Patel with Mayor Tracey Collis and Sport Manawatu CEO Trevor Shailer.
Pic 2: BTG170521SP2 Caption: Patel with Mayor Tracey Collis and Sport Manawatū CEO Trevor Shailer.
By Dave Murdoch
Suresh Patel QSM was inducted into the Manawatū Legends of Sport on Friday night at the Downer Tararua Sports Awards, for his service to sport in the Tararua. He is the first recipient of the award from Tararua.
The Manawatū Legends of Sport was established in 2007 to acknowledge and honour the region's greatest sporting achievers and those who have dedicated many years of service to sport, all of whom have had a significant impact on our sporting heritage.
It recognises iconic sportspeople who have not only achieved at the highest level of their code but have each contributed an insurmountable quality of blood, sweat and tears (not to mention many years of their lives) back into regional sport.
Suresh becomes the 27th to be awarded this honour, joining sports icons like Ian Ferguson, Chris Amon, Phil Skoglund, and Dr Farah Palmer. Trevor Shailer, CEO of Sport Manawatū, presented the award to an astonished Patel, explaining that it was a follow-on from Suresh being awarded his QSM.
"Suresh received his Queen's Service Medal in 2020," he said. "He received notice of his QSM during level 4 lockdown, but the notification went unnoticed for a while, due to getting the Shire's Fruit and Vege Market operating during lockdown.
"Tonight's induction is due to Patel's passion for sport, which has seen him play cricket, hockey and rugby. When his playing career ended, he turned to coaching hockey and cricket and then to administration."
Shailer then outlined Patel's career in sport and public service. "He was the chairman of Dannevirke Cricket Association from 2002 to 2010 and president of the Central Districts Indian Sports for 14 years from 1996 to 2010.
"He has been a delegate and selector with the New Zealand Indian Sports Association for a number of years and has helped to organise various New Zealand Indian sports tournaments.
"He has been a coach, referee, and a member of a number of different sports clubs and teams.
"Patel was made an Honoured Member of the New Zealand Indian Sports Association in 2012, and life member of the Central Districts Indian Sports Club in 2016 and the Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce in 2017."
He added that in the public arena, "Patel was Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce chairman on two separate occasions, originally between 2008 and 2012 helping to prevent it from going into recession and then driving the growth of the association over the past 13 years.
"During his time as chairman, from 2013 to 2015, Patel revitalised the Dannevirke Christmas parade, which has grown over the past five years under his leadership."
Shailer said, on a personal note, "Suresh has been fortunate to be able to do the work he has done because of the incredible support from Nayna, Peter and the extended family who have always encouraged him.
"Suresh played sport all his life and he has really appreciated the people he's played with and against and he's made many lifetime friends."
In reply, Patel expressed his huge surprise – asking "why me?" as he had when receiving his QSM.
He picked up on Shailer's reference to his family, saying he was hugely honoured and accepted on behalf of all the community, especially his family who had covered for him when called away on sporting-related business.
He said he had made a huge number of friends through sport "Just as many during his 60 years of sport as in 45 years in business".
He did not expect anything like his honour and would treasure it "for a long, long time".
Shailer closed the special segment of the evening with the observation that "it is often those that don't expect an honour who deserve it most".