That’s the honour which the WRU have bestowed upon John Nicholls for his huge contribution to grassroots rugby.
Nicholls has been a loyal servant of Glais RFC for more than 60 years now and is still heavily involved today at the age of 85.
That unstinting effort saw him presented with the Presidents Lifetime Achievement Award in the recent WRU Community Volunteer awards.
He was nominated by Glais chairman Richard Thomas who outlines just how much Nicholls has done for the Swansea village club over the decades.
“John was first involved as a player and then joined the committee at quite a young age,” he explains. “He was actually on the original committee when our clubhouse was built in 1965 and is still on there today, heavily part of the decision-making at the club.
“His experience is invaluable. When he gives an opinion, we sit up and listen. He has got so much energy and enthusiasm. He is always there and he is such an easy going and likeable person.
“On top of his committee duties, he runs the bingo every week and he also does the field for us, as our volunteer groundsman. He is cutting the grass, he’s marking the field. That commitment in itself is a minimum of about three days a week.
“If our coaches or players mention that the grounds need rolling, that there are divots, he is there. He keeps the field in tip top condition. To his credit, the only games we have had to call off because of the pitch in the last 10 years have been due to frozen ground. That’s a testament to his work, which he does with such pride.
“Individuals like John are invaluable to keeping grassroots rugby running. A number of us who are still working haven’t got time to do stuff like that, so where would we be without him?
He is still showing the youngsters of the club how to do things
It’s clear Nicholls is very much an inspiration for all at Glais RFC, who play their rugby in Division 4 West Central.
“It’s a social club. It’s going good. We are happy where we are,” said chairman Thomas.
“The club is going ok and if it wasn’t for people like John perhaps we wouldn’t be doing that ok. Without volunteers like him, we wouldn’t survive.
“Myself and everyone else at the club look up to him with the greatest of respect for all he has and is still doing. He is an inspirational individual.
“For someone to put in so many years of effort and love into our club shows to us that he is very worthy of the Lifetime Achievement Award.”
