NEW ORLEANS (June 22, 2026) – LSU gymnastics star Kailin Chio and Easton Royal, the star football player and sprinter from Brother Martin High School, are the winners of the Allstate Sugar Bowl's James J. Corbett Memorial Awards as the top female and male non-professional athletes in the state of Louisiana. The duo leads a list which includes six additional individual award winners and two teams.
 
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects the award winners; it also selects Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month and each year's New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame class. All will be honored this week at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Sports Awards Banquet presented by LCMC Health. The honorees join the Class of 2026 for the New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame – basketball star Bo McCalebb and football legends Eli Manning and Peyton Manning. The 2025-26 Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month will also be recognized at the event along with six Women in Sport Scholarship honorees.
 
The Outstanding Male and Female Athletes from the New Orleans area are Royal and Leah Varisco, who was the MVP of four different sports (Cross Country/Soccer/Basketball/Track) at Sacred Heart.
 
Two top outstanding high school teams as selected by the committee were the Jesuit boys soccer team and the John Curtis girls basketball team. Both turned in dominant seasons as they won state championships.
 
Three coaches will also be honored. Wayne Stein, the head coach of a pair of state champions (football and baseball) at St. Charles Catholic, is the Outstanding Boys Prep Coach; and Maureen Homburg, who overcame multiple challenges to lead Pope John II's girls soccer team to a state title, is the Outstanding Girls Prep Coach. The Outstanding College Coach for the state of Louisiana will be presented to Jon Sumrall, who directed Tulane to the College Football Playoff for the first time before accepting the head coaching job at Florida.
 
In addition, legendary outdoorsman Don Dubuc will be presented with a Jimmy Collins Awards for his contributions after a long and distinguished career informing the public about Louisiana's outdoors opportunities.
 
Annual Awards:
Corbett Award – Male: Easton Royal, Brother Martin Football/Track
Corbett Award – Female: Kailin Chio, LSU Gymnastics
Outstanding College Coach, Louisiana: Jon Sumrall, Tulane Football
Outstanding Boys Prep Coach, New Orleans: Wayne Stein, St. Charles Catholic Football/Baseball
Outstanding Girls Prep Coach, New Orleans: Maureen Homburg, Pope John Paul II Soccer
Outstanding Female Athlete, New Orleans: Leah Varisco, Sacred Heart Cross Country/Soccer/Basketball/Track
Outstanding Male Athlete, New Orleans: Easton Royal, Brother Martin Football/Track
Outstanding Boys' Prep Team, New Orleans: Jesuit Soccer
Outstanding Girls' Prep Team, New Orleans: John Curtis Basketball
Jimmy Collins Award: Don Dubuc, New Orleans Outdoors
 
Allstate Sugar Bowl New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026:
Eli Manning, Football, Isidore Newman School/Ole Miss/NFL, 1995-2019
Peyton Manning, Football, Isidore Newman School/Tennessee/NFL, 1990-2015
Bo McCalebb, Basketball, O. Perry Walker HS/UNO/Europe, 1998-2019
 
Women in Sport Scholarship Honorees (presented by LCMC Health):
Sara Cordova, Isidore Newman Soccer
Addilyn Dufrene, John Curtis Christian Volleyball/Track & Field
Stella Junius, Mount Carmel Cross Country/Soccer/Track & Field
Kaelyn Sharp, Covington Volleyball/Track & Field
Ja'Mia Riley Washington, Eleanor McMain Softball
Abigail Willie, Northlake Christian Volleyball/Soccer/Softball
 
Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month, 2025-26
July, 2025: Varenka Zhuk, New Orleans Metro Stars Track
August, 2025: Albert Edwards III, New Orleans Metro Stars Track
September, 2025: Easton Royal, Brother Martin Football
October, 2025: John Johnson, Edna Karr Football
November, 2025: Avery Daigle, Mandeville Swimming
December, 2025: Tre Garrison, Edna Karr Football
January, 2026: Stella Zippert, St. Mary's Dominican Soccer
February, 2026: Casey Parker-Karst, Jesuit Soccer
March, 2026: Aaliyah Lane, John Curtis Christian Track
April, 2026: Ashtyn Rogers, Patrick Taylor Softball
May, 2026: Easton Royal, Brother Martin Track
 
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top athlete in the New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 70th year in 2026.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 114 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 93rd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will serve as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, will be played on January 15, 2027. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.6 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.