Written by Alex Seftel

The 2026 NAL Awards see familiar winners Jake Norris and Charlotte Payne retain their top prizes.

The hammer throwers have again been named as Male and Female Field Athlete of the Year respectively, with Norris taking that title for the third season running.

These particular awards are decided by the best performance according to World Athletics point-scoring tables across all track and field events throughout the season.

Norris threw 76.29m on 11 July at Woodford for 1145 points, while Payne threw 71.82m on 22 August at Eton which is worth 1123 points.

Separately, both Norris and Payne are also recipients of the David Jeacock Memorial Bursary Award for those performances.

Jeacock was a longstanding secretary of the former British Athletics League, who died in 2019. He was a solicitor to England Athletics, legal officer of the BAL and a member of Swindon AC who played a crucial role in changing the governance of the sport.

The bursary sees the league award £500 to one male and one female athlete who are members of an NAL club and have competed in at least two fixtures during the season.

Payne has an unbeaten record of 15 hammer victories when she has taken part in NAL matches, if you include when she has been as a guest as well as a club competitor. Norris is also unbeaten in 11 NAL hammer competitions.

Both have been terrific ambassadors for the competition, their clubs and their discipline who competed at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games. They finished fourth in their respective finals in Glasgow, before Payne was 6th and Norris 11th at the Europeans in Birmingham.

Thirdly, as far as Payne is concerned, she is one of two competitors who have broken all-time league records during the season. Such athletes are eligible for a £500 cash prize, so long as the mark remains in place at the end of the season.

She previously threw 72.51m as a guest at Eton in 2023, but her 71.82m was the best ever women’s hammer performance by a point-scoring club athlete in the competition dating back to the old UK Women’s Athletics League starting in 1975.

The other recipient of £500 for breaking a record is the hugely impressive Ted Higgins. The Tonbridge runner clocked a 1500m time of 3:38.75s at Eton, eclipsing the 3:38.9s set by 1990 Commonwealth medallist Ian Hamer on 5 August 1989.

But that was not quite enough to scoop the Male Track Athlete of the Year Award based on World Athletics points. Jake Minshull of Birchfield Harriers claims that prize with 49.97s in the 400m hurdles at Eton, while Hannah Brier is the Female Track Athlete of the Year, courtesy of her 400m win at Woodford in 52.23s for Swansea Harriers.

Minshull’s performance helped Birchfield stay in the division and followed his brilliant silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in a season in which he lowered his personal best to 48.53s.

Brier had some highs during the year including a new 22.79s 200m personal best, but it was a somewhat turbulent campaign due to a not being selected by Wales in Glasgow. Nonetheless, she showed great spirit and pride in a Swansea vest to go out and perform at her very best.

For the first four awards listed below, Norris, Payne, Minshull and Brier all already won a £125 cash prize. That is because these performances led to them being named as Athletes of the Match for a particular round during the season.

It does however mean that Payne – who was an Athlete of the Match for two rounds of the season – gets a total prize pot of £1250 (also including the league record and bursary fund) for her 2026 campaign, while Norris gets £625.

Thames Valley Harriers were crowned Premiership champions in August after beating Harrow to the title, while City of Sheffield and Dearne won the Championship in September and will be joined by Chelmsford in going up to the top division for 2027.

NAL Awards 2026

NAL Male Field Athlete of the Year – Jake Norris, WSEH 76.29m Hammer

NAL Female Field Athlete of the Year – Charlotte Payne, Harrow 71.82m Hammer

NAL Male Track Athlete of the Year – Jake Minshull, Birchfield Harriers 49.97 400m Hurdles

NAL Female Track Athlete of the Year – Hannah Brier, Swansea Harriers 52.23 400m

Premiership Champions Trophy 2026 – Thames Valley Harriers

Championship Champions Trophy 2026 – City of Sheffield and Dearne AC

David Jeacock Memorial Bursary – Jake Norris, WSEH 76.29m Hammer and Charlotte Payne, Harrow AC 71.82m Hammer