EDJBA New Life Members

At the EDJBA AGM on 29th August, five people were made Life Members of the EDJBA in recognition of their outstanding service to the association.

Congratulations to Greg Jeffers, Megan Rouse, David Bacon, John Morkham and Alison Romas.

Life Members David Hickman and Bill Rewell made the nominations and presentations.

David provided the following background about the nominations for EDJBA Life Membership.

“The EDJBA wishes to recognise outstanding service to junior basketball through our great Association that has clearly made
a difference and the service has been over a significant period of time.

A Sub Committee, including two non-committee members first considered possible nominations. They then canvassed the
members of the Committee who were not beneficiaries and received their support. Finally, a formal vote was taken to
recommend the nominations to be placed before you, with relevant people abstaining.

Over the history of the EDJBA there has been an average of about six awards per decade. Only two awards have been made
since 2010. That places in context the number of awards to be put before you tonight. They are being moved and seconded by current life members to save time but we will then require a vote of the meeting for each person. The awards will be presented in alphabetical order.

David Bacon

David first became involved as a volunteer at Koonung. From 2011 he volunteered as an advisor on Fixtures and commenced the task of revolutionising the way the EDJBA went about scoring, fixtures and grading.

On the retirement of the first full-time Manager, David took on the role of Manager and Fixtures Officer in an honorary capacity, completing the writing of the systems for grading and fixtures and running a number of helpful seminars for clubs.
David retired from that position mid 2016 but has continued to provide helpful advice whenever required. David recently helped out with grading & fixtures again due to vacancies.
Thank you David for your very distinctive and fine contribution to the EDJBA.

Greg Jeffers

Greg was first a member of the EDJBA Committee in 2006 and re-joined the committee in 2012, as Vice President. During the latter part of the first decade of this century, Greg assisted in grading committees & fixture days.
In his capacity of vice president, Greg was involved in the frequent staff assessment and recruiting procedures. He was also crucial in negotiations with Basketball Victoria to ensure a timely transition to PlayHQ and individual BV registrations, and also helping with EDJBA communications to clubs during recent restrictions and requirements.

Thank you Greg for your great support of the EDJBA and its traditions, while embracing progress.

John Morkham

John joined the EDJBA Committee in 2011, helping develop a revised constitution. In 2012 John became President.

His numerous tasks included representation of the EDJBA at BV meetings and support for staff, as well as chairing meetings. He also assisted as a tribunal member for several years. Staff assessment, including some stressful issues, and staff recruitment has taken considerable time and energy outside of the formal meetings.

The EDJBA has benefitted from John’s quiet but conscientious leadership in what is now over a decade.
Thank you John.

Alison Romas

Alison was a helper at fixture days for Bulleen for several years before she joined the EDJBA Committee in 2010. In 2011, with the major reorganisation, Alison became the part-time and poorly reimbursed Fixtures Officer with Sue Scott.
After a full-time appointment of a Manager, Alison continued in the role of Competition Administrator and then in 2016 became the Manager.

Club organisers will know of Alison’s dedication and sacrifice of extra time to fulfil the roles, particularly on Saturdays to ensure all results were received. Although Alison resigned in 2019, she has recently returned as an assistant due to help being needed.

Thank you Alison, for over a decade of conscientious service to junior basketball.

Megan Rouse

Megan became a member of the grading committee of the EDJBA in 2007, as well as spending long hours at fixtures days. In 2010 she joined the committee. She continued to help with grading until 2013. At the time of the substantial reorganisation in 2011, Megan was elected as secretary.

Apart from secretarial duties, as a member of the Executive, Megan spent many hours involved in staffing issues, all on an honorary basis.
Just recently, Megan has kindly stepped in as acting manager to deal with the current situation.

Thank you Megan for fifteen years of dedicated and important service to the EDJBA.