The Canadian Premier League (CPL) announced Wednesday that Manjrekar James has been nominated for the Defender of the Year award, honouring the best defender during the 2023 regular season. Manjrekar James alongside Cavalry FC’s Daan Klomp and Halifax Wanderers FC’s Daniel Nimick make up the three-person ballot.

James, 30, was Forge FC’s marquee signing of the season playing an influential role in the teams backline. The Canadian International defender quickly made his presence known in the league, earning the title of CPL Player of the Week in week three, and accumulating two Gatorade Team of the Week nods in weeks three and 15. James finished second among all CPL players with 184 recoveries and 1764 total passes, while providing two assists on the season. The 59 aerial duels he won ranked third within the league, and he ranked fourth in the league, and first among defenders, in duels won with 175. With James playing a team-high 2340 minutes in Forge’s defence, the team finished second fewest goals conceded (32). The 14 goals Forge gave up on the road marked the fewest by any CPL team in 2023, and Forge’s 10 clean sheets were the most by any club over the 2023 regular season.

The award will be voted on by select media members, with the winner revealed at an in-person ceremony during the league’s 2023 Finals Weekend. This year, voting for all of the CPL’s annual awards will be based on performances during the regular season, not including Canadian Championship, Concacaf or playoff action.

Voting for all the CPL’s annual awards will this year be based on performances during the regular season, not including Canadian Championship, Concacaf or playoff action.

The Defender of the Year award winner will receive a unique piece of Inuit soapstone art, carved by artist Ruben Komangapik. The Walrus statue was chosen to honour the CPL’s best defender because the animal is one of the ocean’s toughest creatures, feared even by polar bears and killer whales, like a tenacious defender who is a true guardian of the gates for his squad.

The 2023 CPL Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on the dedicated soccer channel OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Optik TV (Ch. 980), the pay-TV service operated by Telus, one of Canada’s “big three” telecoms companies, as well as on streaming service FuboTV Canada. OneSoccer is also offered as an affordable streaming service through the OneSoccer.ca website, via Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV devices and with the OneSoccer app for iOS and Android devices.