Hockey Queensland announces one Life Member and two Distinguished Service Award winners

Published Sun 01 May 2022

Hockey Queensland is thrilled to announce their three latest award winners for service to hockey in Queensland. The recipients were announced and awarded at the recent Hockey Queensland Annual General Meeting in conjuction with the HQ Championship in Brisbane.

Gary Kershaw

Life Member
Association - Townsville

Over the last 40+ years Gary has volunteered and dedicated an enormous amount of his time to Hockey in Queensland. It is hard to capture in words the impact and benefit to hockey someone like Gary has provided. As a testimony to his continued dedication to hockey Gary – known as GK - is still a Player, Coach, Administrator, Mentor, HQ committee member and THA Board member to this day.

The following is a brief outline detailing some of Gary's Hockey achievements:

Playing History

Townsville
•Townsville senior men representative 1979 - 1995
•Townsville club hockey player - current

Queensland
•Under 21 - 1979
•Open 1983 – 1991

Other representative playing honours
•QLD Country 1983
•North Qld Barra's 1993-1996

Coaching/Manager
•1996 Assistant Coach NQ Barra
•1989 - 2011 Townsville representative sides
•1981 - current Wests Hockey Club Townsville

Milestones and Awards from HQ
•2007 HQld Distinguished Service Award
•Member of 10 year club (those played 10 years or more for Qld)
•Townsville Hockey Association - Life Member

Committee Memberships
•Current - Townsville Hockey Association board member
•Wests Hockey Club
•2007 – 2009 HQ Competition & Officiating Committee
•2010-2014 HQ Game Management Committee
•2019-2020 HQ Over 18 Competition Committee
•2021, 2022 HQ State Championship Review Committee

Having been a delegate to HQ Forums & the HQ AGM approx 20-30 years, GK has helped to shape and is continuing to shape the game in Queensland.

With a competitive streak a mile wide Gary has always been about the improvement and development of players-local teams-regional teams-state teams, having held the development position on the THA board for many years GK has been instrumental in the development of many players, officials, and teams.

Gary has and is still making a huge impact to the game of Hockey - having played for Queensland for a decade, being involved at HQ level for two decades and participating/coaching/developing at Townsville Hockey for four decades.

Gary is the father of Olympian and Hockeyroo Steph Kershaw.

Margret Mantell

Distinguished Service Award

Association - Ipswich

Margret has been involved with Ipswich Hockey Association for 49 years. Margret has performed many duties, including but not limited to:-

Ipswich Hockey’s President,
Treasurer of the Umpires Committee,
Uniform Convenor,
Facility Manager.
Began in 1973 taking on the role of Secretary in what was then the Ipswich Ladies Hockey Association.
Records Secretary of Ipswich Ladies Hockey Association in 1975 & 1976
Since 1976, held various Ipswich Hockey positions with the Ladies Association, Schoolboys Association, Junior Committee, RAP Committee, State Championships Committees & Umpires Association
In 2000 became the Assistant Records Secretary of Ipswich Hockey when Ladies’ & Men’s Associations combined to bring all hockey in Ipswich under one umbrella
Became Ipswich Hockey’s Records Secretary in 2003 until the start of 2012
Became Ipswich Hockey President in 2012, and held the role for 6 years
Stepped down as President at the start of 2018 and became Ipswich Hockey Secretary, a position still held today
Took on the Ipswich Hockey Facility Manager’s role in 2018 and held the role until the end of 2021
Appointed as the Ipswich Hockey Records Secretary position in 2019, and still holds that role

Sharon Collins

Distinguished Service Award
Association - Redlands

Sharon has been with RHA since its inception and was instrumental from the very beginning

Assisting in finding fields to play on at a local school,
Recruiting players and
Working tirelessly to help our association grow each year.

Sharon has been with the Association continuously from the very beginning, and I cannot think of a role that she has not been involved with:

Coaching
Umpiring
Training
Managing
Committee's,
Junior Reps
and several roles on the Board, including President.

Sharon is the person that is most often first at and last at the fields on a Saturday, and yet still finds time to try and increase awareness of Hockey in our community through School based Hockey Programs, Hin2H, and more recently through trying to involve the more senior community in Walking Hockey.

Gary Kershaw