STADIUM volunteer Norm Smith was recognised for nearly two decades worth of service recently.
Swan Hill Rural City Council mayor Les McPhee presented Smith with a certificate commemorating dedicated volunteerism since 1986.
The commitment started a little over a decade after his badminton career began at the tender age of 16 in 1973.
Through a decorated career, Smith won numerous titles, including 20 A grade club singles crowns — the first in 1978 and the last in 2001.
In men’s doubles, he scored four times with Don Smith, three times with Gordon Butler, and tasted success with Bob French, Ron Wolfe, Dean Hall, Andrew Sartori and Max Baldwinson. He partnered brother Chris in one of the early years, and son Ross towards the end of his senior playing days.
In the mixed doubles, Colleen Smith (Jones) was the first of several partners. Included in the list were Sandra Rowe (Butler), Margaret Smith — now his wife — and Rebecca Buckland.
One of the playing highlights of Norm’s career was the victory in C grade Country Week in 1980, when Swan Hill won its first, and only, title in that grade.
Smith led a team consisting of Bob French, Ken Hamill, Ron Wolfe, Margaret Smith (O’Connor), Joan Jager, Jenny Crichton, and Liz Peace.
He nurtured the career of Swan Hill’s best known badminton player — his son, Olympian and Commonwealth Games representative, Ross. He put in a total of 32 years as a member of the badminton committee, before adjusting his sporting focus to bowls where he is now writing a new chapter in his sporting life.
