The award is handed out to an under-17 player, coach and team of both netball and football who exhibits great sportsmanship throughout the season. 

Football and netball umpires vote for the award winners. 

Each player is given a vote out of 10 for sportsmanship and skill, and the cumulative of season votes decides the player of the year. 

The team of the year is decided by the cumulative of votes from each player on each team throughout the season. 

Their coach receives the coach of the year award. 

Horsham Demons received the 2017 Wimmera league Spirit of Football award for team of the year. 

The Demons couldn’t quite make the grand final, they lost to Stawell in the semi-final 10.9 (69) to 6.6 (42). 

The Demons finished the year in fourth spot on the table, two league points behind the Warriors. 

This meant coach Matt Glare was named coach of the year. 

Warrior Lucky Ika was named player of the year after a consistent season. 

Ika was apart of the team which defeated the Demons in the semi-final. 

The Warriors missed out on a grand final birth after losing to the Horsham Saints 11.13 (79) to 4.4 (28). 

Ika was named runner-up best and fairest at the Wimmera league vote count earlier this month. 

History was made when two 17 and under netball sides were named joint team of the year winners. 

It just so happened to be both grand finalists Horsham and Horsham Saints. 

This was the first time since the initiative begun that there had been named a joint winning team. 

The Demons won the grand final, ousting the Saints 55-28. 

This meant that Saints coach Jess Cannane and Demons coach Shavaughn Neale were named joint coaches of the year. 

The 17 and under player of the year was Saints goal keeper and 2017 best and fairest winner Victoria Taylor. 

Taylor has played an important role in the Saints side, establishing strong leadership qualities on and off the court. 

Glare said he owes the award to his teams focus and hard work. 

“Working hard and focusing on what we can do,” he said. 

“Don’t worry about the umpires and what they do, just stay focused on the kids and how they were playing and what we could improve on.” 

Glare said to some people this award may not seem like much but to himself and his team it means a lot. 

“It’s the right thing for the game, not carry on to the umpires and all that sort of stuff,” he said.

“We didn’t really have any standout players, we are a pretty evenly balanced side. That’s pretty much what we did all year, work away together.” 

Neale said winning the team of the year award felt fantastic. 

“It not only means they are extremely talented but they’re fair and play the sport in the right spirit… Which is always going to take them to the next level,” she said. 

Neale said all her players are accustomed to playing senior netball and she believed that helped them gain the team of the year award.