New Year Honours: Sheryl Dawson

HUMBLED: For services to netball, Sheryl Dawson of Mount Maunganui was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit.PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

Sheryl Dawson has been at the forefront of netball for almost 40 years but says being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit has left her "humbled and overwhelmed".

"I will be looking very closely at a few people (who may have nominated her) from now on," Mrs Dawson told the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday.

"I haven't told a soul apart from my husband who collected the mail and saw the letter."

Mrs Dawson, from Mount Maunganui, was awarded the MNZM in this year's New Year Honours for services to netball.

She said none of her achievements, which ranges from grassroots administration roles to overseeing world championships, would have been possible without support from her family, friends, coaches and volunteers within the game.

Mrs Dawson's netball career started as a 5-year-old at Te Puna Primary right through to her first year at high school, where she trained as an umpire.

"I remember when I was about 13 going home to my parents and complaining about the umpiring. My parents looked at me and said you can't criticise someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Mum drove me into town to train as an umpire."

Mrs Dawson said she had enjoyed watching young women grow through playing the sport.

"It definitely led them into doing things they might not have done like going to university. It's totally a team game, we all work together to make things happen. There are so many people I'm privileged to work with while giving their time as an umpire and administrator."

A CV of Mrs Dawson's achievements includes running the world championships and being appointed chief executive of Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic.

She held numerous netball administration roles in the Tokoroa, South Waikato and Bay of Plenty Coast Union from 1975 to 1986 and she coached intermediate and secondary school netball teams from 1975 to 1997.

In 1989, she was appointed to the Netball New Zealand board and acted as the international delegate for a number of years.

Mrs Dawson ran the Vodafone World Netball Championships in Christchurch in 1999 and from there was appointed president and chairwoman of the International Federation of Netball Association until 2003.

She was marketing manager and chief executive at the Magic while also overseeing Netball Bay of Plenty as chief executive.

In July 2012, the Magic won the transtasman ANZ Championship and were the first New Zealand team to lift the trophy. In recognition, Mrs Dawson was awarded the Tauranga Excellence in Business Leadership Award for 2012 but only months later, she controversially did not make it to the short list as chief executive for the newly restructured Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty Zone.

Mrs Dawson spent 2013 returning to her roots and coaching a girls' netball team.

She said she has been supporting her friends and family in their playing of the game.

Also honoured today for services to police and the community were Ian Campion and Murray Lewis (Members of the NZ Order of Merit) and Greg Turner and Janice Ann Lewis (Queen's Service Medals), the latter for her services to the NZ Police and women's health. Michael Cooney was recognised for his services to the community with a Member of the NZ Order of Merit, and Richard Cashmore received a Queen's Service Medal for services to business sport and the community.