It’s that time, sports fans: The Player of the Year voting round is now open.

This year, five players have made it from nominations to the voting round, two from Rockmart and three from Cedartown. The five have been chosen based on nominations forwarded in from the community, collected over the past weeks from readers across Polk County and beyond.

First and foremost: thanks to everyone who sent in nominations. I very much appreciate you getting in names.

Because I don’t want anyone to feel like they aren’t appreciated, I won’t be including how many nominations came in for each of the five in the voting round or other youth. However, I will note that a large number of nominations came in for one player in particular: Mason Phillips of Rockmart.

He, along with Dennis Sims, are representing the Yellow Jackets for this year’s Player of the Year fans voting round.

From Cedartown, the trio of players who received the most nominations are Harlem Diamond, CJ Washington and Jayden Weems. (The latter on this list being nominated for his big touchdown earlier in the year, as a senior who doesn’t get much time out on the field.)

Now onto the rules of the road for fan voting in this round of Player of the Year 2021, along with some additional points of interest:

1. Each person gets 1 vote per their email address, no more and no less. The Google Form below providing the poll will only allow one email address per vote. Be good people and don’t abuse that. (I will shut it all down and ruin the fun for everyone if I see ridiculous email addresses being created to vote for one particular player. – KtE)
2. The only votes that will count are available in the Google Form below. Comments, messages, emails, tweets, etc. will not count.
3. Voting will continue through next Friday, December 10 at 11:59 p.m.
4. The player with the most votes will be crowned the inaugural Polk Sports Wire Player of the Year Award winner determined by fans. (Additional awards will be given out this year as well.)
5. The announcement of the Player of the Year Award will happen on Wednesday, December 15, 2021 (note: I expect to be able to announce by then…) on a video that will be going live by noon.

So make sure you VOTE ONCE in the poll below, then share it with your friends and family and those who support your favorite player in this year’s voting round.

Thanks for everyone’s support this year enjoying Bulldogs and Jackets highlight reels. Additional reels from past weeks will be available shortly as well.

Until then… GO VOTE!