Leo Clarke
Leo Clarke has been an active member of Hockey ACT, Daramalan Eagles Hockey Club, North Canberra Eagle and the ACT Masters Hockey Association, and its predecessor organisations, for more than 40 years as an administrator and much longer as a player.
Leo’s contribution as an administrator commenced in 1982 when Paul Hemsley convinced him to join Daramalan Eagles Hockey Club to support a group of young boys looking to play in the third grade competition. A change CCAE’s College sports policy left many ex-students without a club so a large number joined Eagles, under Errol Bill’s coaching. By season’s start the humble aim of two Daramalan Eagles teams ended with 7 teams in the competition, including a team in first grade, with Leo having been lured onto the committee.
Leo was a continuous member of the Daramalan Committee for 35 years and served many of those years as the clubs President. Leo continued his involvement with Daramalan right through until 2017 at which point, he successfully guided he club through a merger with North Canberra to create the North Canberra Eagles who are today one of the largest hockey clubs in Canberra. Since 2017 Leo has remined on the committee of North Canberra Eagles and is the current Vice President. 2023 celebrates Leo’s 41st continuous year as a committee member of the club.
In 2004 Leo joined the ACT Masters Association, which would commence his 19 continuous years of exceptional contribution to Masters hockey in the ACT and has been President since 2018. His service to Masters hockey has been highlighted by his personal effort in fostering growth in membership to almost 500 members, creating new pathways for people to remain engaged in the sport and the move to a professional association structure with an administration and governance that reflects his extensive experience and drive for excellence and the continued investment in the future of the Masters organisation in the ACT, both financially and in a diverse committee membership. His leadership on and off the field has been instrumental in the significant rise in the profile of ACT Masters Hockey and its standing in the wider Hockey Australia Masters community.
Leo has been the driving force behind the Monday Night Competition since its inception as an organised team competition in 2005. For 18 years he has personally overseen the recruitment of clubs, teams and individuals to a point where they now number 25 competitive teams each Monday Night. Using his extensive experience in the sport he has been responsible for developing and managing the draw and appointing umpires to field weekly games that have allowed ACT Masters to provide a competition that offers enjoyment, participation, and representation opportunities to select teams that hold their own at the National Championships.
In 2017 Leo established the Thursday afternoon Masters match which aims to offer more senior members of the Masters competition an opportunity to remain actively involved with the sport in either a playing, umpiring or supporter capacity. This social gathering highlights Leo drive to continue to offer opportunities for participants to remain active in the community and remain engaged in a social network, something that has been recently highlighted to us all during the covid pandemic.
As a result of Leo’s efforts as the coordinator of umpires for the Monday Night competition, this task has now evolved into a function of Hockey ACT’s Umpiring & Technical Committee. This now provides a pathway for Hockey ACT umpires to learn and develop their skills and go on to higher levels of competition. Almost all Men’s Capital League Umpires in 2022 had been part of the Masters competition umpiring panel in recent years.
Leo has been an active member of the Masters Selection Panel/Sub-Committee since 2006, providing exceptional service and advice to expand the number and competitiveness of ACT Master’s teams each year, culminating in 2022 where a record 8 teams competed on the Gold Coast.
Leo has chaired the Masters Honours & Awards Sub-Committee since its establishment in 2020 and has championed the cause for recognition of ACT Masters members across Hockey Australia, Hockey ACT and the ACT Masters Association avenues. The establishment of the ACT Masters Hockey Service Awards is a direct reflection of his passion and drive to recognise the achievements of individuals across the Association.
Leo initiated “Life Night”, a social fundraising night where past members of the ACT Masters Hockey community are encouraged to meet and share hospitality. As a result, nearly $9,000 has been donated to local cancer charities. Other donations have also been provided to Hockey ACT, for the provision of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) devices at Lyneham and Tuggeranong and enhancing the facilities at Tuggeranong with the provision of a BBQ.
Recognising every opportunity to promote the ACT in national and international forums, Leo was a driving member of the organising committee for three major events held in the ACT, including two HA Masters National Championships in 2003 and 2011 and the World Masters Hockey World Cup in 2016.
Leo identified that Masters Hockey is an ideal avenue for players to continue their Hockey in a more social environment, and that involvement has kept them connected to the game. His personal efforts have encouraged and enabled many members to continue to be involved in Hockey ACT in a variety of different forms; as coaches, managers, recruiters and club administrators with a variety of Hockey ACT clubs and competition teams. Through Leo’s outstanding work their experience has not been lost to Hockey ACT or hockey in general and has contributed to the numbers of mature players who are now participating in the ACT winter season in SL3, SL4 and the new SL5 grades.
Leo has sought to lead an organisation that mirrors the Hockey ACT values and provides an avenue for long-time players to continue their involvement well beyond their competitive playing days. He has, at all times, been the consummate ambassador for our sport in the ACT and the wider Hockey Australia Masters field.
Leo has consistently volunteered his time to Hockey ACT to assist wherever possible at event time. Leo has volunteered as nearly every international series that Canberra has hosted in the last 25 years. Leo has volunteered his services to Canberra Lakers, Strikers and now Chill home games to assist wherever possible to ensure that home matches ran smoothly. Leo has also contributed as an umpire not only at club level but also June Long Weekend and Quikstix events.
Leo commenced playing Hockey in 1966 with Daramalan in the junior competition and started playing in the senior competition with Daramalan in 1970. Leo was a consistent member of the A3 Daramalan Eagles side but does have fond memories of playing briefly in first grade side. Leo continues to play SL4 with North Canberra Eagles, Monday night and Thursday afternoons in the Masters competition. He has represented the ACT Masters at National Championships on 12 occasions since 2003, including 3 occasions as Captain and 1 as Vice Captain.
Leo’s efforts have been recognised at both club, Masters and Hockey ACT over the last 40 years. For his outstanding contribution and commitment to their organisations, Leo has received Life Membership of Daramalan Eagles Hockey Club, North Canberra Eagles Hockey Club and ACT Masters Hockey Association. With Daramalan and North Canberra Eagles Leo has been awarded virtually all Club service recognition awards, many on multiple occasions, including having won Club Person of the year in each of the last four decades.
Hockey ACT recognised Leo’s service to the community in 2017 being awarded the Bill Weidner Award for Sports Administrator of the Year.
On any weekend – and virtually year-round – Leo can be found supporting the hockey community in one form or another – playing, managing, coaching, umpiring, supporting, fundraising, volunteering and socialising with the wide network of hockey friends and across the full spectrum of the Hockey ACT Community.
In line with the terms outlined by Hockey ACT for consideration of Life Membership of the Association, it is the opinion of the Hockey ACT Nominations Committee and the Hockey ACT Board o that Leo has made an exceptional contribution to the administration of the sport and the Association; demonstrated exceptional leadership skills; has demonstrated ongoing and consistent support of the values of the Association; and made an exceptional contribution as an umpire and volunteer.
As such it is recommended that Leo Clarke for his exceptional contribution to Hockey in the ACT be awarded with Life Membership of Hockey ACT.
Nominating Club: ACT Masters Hockey Association
Nominated By: Craig Johnston, Vice President, ACT Masters Hockey Association
Seconding Club: North Canberra Eagles
Seconded By: Colin Trinder, President, North Canberra Eagles