Volunteer of the Year

Summerset Retirement Villages

NZIB's Volunteer of the Year Award was introduced in 2012.  It is for any unpaid administrator who has done an outstanding job during the previous 12 months.

Nominations close 31 October each year with the recipient being announced at the AGM.

 

Download a Nomination Form (PDF version)

Download a Nomination Form (Word document)

 

Past Receipents

2012 Aad van Leeuwen, Central Otago and Linda Mills, North Harbour
2013 Jenny Chapman, Waikato
2014 David Bullock, Canterbury
2015 Marjorie Mackay, Manawatu
2016 David Ross, Southland
2017 Josephine Wells. Auckland
2018 Colleen Fenton, South Otago
2019 Michael Dowling, Southland
2020 Wayne Richards, Manawatu
2021 Delwyn Hughes, Bay of Plenty
2022 Jenny Williams, Upper Hutt
2023 Chris Moffit, South Otago

2012

Joint winners: Aad van Leeuwen from Central Otago and Linda Mills from North Harbour.  Aad has been involved with COIBA for over 10 years in a variety of positions.  He spends 100's of hours every year ensuring tournaments are run like clockwork and the results are processed and printed off within minutes of the last score card being handed in. Aad is always looking for innovations to make things easier and has given outstanding service to the game.

Former New Zealand representative Linda Mills has provided wonderful service to the North Harbour IBC over many years.  It was Linda's initiative to have a sub-committee formed to undertake a comprehensive review off all aspects of the Centre including where the sport was headed and she also currently acts as Raffle and Social Convenor for the Centre.

2013

Jenny Chapman, for her work as Waikato's Sport Development Manager.  She coordinated a very successful introduction of indoor bowls to over 600 students in addition to her role as District Secretary.

2014

David Bullock was the winner of this award.  David had shown great leadership as Canterbury's President over a very difficult 4 year period which had allowed their Association to continue to function in post-quake mode.  The fact that they were able to retain their membership numbers this year was extremely creditable.  The CIBA hall's major fire in September has meant even more work for David finding halls around the province and he has spent many hours with the necessary programming and controlling of events.

2015

Marjorie McKay, Manawatu was the winner of this award that spoke of her impressive record both as a former NZ player and an administrator.  She was the District's Patron, a Life Member and after 20 years Marg was still a junior selector and held together the junior development in the district.

2016

David Ross of Southland was the well-deserved winner of this award.  He had been the Financial Controller for Southland IBC since 1999 and also sole coach/organiser of Southlands Young Spirit Club which caters for under 20 year olds.  David's leadership skills and planning to detail are a major reason for the Centre to run so successfully.

2017

Josephine Wells, Auckland was the winner of this award.  Known as Jo or Nana Jo to the younger members was 91 years of age.  She still did a considerable amount of work for Western IBA and Auckland IBC where she has been Patron and Life member for many years.  Even though she does not play the game any longer,  Jo still works tirelessly behind the scenes, and donates many raffle prizes.

2018

Colleen Fenton, South Otago has always been actively involved both with playing at Island representative level as well as all levels of administration in South Otago.  She is very astute in accounting and management and been South Otago’s Treasurer for over 20 years.  With her great organisational skills she was always willing to volunteer for extra work as well as coaching new players and giving encouragement to all members. 

A Special Award for outstanding service to the game was awarded to Alistair Graham for his work in the Canterbury Association hall organising mats, bowls and scoreboards.

2019

Michael Dowling was the winner of this awardwas accepted by Southland’s Chairman Suzanne Mackie.  Like many bowlers Michael was introduced to the sport at a young age and was a prominent representative bowler.  He is now focussing his energies as an administrator and giving back to the sport which he has reaped so much satisfaction.  The Southland Centre endorsed Michael’s nomination saying he is a great bowler, a particularly competent organiser and a true gentleman of the sport.

A Special Certificate was awarded to Murray Harris who was in charge of the mats and bowls at the Summerset National Championships held in Rotorua this year.  At 83 years of age he was always one of the first to arrive at the Events Centre each morning and one of the last to leave.

The other nominations were also of high quality and they all will be acknowledged with a certificate.

2020

Wayne Richards has coordinated the Manawatu Centre programme for many years and has been instrumental in and assisted with holding of two Blind and two Deaf National tournaments.  He was Hall Controller for the North Island Championships in 2012.  As President he oversaw the amalgamation of Palmerston North, Feilding and Rangitikei Associations into the Manawatu Centre.  He has played representative bowls for Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Taranaki and West Coast and received a Gold Star in Manawatu in 2019.  He still organizes the running of club, centre and representative events.  Volunteers like Wayne are rare and priceless.

2021

Delwyn has been involved in Indoor Bowls in Bay of Plenty and Rotorua for many years and has worked tirelessly in that time.  She has served as President, secretary and Treasurer of Bay of Plenty, and served as President and on the Executive of NZIB for many years.  She managed the Bay of Plenty A representative team and has also been a selector for the North Island teams, New Zealand team and Bay of Plenty and Rotorua Rep teams.  This year Delwyn organized the North Island Championships.  She also has organized all grants for the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua Associations. Delwyn is fair, a team player but most of all she is driven by her passion for the sport.

A Special Award was presented to Joy and David Archer (Waikato) for Outstanding Services to the Sport of Indoor Bowls.

This award is awarded for consistent, continued and entirely voluntary efforts to promote our sport.  Not only do they dedicate a lot of time to playing our sport at a high level but they also hold a number of offices between them at Club and Centre level.  They have also embarked over the past few years in bringing our sport to the masses through visual media.  Through their efforts they have presented out sport to literally thousands of people who would otherwise have no notion of our sport.  All this is done in a quiet and humble manner.

2022

Jenny is the heart of everything Upper Hutt - Upper Hutt would fall flat on their face is it wasn’t for Jenny.  She single-handedly coordinated both the North vs South Event in August to the September Super weekend with its six events.  She was the first to arrive in the morning and the one to lock up each night.  Her contribution was not only on the playing days but in the lead up to the events, sorting meals, fruit and biscuits and everything else required.  Her contribution to the Upper Hutt Association this year has been phenomenal and a testament to her character.  A much loved member by all who deal with her.

A Special Award was presented to Ev Bissett (Central Otago) for Outstanding Services to the Sport of Indoor Bowls

Ev has been instrumental for organizing the Cromwell Bowling Club for over 16 years as secretary of the club.  She has been responsible for organizing social bowls in Cromwell and over 6 years this has grown from 2-3 attending to over 35.  Social bowlers are now starting to convert into playing members and playing in Central Otago events.  Ev is also secretary for Central Otago a position she has held for 15 years.  She organizes the calendar for the year, funding applications, transport and accommodation for travelling teams, organizes uniforms and has all trophies engraved.  She participates in all Central Otago events and is a valued member of the Ladies 8’s and Paterson Teams.

2023

Chris has been actively involved in the playing and administration of our sport at all levels in South Otago, and previously in Canterbury and Nelson.  Wherever he is in the South Island, he has always carried on his commitment to indoor bowls.  The South Otago Centre describes Chris as ‘very astute and articulate in management’ and feel very fortunate to have him and his skills on board.  Chris has been a selector and vice president and will commence as President for South Otago in 2024.  He set up the South Otago website and Facebook page and keeps them up to date at all times so that the members are well informed of local and national news.  Chris is also the secretary for the New Zealand Blind and Vision Impaired Indoor Bowls Federation.  Once or twice a week, Chris and his wife will travel up to Dunedin to practice or compete with members of Blind Low Vision NZ as guides.  They also organise fundraising events so that they can attend the annual National Championships over Labour Weekend, where the Otago Blind Indoor Bowling Club is very successful.  A lot of this is due to the enthusiasm and encouragement given by Chris.  Additionally, Chris coaches many Special Olympic players from Timaru South and has restarted the group in Balclutha with the help of other South Otago bowlers.  With an excellent record as a player himself, Chris makes a great coach to new players across all South Otago clubs.  He is always looking at how to keep the game interesting and encourages the Centre to hold tournaments for beginning or social players, as well as games that will give regular bowlers more of a challenge.  Summing it up beautifully, South Otago say "Chris has a wealth of knowledge and expertise that he so willingly shares with members.  His contribution to the sport has been massive and his passion and enthusiasm has never waived.”

A Special Award was presented to Jean Hoddinott (Southland) for Outstanding Services to the Sport of Indoor Bowls

Jean Hoddinott has had a long association with the Southland Indoor Bowls Centre and was first elected to the Centre Executive in 1996.  An active executive member, Jean has assumed several responsibilities including being on the match committee, a representative team manager, a tournament controller, Vice President, President, and Past President.  She currently holds (and has held for many years) the position of Events Manager, Umpire, and Secretary for the Southland Umpires Association.  Various other contributions have been made by Jean in the way of her business providing sponsorship, and countless unpaid hours involving the fundraising and catering requirements of the Centre.  Over the last four years, Jean has all but single handedly coordinated a fundraising Garden Party.  This involves organising stall holders, a guest speaker, and providing a delicious afternoon tea served up on her personally owned fine china for upwards of 120 people.  She is also the instigator of our fabulous cheese roll and food fundraising efforts as the Centre continues to raise money for the roof replacement.  There have been some challenges affecting Jean's family circumstances in recent times, but this has proved no obstruction. Jean has provided an outstanding contribution to a sport which is her passion, for the benefit of all bowlers at all levels of the game.