In addition to the annual Sean McKinney Freestyle Competition, which will be held at various regional fests around the country, we will also be awarding a trophy at the annual IJA Festival. (We also hope to also bring this award to the EJC in the future.)

This award will be called the Sean McKinney 'Juggling is Rough Work' Award and will be given as a sort of 'people's choice' type award. The trophy will be presented at the end of the festival week, after the judging committee has observed all possible candidates. As many events as possible will be taken into consideration.

The judges will be watching the individual prop competitions, all levels of the stage competitions, including teams, the youth showcase, combat tournaments, midnight shows, 3 ball open and demos, and also just the general activities in the gym throughout the week. We will be looking for jugglers whose energy and philosophy are most reminiscent of Sean's.

To the judges, this means demonstrating a passion for what they are doing, while showing creative, risky, athletic, jaw-dropping juggling. This is not a Sean impersonation competition; it is one way for Sean's legacy and inspiration to continue to live on in the juggling community.

Unlike the Freestyle Competition, there really is no way to prepare for this award. That is the purpose. Presenting the award in this fashion will allow a different type of competitor the opportunity to receive this honor.

The recipient(s) of this award will be presented with the same trophy as in the Freestyle Competition. The base of the trophy will have an engraved brass plate stating the name(s) of the winner(s), the relevant competition information, and that it is a 'juggling is rough work' award.

The first annual 'juggling is rough work' award was presented at the International Jugglers' Association Festival in Davenport, Iowa in July of 2005. The winners were Tony Gonzalez and Will Oltman of Entropy.