Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc.

The Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc. has a rich history that spans across 54 years. We are very proud of our volunteers both past and present, who have served this Centre with honour, integrity and dedication. This includes our Foundation Members, Club Committees, Centre Executives, Centre Committee Members, Centre Presidents, Life Members, Key Officials and all other volunteers associated with Waverley.

Several long standing service records have been broken in recent years, which is a significant achievement for our volunteers. Some of these records stood the test of time and seemed near impossible to achieve. Especially in todays society, we find less and less people are volunteering due to more commitments and as a result, junior sport is slowly diminishing. Therefore, it's important to acknowledge that we have a fantastic group of volunteers at Waverley. You can find out more in the information below  

We are fortunate enough to have several volunteers and Life Members that remain actively involved and several that have served for more than ten years. We thank all members for their ongoing contributions.

Here are some interesting statistics as of the 2022/23 Season. The information below is in relation to the Centre Executive Committee, Centre Committee, Centre Presidents and Life Members. The list also includes information from SMR and LAVic.

Summary of facts:
38 Life Members
- 28 Male
- 10 Female
- 5 that have not served on the Committee
27 Presidents
- 4 Female
- 30 Presidency terms

Centre Executive Committee Members
The Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc. has had approximately 200 individual volunteers serve on the Centre Committee. Only a small number of those members have served for 5 or more years with the average Committee Member serving for 2-3 years in total.

Executive Committee Members
The role of the Executive is to manage the day to day operations of the Centre. The Executive is made up of five positions, they are: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Registrar. The first Vice President was introduced in 1980/81 and the Registrar position has been added and removed from the Executive several times. In addition, an Executive Member has concurrently held two positions only twice in our history. 

Longest Serving Executive Committee Members

The following individuals are the longest consecutive serving Executive Committee Members, per position.

Longest Serving Executive Committees
Two Years
1968/70
1972/74
1980/82
1982/84
1984/86
2001/03

Three Years
2018/21

Executive Turnover
At the commencement of two separate seasons, an entire new Executive Committee was formed at each Annual General Meeting. Five new Executive Members were elected to each Committee in the largest turnover in the history of our Centre.

2008/09
2012/13

Most Executive Positions Held
The following people have served in the most number Executive Committee Positions.

Don Moxey
1975/76 - Secretary
1976/77 - President
1977/78 - Registrar

Tony McMahon
1976/78 - Secretary
1978/82 - President
1982/86 - Vice President

Mal Walker
1989/90 - Vice President
1990/91 - President
1992/95 - Treasurer

Dianne Linskens
1994/96 - Secretary
1996/98 - President
1998/99 - Vice President

Longest Serving President
2012/16, 2017/23 - Dylan Cooper - 9 years 4 months
1978/82 - Tony McMahon - 4 years

Longest Serving Vice President
1982/86 - Tony McMahon - 4 years
1990/93 - Barry Cole - 3 years
2001/04 - Ken Knight - 3 years
2018/21 - Denis Irvine - 3 years

Longest Serving Secretary
2015/21 - Katy Smith - 6 years
1982/97 - Anne Rennie - 5 years

Longest Serving Treasurer
1980/86 - Daryl Thiele - 6 years
1986/92 - Russell Weber - 6 years
2017/22 - Shirley Desa - 4 years 6 months
1975/79 - Keith Pouw - 4 years
2005/08, 2011/12 - Geoff Gray - 4 years

Longest Serving Registrar
2016/23 - Neetasha Dobson - 7 years
1980/84 - Mike Keeshan - 4 years

Two Term Secretary
Bernard Mulholland
Louise Pigott

Two Term Treasurer
Geoff Gray

Centre Committee Members
The Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc. has had approximately 200 individual volunteers serve on the Centre Committee. Only a small number of those members have served for 5 or more years with the average Committee Member serving for 2-3 years in total.

Longest Serving Committee Members

Most Committee Positions in one year
2001/02 - Ken Knight holds the record for most number of Committee Positions held in one year. He is the only person that concurrently held four positions in one season. Several other people have held three positions in a single season  

Most Number of Committee Positions Held
The following people held the most number of individual Committee Positions during their involvement at Waverley. There are several people who held four Committee Positions, too numerous to list. 

Six Positions
Ken Knight
Ed Chinery

Five Positions
Tony McMahon
Ignatius Calderone
Tony Correll
Mark Baxter
Anthony Kelly
Lindsay Harrison
Tammy Stephens?
Dylan Cooper

Centre Presidents
Our Centre has had 27 individual Presidents that have served across 30 Presidencies. The average term of a President is two years, with more than half serving two years or more  

Notes
Bob Rennie resigned half way through the 1987/88 season. 
Mark Cosham was elected President half way through the 2015/16 season after the resignation of Dylan Cooper. 
Terry Humphris resigned half way through the 1970/71 season for domestic reasons but remained involved behind the scenes and resumed as President for the 1971/72 season.

Other Executive Positions
Several Presidents served in another position on the Executive prior to being elected as Centre President. The most common transition is the Vice President being elected as President, however the first Centre Vice President was only introduced in 1980/81. Prior to the Vice President, the Secretary was generally the most common Executive position to transition to President.

Vice President to President
1987/88 - Frank Mardell (was not the current Vice President at the time, but he took over as President when Bob Rennie resigned in 1987)
1990/91 - Mal Walker
1998/99 - Mark Baxter
2001/02 - Ed Chinery
2009/10 - Tammy Stephens
2015/16 - Mark Cosham (was not the current Vice President, but took over as President when Dylan Cooper resigned in 2015)

Secretary to President
1970/71 - Don McIntosh (took over half way through the season when Terry Humphris stepped down in 1970)
1971/72 - Arthur Hollingsworth
1976/77 - Don Moxey
1978/79 - Tony McMahon
1996/97 - Dianne Linskens

Treasurer to President
No Treasurer has ever become President, but the only person to hold both positions is Mal Walker.

Registrar to President
No Registrar has ever become President, but two Presidents have become Registrar.

Female Presidents
The Waverley Centre has been very fortunate to have four dedicated ladies serve as President, out of a total of 27 Presidents. There is no answer as to why we haven't had more Female Presidents, but statistically speaking more men have served on the Committee throughout our history which may have been how families were structured in the "old days". Nevertheless; 
1977/78 - Helen Robinson
1996/98 - Dianne Linskens
2007/08 - Christine Marr
2009/11 - Tammy Stephens

Two Term Presidents
1968/71, 1971/72 - Terry Humphris (resigned half way through 1970/71)
2005/07, 2011/12 - Lindsay Harrison (elected President when no one else wanted to take on the role)
2012/16, 2017/23 - Dylan Cooper (resigned half way through 2015/16)

Longest Serving President
2012/16, 2017/23 - Dylan Cooper (9 years 4 months)

Longest Serving Consecutive Presidents
1978/82 - Tony McMahon (4 years)
2017/23 - Dylan Cooper (6 years)

Presidents awarded Life Membership
1986/87 - Bob Rennie
1987/88 - Frank Mardell
1989/90 - Len Crossley
1998/99 - Mark Baxter

Past Presidents
Several Presidents have continued to serve on the Committee at the end of their term in office and taken on another Executive Position or Committee Position. There have been a number of Past Presidents that remained on the Committee for one or more following years. The below list identifies those who continued on the Committee and/or took on an Executive Position following their Presidency. 

President to Vice President
1982/86 - Tony McMahon
1996/97 - Doug Kerr (was not the President from the prior season but stepped back onto the Committee to help rebuild the Centre)
1998/99 - Dianne Linskens

President to Secretary
1978/80 - Helen Robinson
In addition, two Presidents have officially stepped in to fill the role and responsibilities of the Secretary during the season in which the role became vacant.
2011/12 - Lindsay Harrison
2013/14 - Dylan Cooper
Several other Presidents have commented on their need to often take on some of the responsibilities of Secretary when required. 

President to Treasurer
No President has immediately continued to serve on the Executive as Treasurer. However, there is only one person that served as Treasurer in the years following his Presidency. 
1992/95 - Mal Walker

President to Registrar
1977/78 - Don Moxey
1993/94 - Michael Fagan

Past Presidents awarded Life Membership
1982/83 - Tony McMahon
1993/94 - Mal Walker
1995/96 - Doug Kerr
1998/99 - Dianne Linskens
2003/04 - Ed Chinery
2008/09 - Steven Lopes
2008/09 - Lindsay Harrison
2015/16 - Dylan Cooper

Life Members
The Waverley Little Athletics Centre Inc. has awarded 38 Life Memberships since the introduction of the award in 1982/83. All recipients have well and truly volunteered above and beyond the call of duty and we thank them for their dedication to the Centre. Unfortunately, several hard working volunteers from 1968/82 were never honoured for their services to the Centre. 

Life Members that have served on the Committee
During several different seasons, a single Life Member has served on the Committee for one or more years. During three different seasons, two Life Members have served on the Committee. In 2021/22, three Life Members served on the Committee. And in 2022/23, for the first time in our history, we have four Life Members serving on the Committee  

Actively involved Life Members
Several Life Members have remained actively involved in the years following their Life Membership award. Some of these Life Members continued to serve the Centre in non-committee roles, some for long periods of time.

Life Members that have served as President
Only four Life Members have ever served as Centre President. Bob Rennie was awarded Life Membership in 1986/87 and continued as President for a further half season, before resigning. Lindsay, Mark and Dylan each took over as President during a time when no one else wanted to fill the position. Dylan Cooper is the longest serving Life Member/President. 
1987/88 - Bob Rennie (half year)
2011/12 - Lindsay Harrison (one year)
2015/17 - Mark Cosham (one and half year)
2017/23 - Dylan Cooper (six years)

Female Life Members
1986/87 - Anne Rennie
1998/99 - Dianne Linskens
2001/02 - Jan Dempsey
2008/09 - Nicole Lopes
2014/15 - Kathy Cosham
2019/20 - Merryn Ashcroft
2019/20 - Katy Smith
2020/21 - Caitlin Brusco
2020/21 - Joanne O'Mara
2021/22 - Neetasha Dobson

Life Members Couples
1986/87 - Anne & Bob Rennie
2001/02 - Ron & Jan Dempsey
2008/09 - Steven & Nicole Lopes
2014/15 - Kathy & Mark Cosham

Life Members that have not served on the Committee
2008/09 - Nicole Lopes
2014/15 - Kathy Cosham
2017/18 - Stephen Whitehead
2020/21 - David Coleman
2020/21 - Joanne O'Mara

Most Life Memberships awarded
Three Life Memberships were awarded in 2008/09, the recipients were - Steven Lopes, Nicole Lopes & Lindsay Harrison. This was the most number awarded until 2020/21, when four Life Memberships were awarded. The recipients were - John Masters, Caitlin Brusco, David Coleman and Joanne O'Mara. 

Life Member with shortest service history
1993/96 - Doug Kerr was awarded Life Membership in 1995/96 after only serving a total of three years at the Centre and on the Committee. At the 1993 AGM, no one was elected as President. At an Extraordinary General Meeting in April 1993, Doug stepped up to the challenge and was elected as President and served from 1993/95. Doug and his Committee completely restructured the Centre and brought Waverley back to life. Dougs Presidency was revolutionary during a tough economic time. Doug served on the 1995/96 Committee as Sponsorship Manager and was then awarded Life Membership. Doug once again stepped up to the challenge of rebuilding the Centre in 1996/97 during a dark time in our history, when the previous President was removed from the Committee for extorting the Centre. 

No Life Memberships
Until 2020/21, no Life Memberships were awarded at the conclusion of a season that began a new decade (1990/91, 2000/01, 2010/11)

LAVic and other Service Awards

Last Updated: 20/09/2022 14:58:56