Three finalists have been selected in 11 different award categories, including female athlete of the year, male athlete of the year and team of the year.

Weightlifter Morea Baru, cricketer Mahuru Dai and rugby league's Ase Boas are in the frame for the men's prize with triathlon's Rachael Sapery James, tennis player Abigail Tere-Apisah and weightlifter Dika Toua in line for the women's gong.

The nominated teams are the men's under-19 cricket side, the PNG Mosquitoes Australian Football side and rugby league side PNG SP Hunters.

Auvita Rapilla, secretary general of the PNGOC and an International Olympic Committee member, congratulated the finalists on their nominations.

"While only one of you will receive the award for your respective categories, all of you are champions in your own right," she said.

"Being nominated and furthermore, being a finalist in the SP Sports Awards is a great achievement in itself."

She also said the high standard of sport in the country in 2017 made it a difficult decision.

"What a year 2017 was for sports in Papua New Guinea," she said.

"With so much high-quality nominations, it was quite a task deciding on who should make the final three for each category."

It took two meetings for the committee to deliberate and select the final list of athletes, officials and teams.

She also paid special tribute to the Community Sports Initiative, which received 14 public nominations.

"The increase in nominations for this award demonstrates the recognition of sport as a powerful tool for community development," she said.

"I encourage more people and institutions with such programmes to submit their nominations for this award in the future."

The finalists will gather for the presentation of the award at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Port Moresby on May 26.

All of the nominees can be found here.