Volunteer of the Month - June

Hard working Avalon stalwart Troy O’Kane is Wellington Rugby’s Volunteer of the Month.

It is a case of what O’Kane has not done compared to what he has over years of service to the club.

A proud member of the Avalon Wolfpack, O’Kane  coached his sons all the way through the grades while he was the first person to put his hand up when the club did not have anyone to coach the women’s side.

His involvement was in no way restricted to coaching, however.

O’Kane is often the man out on the fields setting them up for games while his rousing after match speeches are part of the Avalon folklore.

He also heads out into the community to find sponsors, he drives fundraising activities for team trips, is a committee member and even does the scoreboard when it needs to be manned.

His stellar volunteer work saw him awarded a double pass to the All Blacks test against South Africa at Westpac Stadium as well as Rydges Wellington voucher after a committee, which included Wellington Rugby vice president Ina Hansen, union delegate Ian Cuff and community rugby chair Sunil Surujpal, awarded O’Kane  top prize for the month.

Other winners for the month of June included Western Suburbs’ Craig Le Quense (Green Man and Rutherford and Bond vouchers); Tawa’s Neil Thompson, Johnsonville’s Gary Cutting and Paremata Plimmerton’s Lynne Fuller (Paladin Apparel vouchers); Newlands’ Rima and Rachel Ikurere (Mitre 10 voucher); Petone’s Cory Burt, Petone’s Nicky Cunningham, Eastborne’s Jo Bentley and Oriental-Rongotai’s Fa’asua Makisi (Burger King voucher).