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New Inductees Announced For Sporting Hall Of Fame

Two Members And Two Legends Have Been Inducted Into The Latrobe Sporting Hall Of Fame In An Australia Day Ceremony Held At Kernot Hall, Morwell.

By Latrobe City - 21st January 2015 - Back to News

Latrobe City Council’s mayor, Councillor Dale Harriman, said that the quality of the inductees was high.

"We have inductees in both categories: legends who displayed sporting excellence and members inducted for their services to sport in an official capacity. The sports represented are varied - basketball, cricket, tennis and bowling and the inductions demonstrate the depth of our talent here in Latrobe City.

"Our first legend is Murray French, honoured for his outstanding tennis career. Murray has been a force in tennis since the 1950s claiming the Latrobe Valley Singles Championships twenty-five times until 1988, a record that still stands. Moving into the veteran’s age group, he represented Australia nine times including wins at the World Team Championships and World Doubles Championships in 1997. He was the Australian Captain in 1999, 2002 and 2004.

"Lorraine Steel is inducted as a legend for her long career in bowling. Lorraine is a member of the Yallourn Bowling Club and represented Australia in 2000/2001 as an Emerging Players squad member. She played 145 games for Victoria in interstate Test Series between 1996 and 2004 and was winner in the National Round Robin Singles in South Australia. Lorraine has won national gold and silver medals in fours and singles," Cr Harriman said.

"Our first member inducted is Valma Dukes for her services to basketball. Valma has a long history in basketball as coach, club member and official. At the elite level, she was the score table official at both the 2000 Sydney Olympic and the Paralympic Games. She scored at least one game each day for the duration of the tournaments. She had the honour of scoring the Gold Medal match at the Paralympics.

"Our second member is John White, inducted for his commitment to cricket. John has accumulated fifty years as player, umpire and administrator with Central Gippsland Cricket Association. He was also president from 1988 to 2014 and was awarded life membership in 1999. He received life membership of the Morwell Cricket Club in 1993. As a player, John notched up more than 500 senior games, won nine premierships (three A Grade, and three as captain), hit ten centuries, 51 half centuries and was the only Morwell player to make over 10,000 club runs," Cr Harriman said.

"The Latrobe City Sporting Hall of Fame was established in 2006 and celebrates our local sporting history. Nominations are opened every four years, coinciding with the Commonwealth Games. To date, there are 11 people inducted as members and 11 as legends with representing sports and services to sport as diverse as badminton, volleyball, shooting and sports psychology. We welcome the latest inductees to this exclusive club," Cr Harriman concluded.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com