At the 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) NSW Juniors Inducted two new Life Members to the pantheon of those who have given exemplary service to junior rugby in NSW. Gary Paton (#23) and Ben Gregory (#24) were duly presented their Honour Caps by their nominees in front of the Zones and Districts at Waratahs HQ.

GARY PATON - Life Member #23

Below is the Nomination Letter for Gary...

On behalf of the members of the NSW Junior Rugby Union, it gives me great pleasure in nominating, Mr Gary Paton for Honorary Life Membership of the New South Wales Junior Rugby Union in recognition of his service to administering the junior game within NSW.

As part of my research and archiving work for NSW Juniors – it has become quite apparent what an important and influential figure Gary has been in the history of NSWJRU.

Gary was initially a representative delegate of SJRU in 2013 which he held for 3 seasons, before assuming the role of the State Championship draw facilitator from 2016. In 2021 this position was

ratified to become the VP State Champs when the new constitution was adopted. Gary still holds this position in 2022.

Amongst the highlights of his term has been the streamlining of the draw creation to avoid some of the pitfalls & holes that previous draws had suffered from. Gary has been the font of knowledge with regards to seedings and draw structures and his sage advice has been a big part of the growth of these Championships in recent years.

Gary was previously on the board of Sydney Junior Rugby Union (2011-2012).

Gary is a former President (2006-2010) and coach at Seaforth Balgowlah Raiders JRU and a Life Member at that Club.

He still serves on the Manly Junior Rugby Union committee as VP representative rugby and been a committee member since 2004. He is also a Life Member of MJRU.

Gary is a sailmaker and partner of Tru Flo Sails on the Northern beaches.

Ten years of dedicated service is a long time, and we trust you will agree that Gary has indeed rendered distinguished and voluntary service to NSW Junior Rugby Union over many years and is

deserving of that recognition through the awarding of Life Membership.

BG & KB

Ben Gregory - Life Member #24

Below is the Nomination Letter for Ben..

On behalf of the members of the NSW Junior Rugby Union I would like to nominate Mr Ben Gregory for Honorary Life Membership of the New South Wales Junior Rugby Union in recognition of his service to administering and growing the junior game within NSW.

Ben initially joined the NSWJRU Committee in 2014 as VP Reps (a role he currently holds) and has been a consistent member since then, steering the ship as President from 2017 – 2021 and sitting

on the NSW Waratahs Board.

In addition to his administrative roles, he has also coach and managed many of our representative teams, most recently being the Head Coach of the NSW U16 Presidents XV and Manager of the NSW Juniors Invitational U18 XV.

Ben has been, and still is a vital figure in Junior Rugby, not just at the NSW committee level but across all areas including Community Clubs, SJRU, Country and Schools. Ben will undoubtedly go down in our history as having a major influence on not only growing the presence of the State Championships and other tournaments but also being able to unite the three groups associated with NSW Juniors, into a collaborative team with the common goal to grow the game and participation.

Ben’s achievements over the past decade are many and I realize I will not do full justice to his service here however I wanted to outline some of the many highlights of Ben’s term.

He has overseen the combination of the Country and City championships into the same weekend and continued to grow the NSW State Championships into the largest Junior Rugby tournament in Australia. Recognizing the increasing decline in participation past the under 16s Ben has worked tirelessly to expand the qualification criteria for Opens (Under 18s) and engaged with Schools and other State stakeholders to enable multiple pathway opportunities that have re-engaged this age

group across the state. Each year the number of approaches NSWJRU receive from interstate increases disproportionately as other unions wish to be involved.

Ben is a former President and coach at Hunters Hill JRU where he still serves on the Board and is a Life Member at that Club. He was a board member, coach, and manager for Northern Suburbs District Junior Rugby Unions. He is also a former Committee member, coach, manager, and a Life Member of the SJRU. He is a member of the Sydney North Referee association and in his spare time officiates both School and Club games.

Ben is currently the General Manager of the SJRU and continues to devote an enormous level of time and effort to Junior Rugby. He is deserving of being awarded Honorary Life Membership for his continued an outstanding service to NSW Junior Rugby Union over many years.

Andrew Hutton & Ben Kooyman