This evening, the 118th Annual General Meeting of the Burnside West Christchurch University Cricket Club was held at the Burnside Cricket Pavilion. On behalf of the committee, thank you to all the members who took time to be present and to have your say on the direction we are taking this great club.
At the meeting, the following members were re-confirmed as Officers of the club to continue in their roles on the executive committee:
Peter Hay – Chairman, Scott Inglis – Treasurer, Gareth Gibson – Secretary
Grant Dickson was also nominated and agreed to continue in the role of Club Patron. Thank you also to the incumbant members of committee who will continue in their duties for the coming summer. You can read the draft 2022/23 Annual Report here:
Tony Feely, life member and long time scorer, spoke about how proud he was of the achievement of winning the 2-day trophy and of how much that had meant to many members of the club who has strived to win that. (last achieved in 1990/91 season).
As the final act of the AGM, Shane Young was nominated by the executive committee to be named a Life Member of the club.
David Robertson spoke on behalf of the committee to the members present, and the nomination was agreed on unanimously. A transcript follows.
Gareth (Shane) Young, nomination for Life Membership of BWCUCC
Shane’s Family home was situated on Avonhead Road, immediately across from the Club’s driveway – so it was probably inevitable that he would spend much of his life to date at Burnside Park.
He attended Burnside HS where he developed an interest in cricket and played for Burnside subsequently. He also played at a reasonable level in England during an OE – but contributed most to BWC through his early years as a club supporter and through social connections.
Shane joined the committee in about 2002/03 – as a result of a Brian Hastings led reshuffle of the club leadership. After a brief hiatus his second stint commenced around 2011/12 when he was again seconded to assist the club.
One of his first actions then was to review the damage to the clubrooms as a result of the Christchurch Earthquakes, and the associated pay-out received by the club. EQC & our insurer had effectively agreed on the payout figure between them – with little consultation with the club. Shane – using his considerable knowledge & professional experience in that area – identified that the damage to the clubrooms was more significant than documented and presented a report to that effect. As a result, the insurance pay out was revisited – and subsequently increased by some $106k. The club would have otherwise been none the wiser about this entitlement and these funds are still
held for the eventual, and required, strengthening work to be undertaken.
Immediately prior to (another Life Member) Peter Burke’s departure to Australia, Peter was able to convince Shane to take over the role of Junior Convenor – a decision he may at times regret, but he has been outstanding in this role over the subsequent period. Shane’s commitment to the Junior club has been observed firsthand by many – including when he undertakes long period on the computer at home working though what he affectionately calls “punishing cricket admin”.
Shane has also played over 100 games for the Presidents Foxes team and is a regular and passionate organiser of club social events. His financial contribution across the bar is also likely unmatched.
Shane’s passion for our club is immense. He genuinely believes we can be the best cricket club in the world, not just the country, and works tirelessly for the betterment of Burnside West. So Shane was understandably extremely proud when our club received the NZC award for ‘community cricket club of the year’ in 2018. He was recognised as a ‘Volunteer of the Year’ at a subsequent Canterbury Sports Awards ceremony.
He also displays an incredible appetite for building personal relationships – whether it is engaging with parents around junior registrations, wandering the park on a Saturday chatting to players across all grades – or picking up the likes of JJ Naude, Robine & Daan from the airport and introducing them to
Christchurch and club life.
In recent years Shane has an unmatched level of support to the Hastings Family – a family whose DNA is interwoven with the fabric of our club. Both through Brian Hastings decline in health and the passing of Mark last season – Shane has provided continual assistance & guidance to Maureen and his great
mate Mike – which has far surpassed reasonable expectations.
Shane’s contribution to the club has not ended by any means. But it is a pleasure to nominate him for Life Membership of our club. When the suggestion was first raised with others – the consistent and overwhelming response was that they couldn’t imagine a more appropriate or deserving individual to recognise.
Congratulations Shane.