At the recent 2019 Northern Football Federation Annual General meeting, five of the Federations members were awarded life membership of the federation for their service and dedication to the sport in our region.

Please join us in congratulating the Federation’s newest Life Members Jeff Dyer, Sid Roden, Jane Bain, Dave Alabaster & Thomas Hoey.

Jeff Dyer - Having first signed up as a referee in 2002 Jeff has been actively involved across the whole geographic region of the federation as an official Referee across all community competitions.

Over the last decade Jeff has also provided extra support to his fellow Referees as a member of the NFF Referee Advisory Group.  Not restricting his talents to the middle of the park, he is a Referee Educator regularly running courses throughout the NFF region, as well as an Assessor and Mentor. 

Jeff is an integral part of our Community and remains actively involved with both the Referee community and the Navy Football Club.

Sid Roden - A man who has always contributed to the community and through his passion of football coached a vast array of people at varying levels and abilities. The dedication that Sid has displayed over the decades to Football in New Zealand on a purely voluntary basis is a source of inspiration to all who have connected with the man.

Often, he would go over and beyond his coaching duties to ensure that the welfare of people he had dealings with was looked after such is his generosity. Assisting young men to get on their feet with direction and guidance when others had not spent time to assist the younger generations transition from childhood to adulthood. He became not only a great coach but is cherished for his friendship, loyalty, community spirit and general desire to help where there seemed to be nowhere to turn. This could sometimes come at considerable personal financial cost such is his desire to do right.

Jane Bain – Jane’s involvement on football stems from her Children playing and she quickly became the volunteer who managed the team.  Soon after She found herself getting more involved with the organisation of the Club and was Junior and Youth Convenor at Forrest Hill Milford. She is very diligent in her role and always a pleasure to work with. 

Jane was considered the go to person for Club matters as she had oversight of all the teams, venues equipment and just about any other requirement.  Since moving to Glenfield Rovers Jane has similarly become a key person within the Club operations. 

Dave Alabaster - Having been involved with Football in the Northland region for well over 20 years, Dave has travelled to many of the rural area schools around Northland and the Far North promoting football and working on getting the kids playing the game.

Dave was also heavily involved in coaching at his local Club, Onerahi FC, becoming the Men’s Senior Premier Coach, taking them to the Northland Men’s Premier League title.  In January 2004, Dave was contracted by the Federation to develop the game in Northland, running coaching programmes and Junior / Youth player development programmes, working with the local clubs as well as developing relationships with Sport Northland and local area and regional bodies.

In June 2010, Dave was employed full time by the Federation as Regional Development Coach, a role he held until 2018 when he was appointed Northland Regional Development Manager.  Dave was also involved in the transition of the previous North Force to Northland FC in 2016.

Over the past few years Dave has been heavily involved in Coach and Player Development running Coaching Courses for Junior, Youth and Senior Coach Development around Northland and the Far North, having a direct impact on the hundreds of people who have attended the courses and achieved their qualifications.

Thomas Hoey – Tom has been involved with football for over 15 years as an Administrator, coach, Board Member and Chairman at club level as well as a Board Member and Chairman for the Federation.

At Club level Tom has been a Director and Chairman of Oratia United Football Club and is currently heading Waitakere City’s Player Development Programme.

Tom joined the Board of the Northern Football Federation at a time when the Federation required strong leadership and financial management.  In 2015 he was elected as Chair before stepping down in 2018 after 10 years on the Board.

Over the 10 years involvement with NFF Tom was member of the Audit and Risk Committee and Chaired the HR Committee.  As NFF Chairman, he worked closely with the other 6 Federation Chairs and New Zealand Football as the changes to the overall football landscape in New Zealand were implemented. Tom was elected NFF President in 2018 stepping down at the 2019 AGM.

Article added: Monday 24 June 2019