At our recent AGM, we farewelled our President Graham Knights, who announced that he would be standing down from his position. Although not a surprise, this is a significant change for Manly Touch as Graham has been a part of the Executive Committee for the last 12 years.
Manly Touch would like to thank Graham, or GK as he is commonly known, for his invaluable and immeasurable contribution over this time. Coming onto the Executive as Vice President in 2012, GK quickly assumed the position of President in 2014 and continued in this role until 2018. After a short hiatus in 2019/20, GK headed the call to return to fill a vacancy as Vice President, before returning to the role of President in 2022.
GK not only held Executive Committee positions during this time but has been the Competition Manager and/or Head Ground Manager for our local junior and senior competitions since 2014 – which has seen him do everything from creating and regrading fixtures, to line marking all fields at Nolan and Passmore Reserves, to refereeing at local and state events, to being instrumental in the expansion of our competitions to record numbers over the last 4 seasons.
During GK’s tenure we have seen enormous growth in our junior competition numbers, from a mere 187 teams in 2015 to a whopping 388 teams in 2024, whilst also introducing an U7s competition to cater to our youngest of touch footy players. Our senior competition has also grown despite a declining trend in participation across the sport to now boast 79 teams in our summer competition, with our Mixed grade alone breaking records in 2024 with 36 teams. During GK’s tenure the Club secured both NSWTA Junior and Senior Club Championships over multiple years, along with NSWTA Affiliate of the Year every year since 2016.
We would not have been able to achieve the success this club has experienced in recent years without his valuable contribution, and it is this contribution that saw GK awarded a Life Membership of Manly Touch, unofficially presented to him at our 50th Gala Event earlier in the year, and officially sanctioned and presented at our recent AGM. See further down for a list of GK’s achievements and contributions.
GK will be truly missed by everyone on the Executive.
Thank you GK!
Taking over as Manly Touch President is Kate Perrett. Kate has been involved in the club since her children started playing in 2012, coming onto the Executive as Vice President in 2017. Kate has brought a wealth of sports administration, operations and event management experience to the club, having worked previously in Sports Management with national sporting bodies throughout Australia, NZ, UK and Canada and holding committee positions in other local sporting organisations in Manly Warringah. Kate has continued to improve the club’s operations across our local competition offerings and our representative programs. Kate is now also a touch football player herself, playing locally and for Manly Touch at senior events since 2017.
We would also like to welcome Mark Hawthorne to the Executive Committee for 2024, having taken up the position of General Executive member. Mark may be well-known to many as one of our talented senior referees – Mark is currently a Level 4 – but he also brings extensive commercial and senior leadership experience to the Executive and Manly Touch, having worked within the McDonald’s Corporation for 20 years as Managing Director for both NZ and the UK at different times, and Regional Vice President – Pacific, Middle East and Africa, before moving on to be CEO – Executive Director of Guzman Y Gomez. More recently Mark has been kicking back a little more, having ‘retired’ from the 9-5, but he still holds various non-executive board positions across ASX listed companies in Australia.
Paul MacPherson was re-elected to the position of Treasurer unopposed. Chloe Butcher and Phil McPhee’s positions as General Executive members were not up for election.
Congratulations to Kate, Mark and Paul on their appointments.
Graham Knights – Key Achievements and Contributions to Manly Touch:
Player History:
- Played in MWTA local competition from 1988, and continues to do so in 2024
- MWTA 20s Representative player from 1991-1992
- MWTA Men’s Opens Representative player 1993-1996, 2006
- MWTA Men’s 30’s Representative player 2017
- MWTA Vawdon Cup Men’s representative player 2018
- MWTA Men’s 40s Representative player 2019 – 2023
- Scorpions, City, NSW and Australian representative player (most recently representing Australia in Men’s 50s at the 2024 World Cup)
Coaching History:
- Men’s 20s coach 1995 – 1996
- Men’s 30s Coach 2007 – 2008
- Men’s Div 1 Coach & Manager 2008 – 2009
- Men’s Opens Coach & Manager 2008 – 2016
- Boy’s 18’s Coach 2011 – 2013
- Girl’s 12’s & 14’s Development Coach 2016 – 2019
- Boy’s 16s Coach 2020
- Scorpions Men’s Opens Coach 2012-2015
- NSW Men’s Opens Assistant Coach 2013-2016
Administration & Committee Roles:
- Vice President 2012 – 2014
- Competition Manager 2014 – 2016
- Club President 2014 – 2018
- Grounds Manager 2019 – Present
- Vice President 2021 – 2022
- Club President 2022 – Present
Awards:
- NSWTA Blues Award 2014
- NSWTA President of the Year 2016/17
- NSWTA Rod Wise Medal Volunteer of the Year 2016/17
- NSWTA President of the Year 2017/18
- TFA Volunteer of the Year 2017
- Nominated NSWTA President of the Year 2023/24
Key Highlights and Achievements – Local Competitions:
- Resurrecting the Men’s A comp in 2009.
- For 2 years there was no local men’s A competition at all. Graham pooled all rep players & created 4 teams. He paid for all 4 teams and attempted to get reimbursed by all players. He refereed each week to ensure the competition could go ahead.
- There has been a Men’s A competition ever since
Key Highlights and Achievements – Executive Committee:
- Graham grew our local junior competition from 80 to 384 teams
- Assisted in the implementation of a part-time administration manager to oversee day to day running of the club in 2012.
- Hosted double header Vawdon Cup days at Nolan Reserve
- Won Junior & Senior State Cups all years as MWTA President (2014 – 2018)
- Won NSWTA Affiliate of the Year 3 times as MWTA President (2014 – 2018)
- Sourced MWTA timing clocks & scoreboard bringing local competitions a new level of professionalism
- Managed to utilise storeroom at Nolan Reserve with the assistance from Christian Brothers
- Made a deal with Christian Bros and Northern Beaches Council to share the clubhouse at Nolan Reserve
- Refereed at local competition
- Refereed at NSWTA JSC 2018, 2020 and 2024
- Rewrote the MWTA Constitution (2017)
- Involved with implementing a full-time operations manager to oversee day to day running of MWTA in 2023