DAPHNE, Ala. – The United States Sports Academy has announced its Athlete of the Month ballot for August and public voting is in progress. Following the selection committee’s meeting, 12 candidates – six male and six female – from nine countries comprise the list.

Male nominees are Mutaz Essa Barshim, track and field, Qatar; Mo Farah, track and field, Great Britain; Paul Pogba, soccer, France; Giancarlo Stanton, baseball, United States; Justin Thomas, golf, United States; and Alexander Zverev, tennis, Germany.

Female nominees are Kelly Barnhill, softball, United States; Emma Coburn, steeplechase, United States; In-Kyung Kim, golf, South Korea; Garbine Muguruza, tennis, Spain; Caster Semenya, track and field, South Africa; and Sarah Sjostrom, swimming, Sweden.

Everyone is encouraged to cast a vote on the Academy’s website (USSA.edu or see related link below) and have friends do the same. The full ballot is listed along with bios of what each athlete accomplished during the month. Voting will continue until 5 p.m. (Central) on Thursday, Sept. 14 2017.

The Athlete of the Year Award is part of the United States Sports Academy’s Awards of Sport program, which each year serves as “A Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete.” The Academy presents the awards to pay tribute to those who have made significant contributions to sport, in categories as diverse as the artist and the athlete in several different arenas of sport.

The awards honor exemplary achievement in coaching, all-around athletic performance, courage, humanitarian activity, fitness, and media, among others. The Academy’s American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA) annually recognizes these men and women through its Sport Artist of the Year, Honorary Doctorates, Medallion Series, Distinguished Service Awards, Outstanding Athletes, and Alumni of the Year awards. This is the 33rd year of the Academy’s Awards of Sport program.

The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.

Founded in 1984, ASAMA is dedicated to the preservation of sports art, history, and literature. The ASAMA collection is composed of more than 1,700 works of sport art across a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, assemblages, prints and photographs. The museum is open free to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. For more information, go to ASAMA.org.

The Academy is based in Daphne. For more information, call (251) 626-3303 or visit USSA.edu.