Soccer Spotlight: Nusum Named Bermuda's Male Athlete of the Year KiXX Rookie Forward Receives Country's Highest Sports Honor Friday, February 18, 2005 By David Deal Philadelphia KiXX Director of Communitions Philadelphia KiXX Executive Vice President/General Manager Greg Bibb announced today that rookie forward John Barry Nusum was named Bermuda’s 2004 Male Athlete of the Year. The native of Devonshire, Bermuda received the distinguished honor at the 24th Annual Sports Awards Programme, which was held on Thursday, February 17 at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel at a glitzy live television event. Each year, the Bermuda Government conducts the Annual Sports Awards Programme to recognize significant achievements by their athletes, administrators, corporate sponsors, coaches, and support personnel. There are five award categories, highlighted by the announcement of the coveted Male and Female Athlete of the Year award. A panel of sports news reporters, Olympic Standards Committee representatives and independent sport authorities determine the recipients by a secret ballot that utilizes a point system. The vote of the chair of the committee is counted only in the event of a tie. Some of the dignitaries at the event included The Premier of Bermuda, The Hon. W. Alexander Scott, JP, MP who presented Nusum with his award, The Minister of Community Affairs & Sport, The Hon. Dale D. Butler JP, MP and other elected government officials, sport governing body executives and the other nominees. Nusum, in his first professional indoor season, is currently leading the team and is tied for third in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) with 32 points. The 23-year-old forward has already registered a pair of hat tricks (three goals) and has tallied at least one point in 15 of the 21 games he has appeared. He was also named the League’s Offensive Player of the Week for the seven-day period ending November 7, in which he recorded six points (four goals, two assists) in a pair of games versus the Baltimore Blast. The Furman University graduate and the schools’ all-time leading scorer with 65 goals and 161 points, has also competed with the Atlanta Silverbacks (2002-2003) and the Toronto Lynx (2004) of the outdoor A-League.