24 October 2009
The Canterbury Hockey Association Awards Dinner was the venue for 21 individuals from within the family of hockey to be recognised for their contributions to the sport over many years. Two Gold Service Awards (30+ years), eight Silver Service Awards (20-29 years) and eleven Bronze Service Awards (10-19 years) were presented on the night.
About half of the recipients were 2008 Service Awards held over from the Annual General Meeting held in February 2009 to reflect the change in process of recognising these individuals in front of a larger audience. The otehr half were 2009 Service Awards determined as a result of nominations received in September.
The list of Service Award recipients recognised, along with a brief summary of their contribution to the sport, is below.
Canterbury Hockey Association Service Awards 2008
Russ Fergus (Gold)
Russ has been involved in hockey as a player since 1946. The key elements in his 30 plus years of service for which he has been recognised include being on the Sydenham Hockey Club Committee and holding the offices of Club Secretary and Club Captain through the period 1960 to 1971 and is a Life Member of the Sydenham Hockey Club; served on the Canterbury Umpires’ Association in the early 1970s and umpired at Senior Level; served on the Canterbury Junior Hockey Committee in the late 1970s and was responsible for starting min-hockey in Canterbury; and in the late 1980s he commenced an involvement with the Redcliffs Hockey Club, coaching various teams, involved on various committees and serving as President from 1992-1994. Since the amalgamation that resulted in the establishment of the Carlton Redcliffs Hockey Club Russ has continued to assist in a number of areas, in particular junior hockey.
Mike McIlroy (Silver)
Mike coached for the Selwyn Hockey Club (1985-1991); served on the Club’s Junior Committee (1985-1992); and was secretary of the Canterbury Junior Hockey Association (1985-1998). He is presently the secretary of the Selwyn Hockey Club (since 2000) and has been on the CHA Competitions Committee since 2004. Mike was made a Life Member of the Selwyn Hockey Club in 2007.
Devan Menon (Silver)
Devan has been in various coaching and team management roles with the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club for the past 20 plus years, coaching at Canterbury Premier League men and women and Senior Reserve men level in that time. He has also coached at Christchurch Boys’ High School Hockey and various Canterbury teams since the 1990s, ranging from Primary A Boys through to Canterbury Senior B and more recently Canterbury Masters and New Zealand Masters teams. Devan has also been instrumental in the success of various HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club initiatives, which more recently have included the Club’s Promising Player Scholarship.
Valerie Piesse (Silver)
Val has given over 20 years service to the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club, holding the roles of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Club Captain at various stages. For the past ten years Val has coordinated the Club’s women’s teams from Division 3 to Mid Week level and has provided great assistance in the running of the Club’s junior hockey teams.
Isobel Thompson (Silver)
Issy joined the Woolston Hockey Club (now Avon Hockey Club) in 1981 and has served on the Club committee for 20 years. In addition to the above Issy has also been the Club’s premier women’s team coach for ten years and women’s club captain for eight years. Issy also served on the CHA Competitions Committee for three years and has coached various Canterbury representative teams over a number of years.
Geoff Deakins (Bronze)
Geoff has been a member of the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club since the mid-1970s, serving as a Club committee member for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s and coach of the Club’s premier men’s team from the late 190s to 2006. He has also provided a valued contribution to the development of hockey at Villa Maria College. In more recent times Geoff has been involved in Junior hockey, specifically through his role on the CHA Junior Management Committee, which concluded at the end of last year.
Peter Dewsbury (Bronze)
Pete has been involved with the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club since the 1970s. He served on the Club committee for a period of twelve years straight out of school, before completing another stint more recently, which included three years as Club President. When injury prevented Pete from continuing to play he took on team manager and umpire duties to assist the Club, in particular in the Grass grade. Pete was awarded Life Membership by the Club in 2007.
Graham Jackson (Bronze)
Graham has served on the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club committee for the past 15 plus years, with nine of those as Secretary and more recently held the position of Men’s Club Captain. In recent years Graham’s focus has moved to assisting at the junior level of the Club, coaching teams and assisting in administration. Graham has been involved on the CHA Competitions Committee for around seven years and for most of these has taken on the responsibility of preparing the draws for the various Youth & Senior Competitions. Graham currently holds the position of Hockey New Zealand Masters Administrator.
Pete Neale (Bronze)
Pete has been on the committee at the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club for a number of years, including five years as Club President and two as Club Secretary. He has also served two years for the Club as their delegate to CHA. Pete was also responsible for establishing the first Primary Boys team at the Club, which he coached. Pete also had an involvement with Christchurch Boys’ High School Hockey on the committee, coaching and umpiring. At a CHA level, Pete served on the Junior Management Committee for five years (1997-2001), with two of those as Chairman, and was responsible for preparing all junior draws. He has coached various representative teams and has been umpiring at Premier level for the last 11 years.
Canterbury Hockey Association Service Awards 2009
Mark Beatson (Gold)
Mark was involved in Selwyn Hockey Club administration from the late 1980s through to 2002. However, his passion has always been coaching and Mark undertook a number of coaching roles for the Club, including ten years in charge of the Selwyn Premier Women’s team. Mark also coached various Canterbury representative teams, from Primary A through to Senior B. Mark has served on the CHA Coaching Advisory Group and more recently on the Coaching & Development Committee. He has also been Vice-President and then president of CHA for a number of years.
John Bate (Silver)
John has been involved in the sport for 62 years, including 24 years playing Premier hockey for the Harewood Hockey Club and a couple of seasons for Canterbury at the Colts & Senior level. He coached Canterbury Colts for 6 years, losing only one match in that time, and coached the Harewood Premier Men for a couple of years. John also managed University Premier Men for 3 years, was secretary for Harewood for a couple of year, spent 5 years on the CHA Management Committee and for the past three years has been the voice of hockey on Newstalk ZB, to list some of the more significant contributions in a long association with the sport.
Rae Clarke (Silver)
Rae was Sydenham Hockey Club Junior Club Captain from 1995-2002, Sydenham Ladies Club Captain from 2003-2005, and a Sydenham Committee member from 2006 to the present. Rae was also manager of various club teams for Digbys Hockey Club and then Sydenham, including the Premier women’s team in 1985. Rae is also well known in Sydenham circles for her coordination of fundraising activities.
Richard Pettet (Silver)
Dick has served on the committee at the Harewood Hockey Club for 17 years (8 years in the 1980s and the last 9 years). He has held the role of Men’s Club Captain from 2003-2009 and has coached various teams since 1997. Dick has also in recent years been involved at CHA level on the Masters Committee and has been Head Manager of the Canterbury Masters teams that compete at the National Masters Tournament for the past two years.
Robin Wilson (Silver)
Robin had a distinguished playing career for both Canterbury and New Zealand. This included playing for the Canterbury Senior Men (1979-1987) and captain of that team for six years (1982-1987). He attended the 1984 Olympic Games with the New Zealand team. Robin has provided tremendous service to hockey through his coaching, at a club level with the Selwyn Hockey Club Premier Women (1989-1992) and lower level teams with Harewood (2002-2004) and Riccarton High School (2001-2005). At a representative level Robin has been involved with Canterbury teams (1990-1995 & 2006-2008), with most of this with the Canterbury Men’s team, including leading the team to a national title in 1995. Robin has also coached the New Zealand Junior Men’s team (1996) and the New Zealand Black Sticks Men (1999-2000).
Andrew Brydon (Bronze)
Following a distinguished playing career, Andrew has put back into the sport at the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club, St. Bede’s College Hockey and Canterbury level. He has coached for HSOB / Burnside since 1998, coaching at the Junior level every year, as well as the Premier Men (2000-2001). Andrew has also coached or helped coach St. Bede’s College teams for the last five years and has been instrumental in the efforts to put an artificial field at St. Bede’s, scheduled to be constructed this summer. For the past six years Andrew has been coaching Canterbury representative teams, ranging from Primary to Under 18s. He is also an umpire when required and currently serves on the Hockey New Zealand Youth Council.
Ian Gillespie (Bronze)
Ian has been with the Hinemoa-Kaiapoi Hockey Club for 15 years, including two years as Secretary and 11 as President. For this small Club Ian has been the organiser and communicator for the time of his involvement in these critical positions, dealing with everyone on behalf of the Club, from participants to the Waimakariri District Council and Kaiapoi Park Trustess to CHA. Ian has decided to cease his involvement this year and Club officials have indicated they will miss his input, but call upon his expertise from time to time.
Lisa Kennedy (Bronze)
Lisa has served on the Harewood Hockey Club committee from 1992 to the present. In that time she has been Women’s Club captain since 2003 and has coached various Club teams since 2001 – Premier Women’s teams (2001-2005) and age group teams (2006-2009). In addition to her contribution for Harewood, she has also assisted with various Canterbury Primary activities, including the selection of representative teams. Lisa was herself a representative player, playing for New Zealand Under 21 in 1987 and then was a New Zealand Senior Women’s squad member from 1987 to 1990.
Praveen Menon (Bronze)
Praveen has been on the HSOB / Burnside Hockey Club committee since 1998. Amongst his responsibilities on the committee Praveen has been in charge of Club uniforms, including obtaining funding for uniforms and designing the modernized strips worn by the HSOB / Burnside teams presently. He has also been responsible for the organizing and running of the social events calendar of the Club. Praveen coached the Club’s Premier Reserve teams for three seasons at the turn of the century.
Judy Scott (Bronze)
Judy has been involved in hockey for a large number of years and is considered best known for her contribution as a member of the Canterbury Women’s Junior Committee for the ten plus years leading up to amalgamation in 1989. She was also manager of the Canterbury Primary B teams for two seasons. At a club level Judy was on the committee at the Burnside Hockey Club, including three as President, prior to the Club’s amalgamation with HSOB. During her daughter’s playing years at the Hornby Hockey Club Judy took on various administrative roles, including team management.
Gary Spence (Bronze)
Gary has been a member of the Harewood Hockey Club committee for the past 18 years, having been Club President for the last twelve years and also Junior Club Captain from 1998-2003. The current quality administration of the Club is a testament to Gary’s leadership. Gary has been involved as a coach at Harewood for 14 seasons, coaching teams from Junior through to Senior Division 2 Women. In the past year Gary also took on a coaching role with the Burnside High School Girls’ 1st XI.
Penny Tattershaw (Bronze)
Penny has been heavily involved with hockey at the Harewood Hockey Club, Christ’s College and the Cathedral Grammar School. She has coached the Harewood Premier Women since 2004, coached Christ’s College teams since 2003 and has coached Cathedral Grammar teams from 1995-2000 and then again from 2005 to the present. Penny was Women’s Club Captain at Harewood (1998-2000) and served on the CHA Junior Management Committee (1996-1999). She has coached Canterbury representative teams (1995-1997) and the New Zealand Under 15 team in 1997 and 1999.
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