Bill Haines 1928-2016

Post date: Sep 19, 2016 7:13:18 AM

Bill joined the Blue Mountains Croquet Club in the early 2000’s. He came down dressed in his whites, mallet in hand, ready to play. It was an indication of his approach to our game and the commitment he would give to it. He would stay back with a couple of us, after members had left, and we would practice, long and hard. Those days usually saw us end up in the Megalong Tea Rooms after, to reward ourselves

Competition was what he liked best and he was a hard adversary, but fair. He mentored many of our new players and would do the same for players from other Clubs, when away. He was the driving force behind Blackheath Primary School students winning the Primary Schools Inaugural Competition in 2006. He stepped up to become a referee and made himself available as much as possible.

He served as President and Treasurer over the years, seeing our Club go through the highs and lows , all Clubs seem to go through. It was really wonderful that he saw us get a ground where we could grow and a Club House that we could share with the cricketers. It seemed to come full circle, that these were the two games he loved and had played.

He encouraged all to play by the rules, play in the spirit of the game, and strive to improve. That is his legacy.

I’ll close this with something Bill used to sign off with - Good hitting, and finish in front of the hoop, not behind.

Lorraine Friend