Lifetime Achievement Award

An award recognising the lifetime achievements of anyone in Wairarapa Sports.

Murray Nielsen

2019 Award Recipient

The 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, the late Murray Nielsen, began his love a air with hockey when he was 10 years old. Nielsen was involved with the Dale eld Hockey Club for 64 years and was aiming at 70 years, before he passed away in May 2019 after a long battle with cancer. Nielsen registered for the club’s senior team in 1962 and played hockey until the age of 60. In 1962, he joined the executive committee of Wairarapa Schoolboys’ Hockey, and became president in 1984, a position he held until the association disbanded when various hockey associations merged to form the Wairarapa Hockey Association [WHA]. Nielsen was a committee member of the WHA from 1989 to 1993, vice-president from 1994-1995, and president from 1996-1998. He was made a life member of WHA in 2010. Nielsen coached, played, and umpired throughout his hockey career. He began coaching at 15 and went on to coach at representative level in various age groups. He was also tournament controller for at least four regional and national tournaments, including national secondary schools’ and National U-18 girls’ tournaments. Nielsen was a committee member of the Dale eld Club in various capacities for almost 60 years and made a life member in 1990. In 2007, Nielsen was awarded the NZ Hockey Gold Service Award for his services to the sport. Nielsen had a special interest in ‘grassroots’ sports, especially junior hockey. He was a quiet, thoughtful man and very well-respected, and his wise counsel guided the region’s hockey community for many years.

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