South Canterbury Cricket News Section

FOR SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR:

Roger & Nic Buckingham (Pleasant Point, SC)

The ‘A’ team since moving to South Canterbury this power couple have become fully involved in cricket, and not just for their own children but for the community around them.

Roger has used his expertise (and his labour) to this year build 3 new grass pitches at Pleasant Point which will all be fully utilised by their club and others by next season. He was instrumental in the transition of Colts grade to a mid week competition which has brought many more cricketers along while organising 3 Pleasant Point sides, communicating with other clubs and schools so that we could get all players a game somewhere as well as helping the growing third grade competition.

He still coaches at all these levels, fills in as a player in whichever team needs him for his club and can be seen around the matches all weekend.

He also manages or coaches South Canterbury rep sides.

Nicola (Nic) is just as an important part of this partnership – if she didn’t let Roger out none of this would happen, but Nic isn’t just the supportive wife – she does all the paperwork too managing the Point playhq databases, sorting scoring and scorers, loading teams, and that alone has been huge this year with PlayHQ. She always has a smile (especially before she is about to ask Mark Medlicott a trick question) but always with the intention of making things run smoothy. While Point won NZ Club of the Year last season due to a community and many individuals efforts, Roger and Nic’s contribution to that effort has also been recognised by Pleasant Point.

Everyone in South Canterbury Cricket knows this great couple, you never hear a bad word said because we all understand they do everything they do to make cricket a better game with better resources, administration and opportunities not just for their own family but for the whole community and this year I don’t believe we could have better recipients of the Sports Personality(s) of the Year Award.

To Player/Umpire/Administrator who contributes most on or off the field::

While still young Josh Rooney has taken on responsibilities that many of his peers steer well clear of. He is secretary and senior captain for the Temuka Cricket Club, ends up organizing the team most weeks, plus does the scoring. He has also been a valuable Board member for South Canterbury after starting as the Players Representative a couple of years back and is always available to help fix or sort issues that arise whether at club or administrative level. Even his work bosses leave him in charge of cricket accounts, and he still finds time to play as well.

A great person who understands that all sports need administrators as much as players and continues to put his hand up. A very deserved recipient of this trophy.

For a youth cricketer who displays an excellent attitude on and off the field for fair play, a team player who inspires the spirit of cricket and has good work ethics:

Jed McKerrow (Roncalli, Celtic, SC A, SC Yr 11 & 12) – Jed has been involved with lots of teams this year, trialling for Canterbury U17 before Xmas, captained Roncalli 1sts, played senior for Celtic and was also in the SC A side as well as Year 11 & 12 rep team. Now that his injuries seem to be more behind him he has been able to train hard and play at every opportunity and shows dedication and commitment which are important aspects of this special award.