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The Smarter
Sports Awards
Judges

The Smarter Sports Awards are judged by sports industry leaders and experts in the international sports sector
Judging panel presented in association with

2026 Judges

coming soon...

Neelay Bhatt

Founder & CEO / Co-Chair and Curator

Next Practice Partners / TEDSports Indianapolis

James Bisgrove

Chief Executive Officer

Al-Qadsiah Club Company

Avinash Chandran

Chief Science Officer

Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention

Alejandra Depalma

CCO

Mercury 13

Rebecca Edwards-Symmons

CEO

Commonwealth Games Wales- Team Wales

Mark Epps

Director, Communications & Web3

ATP Tour

Dr. Ravi Gill

Co-founder & CEO

The OPSIS Group

Nathan Homer

Commercial Director, Sport

NEOM

Mark Jarvis

Head of Men's Performance

The FA

Alun Wyn Jones

Rugby Legend and Strategic Advisor

The National Network for Innovation in Sport & Health

Claire Kelly

Managing Director

Gemba

Barry McNeill

Co-Founder & CEO

Bloom Sports Partners

Jonathan Owen

CEO

Energy

Kacy Raye

Director, Sports Marketing

Salesforce

Jamie Riley

COO

USA Football

Michaela Snook

Head of Media Rights

F1

Karen Webb Moss

Chair and Adviser

Aquatics GB, More than Equal and Thirsty Insights Ltd.

NNIISH, The National Network for Innovation In Sport & Health, is the official partner of The Awards’ judging panel.

Led by Swansea University, NNIISH sits at the intersection of sport, health, and technology, with the remit is to foster collaboration and forge partnerships with a view to creating new solutions and opportunities to improve athlete performance and public health outcomes. The network enjoys a diverse family of stakeholders, including multinational corporations, academic institutions and start-ups.
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Judges And Judging Process

World class scrutiny for world class innovation: meet the industry experts judging your work…

The Smarter Sports Awards are serious about honest, authentic and authoritative scrutiny and this is reflected both by the outstanding profile of our expert judging panel and the process by which all entries are judged.

Judging is completed online, independently of and without reference to any other score; each judge marks every element of the entry form, then submits a total score for each shortlisted entry. In the case of a tie, more judges from the industry are asked to evaluate the tied entries until a clear winner is determined.

Remember, our judges are unquestionably some of the most informed people in the sector and the judging process means that all their points of view are accounted for fairly. They are totally unbiased in their voting and are committed to working to seeing excellence – not a brand’s size or budget – win.

We ensure organizations of all sizes enjoy fair representation and opportunities at the Awards, and are proud that The Smarter Sports Awards is one of the few industry events where a bootstrap start-up can achieve victory over an established, international sports brand. Ultimately excellence is what counts!

#OnlyfortheInnovative