Selanne to be honored as OCYSF Sportsman of the Year

The Orange County Youth Sports Foundation will honor Teemu Selanne as the 2013 Sportsman of the Year during its 40th annual banquet at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach on Aug. 22.

Selanne is the first National Hockey League player the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation will honor. Selanne is expected to make a decision soon about whether he will return to play for the Anaheim Ducks this upcoming season.

The banquet is open to the public and it will help the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation raise money for community sports outreach programs and provide scholarships.

“We are very excited to honor Teemu this year and recognize his many accomplishments,” Mark Hardtke, the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation chairman, said in a press release. “And, we want to make certain his many fans know about this honor.

“That’s what we want people to know, we’re raising money for youth sport’s needs and having fun doing it.”

For information and tickets to the banquet, which is expected to include Duck and hockey representatives as well as other sports notables, visit https://www.ocysf.org.

Selanne will also join the Orange County Youth Sports Foundation for a golf and cocktail event at Pelican Hill Golf Club on Aug. 21.

Other recipients of the Sportsman of the Year award have included Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers, Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers, John McKay of the USC football program and announcer Dick Enberg.

— From staff reports