By JARROD POTTER
MANY elite sportspeople have come through the City of Greater Dandenong but the city’s inaugural Sports Hall of Fame inductee is better known for his work off the field.
In a sign of how important those doing the behind-the-scenes work are to the city, Dandenong Cricket Club president Michael Findlay was named the first entrant to the Sport Hall of Fame at Australia Day celebrations on Tuesday.
The Panthers’ life-member was shocked to hear his name called but was extremely humbled at his inclusion in the pantheon of local sports achievers.
“I was very surprised about receiving the award,” Findlay said.
“There are a lot of people who have put a lot into sport in Dandenong and the area so to be the first is quite an honour.”
From Findlay’s playing-days with Doveton North – as a “left-arm medium bowler and down the order bat” as he puts it – before becoming the club’s president, secretary and a junior representative on the DDCA committee, Findlay eventually found his way to Shepley Oval and has since become an integral part of the Panthers’ community.
His time at Dandenong started in the early ’90s as he captained the fourth XI and mentored the juniors finding their way in the elite club.
From there he was an important part of the club’s Dowling Shield side – featuring a few familiar names in Peter Siddle and Cameron White – as the side began its march towards its inaugural premiership in 2006/07.
But throughout it all, Findlay takes his greatest joy from seeing juniors come through the ranks as well as watching all sports in Greater Dandenong flourish.
“I suppose, generally, it’s watching the young kids coming through and working hard to achieve promotion and reach their potential,” Findlay said.
“The early Dowling Shield with Cameron White, Peter Siddle – seeing Darren Pattinson get a game for England and James (Pattinson) coming through – knew him from when he was five.
“The premierships in 2007 and 2011 – couldn’t beat the feelings there.”
With the city at the forefront of both elite and recreational sport in a number of sports, Findlay wants to see Dandenong continue to establish exceptional standards for the next generation of men and especially women.
“Dandenong is pretty well represented in all sports – it’s been a focus for sport since I was a kid,” Findlay said.
“We’ve got top teams in soccer, basketball, the Stingrays and us (Dandenong Cricket Club).
“I think if we can focus on bringing sport tor everyone and sport for the elite in Dandenong we can give everyone the opportunity to work right through to their full potential in sports.
“All sports have to concentrate on putting more time into the young people and developing them – women’s sport in particular has been highlighted and if they put more resources into that.
“The Stingrays have done a great job getting their girls’ team up and running, the Dandenong Women’s doing a good job in increasing the number of girls playing – I think we need to play a bigger role in that in future years.”
He wanted to thank his great mentors throughout the years – Frank Holohan, Ross Hepburn, Ray Evans especially his mum Joan, as well as the City of Greater Dandenong for ensuring the club’s facilities at Shepley Oval and Wilson Oval remained top-notch for the club’s future champions.
