is Princeton women’s lacrosse standout McKenzie Blake. Blake, a Haddonfield, NJ, resident finished a tremendous career for the Tigers in the spring of 2025. In her senior year, she set the Ivy League and Princeton records for goals in a season with 89, breaking the league mark which stood since 1981. She was named the Ivy League Attacker of the Year and also was a second-team All-America pick by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association (IWLCA). Blake’s 231 career goals is also a Princeton record. During her high school career at Haddonfield, she connected for 241 career goals.

AND… STAY TUNED FOR MORE GUESTS AND HONOREES AS THEY ARE CONFIRMED!

*Guest/honoree list subject to change.

Don’t miss out on another historic night in Philly Sports history! The 2025 dinner sold out, make sure you get your tickets soon!

Here’s a look back at our 2025 guests and honorees from the 120th PSWA Banquet:

Our Most Courageous Sportsperson of the Year in 2025 was 2008 Phillies World Series Champion manager Charlie Manuel. After suffering a stroke, Charlie returned to work with the Phillies and the 2025 season was his 63rd season of professional baseball.
We honored Living Legends both from the diamond (Individual) and the gridiron (Team):
- First, the man credited with being the architect of the modern Philadelphia Phillies, Bill Giles. He holds a special part in Philadelphia sports history.
- Our second Living Legend was a team… The Philadelphia Stars of the USFL. The 1984 and ’85 (Baltimore) teams captured back-to-back USFL Championships.
The PSWA’s 2024 Team of the Year was the Saint Joseph’s field hockey team which reached the NCAA Division I Championship Game, making its first-ever appearance in the title game after an amazing upset of No. 1-ranked North Carolina in the national semifinals.
The PSWA recognized its Amateur Athlete of the Year, Iowa women’s basketball standout and eventual WNBA Rookie of the Year, Caitlin Clark.
Since 2016, the PSWA has given out the Bill Campbell Award, recognizing excellence in broadcasting. The latest honor went to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s ubiquitous Michael Barkann.
Our PSWA Good Guy, for his awesome demeanor, terrific attitude and tremendous cooperation with the media, is 76ers guard, Tyrese Maxey.
Flyers legend Bob Kelly was be recognized for his Stanley Cup-clinching goal, 11 seconds into the third period of Game 6 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals.
Sticking with hockey, we honored the Arcadia University women’s ice hockey coach Kelsey Koelzer. A trailblazer in her fourth season behind the bench for the Knights, the Horsham, PA native is the first Black woman to serve as the head coach of an NCAA women’s ice hockey team.
We commemorated the 50th anniversary of the historic 1974 Henley Royal Regatta win of the Holy Spirit High School rowing team.
The recipient of the Stan Hochman Award, presented since 2016, for excellence in sports journalism. was Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. A Temple University and Archbishop Ryan High grad, Breen grew up dreaming about not just being a sports writer, but a Philly sports writer.
The PSWA’s Pro Athlete of the Year was Pennsylvania native and just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.
And finally, keeping it close to home, the PSWA will be making a donation to the Gaudreau Family’s efforts, in the names of Johnny and Matty Gaudreau, to help build a new adaptive playground at Archbishop Damiano School, a private non-profit special education school in Westville, NJ. Guy and Jane Gaudreau, the parents of the Gaudreau brothers, will be on hand to collect the donation. Check out this story from CBS3 to learn more about this project that’s close to the hearts of the Gaudreau family.