Presidents Shield Awards

In 1955 a group of dedicated Norths supporters, led by the late Harry McKinnon, formed North Sydney Leagues Club. With the help of their families and debenture holders, they bought a house in Merlin Street, North Sydney, which was the Club’s first home. In July 1964 due to lack of space and the threat of the new expressway, Norths sadly left their beloved Merlin Street home and moved to Cammeray.

With a new building and a new look Sports Council headed by Fred Orreill and his active committee, new Intra Clubs were added (see http://www.norths.com.au/meet/intra-clubs/ for a current list). The first Sportsman of the Year Night, chosen from the Intra Clubs, was held in 1980, the winner for 1979 being Graham Hoschke, who was the Secretary of the Fishing Club.

Former norths Club President, Mr. Ray Beattie, renamed the ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award the ‘President’s Shield’.

The President’s Shield night is held annually in September and each intra club puts forward a nomination based on either their sporting achievements or service to sport over the preceding year.

Current Nominee

2021 - Len Goodfellow

Position held & length of service: Assistant Treasurer & Treasurer - 6 years

History with the club:

Len has been an active member of the club since 2010. His squash history is far more extensive going back to 1968 playing in Sydney pennants and Masters Tournaments. He joined the club initially to play squash after returning from working overseas but felt he could contribute more due to his accounting background by offering his services to assist the club treasurer.

His demeanor is to be envied in that he is always calm in the heat of the moment on and off the squash court and he mentors younger players with his extensive knowledge of the game. His selfless contribution to the position of Assistant Treasurer and Treasurer since 2015 has contributed enormously to the viability of the squash club.

The name Len Goodfellow is an understatement of the man, it should be Greatfellow. Len’s quiet disposition and unassuming nature is not to be underestimated. He is always first to put his hand up to contribute his time and energy to the betterment of the sport and to the ongoing growth of the squash club. He has represented the club in external tournaments travelling to 2 Australian Open’s in Bathurst and Perth as well as regional Masters Tournaments in Bathurst, Canberra and Wyong. Len has been on numerous winning teams for the club since 2010 with the most recent being the Division 3 Norths team in the 2019 Northern District Masters Spring Pennant.

In 2021 he was the runner-up in his division of the Bathurst Masters and the oldest entrant in the 2021 Australian National Championships where he came 6 th in D-grade.

Len is a strong competitor and an asset to any team.

Presidents Shield Nominees

The following members have been nominated for, or have won, the Presidents Shield Award.

Previous nominees

2020 - No nomination due to Covid-19

2019 - No nomination due to Covid-19


2018 - Warwick Brodsky

Warwick has been a member of the Norths Squash Club for over 20 years. He began playing squash with norths since 1995 in the Sydney Pennant and Masters competitions. He is a very organised gentleman who usually puts his hand up to take on he role of team captain.

He is such a good team captain that he turned up on a competition night he was actually meant to have been rostered off and ended up playing when another player didn't show up.

    • Warwick took it upon himself to organise club members into teams to play in the NSW Masters monday night competition which is an alternative competitive outlet for Club members over 35 years of age who wanted a different or perhaps additional match each week.

    • He started this in the early 2000s and it was only when he left to travel for an extended period in 2010 that the Squash Club formalised the position so that someone else would take over this service. Warwick's quiet, friendly and dependable nature had taken care of business for nearly 10 years without any formal acknowledgement or assistance.

  • Warwick has returned to the committee in 2018 in the now formally established position of Masters Co-ordinator and continues in this role today.


2017 - Con Constantinou

Con has been a member of the Norths Squash Club for almost 20 years. Con has served on the norths Squash Club committee for several years mainly as Social Secretary and has also served as Treasurer. Con also worked at norths from 1999-2017 (almost 19 years).

    • Con has been playing squash with norths since 1999. He has been playing pennant most of this time and has 6 pennant wins with different teams.

    • Con has played Masters squash for 5 years and has 3 Masters team wins.

    • Con's team won the 2017 Autumn and 2017 Spring pennants.

    • Con has also represented Norths at a few Masters tournaments at Wyong, Cardiff and the A.C.T. and has proudly worn his norths shirt while playing.


2016 - David Titmarsh

David has been a member of the Squash Club for the past 25 years and he is also a Life

member of the Squash Club. David has served on Squash Club Committee for a number of years as either a selector or as the Club Captain. David has also serviced on the Disciplinary Committee to discipline players who have misbehaved. As Club Captain, David co-ordinates and registeres players in the bi-annual pennants with NSW Squash and David also organises 2 tournaments for norths Squash Club. David is an active member of the Squash Club and he has helped to promote squash to new members.

    • David is an outstanding member of the Squash Club for his efforts in promoting norths Squash Club and squash within the local community and overseas.

    • David has been a member of a number of teams that have won pennants with NSW Squash.

  • David has represented norths Squash Club in a number of external touraments, including the World

    • Masters Squash tournament in 2014 (held in Hong Kong), State Masters Squash tournaments and David is the current NSW Masters Champion (60-65 age group).

  • David has also represented norths Squash Club at the NSW Open tournaments (non-masters).


2015 - Peter Deans

Peter has been a member of the Squash Club for 12 years and he has served tirelessly as the Vice President for 11 years. Peter is an active member of the Squash Club and he actively promotes the squash club to new members and he is a regular competition player, having won a number of trophies.

    • Peter has been Vice President of norths Squash Club since 2005.

    • Peter has been a constant presence at the Squash Club for the past 11 years.

    • In his role as Vice President, he has assisted to coordinate many of the club's major events (50th anniversary celebration 2011, AGMs and regular social events) and he regularly contributes his ideas on how to better promote the Squash Club.

    • Peter regularly addresses court maintenance issues with the Leagues Club management as well as promoting the club to new members.

    • Peter has also been a member of a number of winning pennant teams.

    • He has won the Squash Club Plate award 4 times.


2014 - Martin Cox

Martin joined norths Squash Club in 2012 and has successfully represented the club in both Pennant and Masters external competitions and in our internal competitions. He has served on the committee for the past 2 years as Club Checker, where he manages the results of our pennant competitions with NSW Squash and consistently goes above and beyond for both our squash club members and NSW association.

    • Martin reached a grand final in his first pennant for the club, playing at No 1 in Division 6.

    • In 2014, Martin’s Division 4 team won the Spring Pennant.

    • Martin’s masters team won both the Division 1 Autumn and Spring Pennants in 2014.

    • Martin was A Grade runner-up in the internal 2014 Graded Championships.

    • Martin was the Masters runner-up in the internal 2014 Open Championships.

    • Martin won the 2013 Willoughby Open B Grade title, wearing his norths shirt proudly.


2013 - Jon Erikson

Jon first joined the squash club in 2010 and has successfully represented the squash club in both internal competitions and the external Pennant and Masters competitions where he was also team Captain. He has also held two voluntary committee positions where he has organised the many teams who represent the club.

The club has prospered during Jon’s time on the committee with over 50% of his chosen teams making it to the finals in external competitions. He has promoted the club to all players and encouraged new members to join and play for the club.

While being a great advocate for the club, his personal squash achievements in this time are also significant:

    • Winning five pennants in a row Spring 2011 to Spring 2013 (winning three Masters Pennants and enough hand towels to last him a lifetime)

    • His matrix ranking has increased a dramatic 51 points during this period.


2012 - Mark Gett

Mark first joined the squash club in 1989 and has represented the club in both Pennant and Masters competitions since then.

As a very efficient Club Secretary for 4 years Mark was then elected President of the Squash Club. During the last 2 years he also acted as Club Checker and also undertook Treasurer’s responsibilities when that position unexpectedly became vacant.

Mark’s friendly and cheerful disposition has enabled him to steer our Committee diplomatically through a few tricky situations and to present a good example both to our players and committee members.

It took 24 years, but in 2012 we were extremely pleased to be able to award Mark a Pennant winner’s jacket!


2011 - Lynda Cronshaw

Lynda has been a member of the Squash Club for 24 years and has been a committee member for

over 17,serving as Secretary, Social Secretary, Treasurer and Cllub Reporter. She was also

the first frmale club member to hold the position of Club Captann and President. Lynda was

made a Life Member in 2005, represented norths Squash Club at both pennannt and Masters'

Squash, has captained many teams and won the B Gade squash competition twice.

During the Club's 50th Anniversary in 2011, Lynda organised a very successful reunion of

past and present members. Lynda is currently the Squash Club's representatitve on norths Sports Council.


2010 - Gordon Brice

A member of northsSquash Club since 2000, Gordon represented the club in Masters Squash for many years as well as acting as reserve in Pennant Teams.

Right from the start of his membership, Gordon has always participated in Club and Masters events and gained his first tournament victory in 2002 by winning the B grade championship as well as the A Grade Plate. Since then his squash has steadily improved resulting in him taking out both the Club Championships and the A Grade competitions 6 times over the past 5 years. Added to this, once he turned the qualifying age for the Grand Masters, Gordon has also added this title to his line up 3 times. As well as participating in the World Masters Games in Sydney in 2009 Gordon has won 2 NSW Masters titles in 2007/8 and was runner up in the Open Division in the NSW Masters State Championship in Cardiff in 2010.


2009 - Barry Thompson

with 53 years of playing squash, Barry has played high grade squash for many clubs, but it was after being beaten by a norths player in 1997, that Barry switched his allegiance to norths, getting off to a fine start when his team won the 1997 Spring Pennant.

Outside tournaments play a big part in Barry’s squash and he takes part in both National and International Masters’ Tournaments winning his event in Melbourne in 2001. However his squash career reached it’s glittering pinnacle in 2009 when Barry entered the World Masters’ Games and won a gold medal in his 70-74 age group.

Barry has also won other Pennants with his teams, including 2 in one year. Appointed as Captain on many occasions, he was awarded Captain of the Year in 2009, for his leadership and enthusiasm both on and off the court.

Barry has also served on the Committee as a Sports Council Representative and has added to his impressive trophy collection by taking out many Plate Events in our internal competitions


2008 - ANDREW ROUGHAN

Norths membership No.: 43588

Position Held / Service: Squash Club Captain


History: Andrew joined Norths Squash Club in 2004 and since joining has represented the Club in competition squash in the Northern district of the NSW Squash Sydney Pennant competition, served on the pennant team selection committee and served on the squash club committee as Vice-Captain, Vice-President and Club Captain.


Special Achievements:

Andrew was runner-up in the first division of both internal tournaments held in 2008.

As a result of Andrew’s team selection guidance in 2008, the Club has risen from 9th to 1st ranked club in the Northern District based on average points achieved per team.

Andrew has achieved these results while being a parent of a young child and another on the way. His emails to fellow Club members are frequently sent out close to midnight.

Quote from Lynda Cronshaw, ex-President of the Squash Club:

“Andrew showed right from the start that he was not only willing to represent Norths as a squash player, but also to assist in the organisation and administration of our Club. Whichever jobs he undertakes are always meticulously performed.”


2006 - Geraldine Mack

Geraldine has been a regular competition player for 17 years, apart from 2 short breaks to have children. During that time she has won 8 ‘A’ Grade and 3 Club Championships as well as being part of 5 winning pennant teams. Now the children are older Geraldine is able to contribute more to club administration and has volunteered for the thankless task of Team Selector. Always ready to support norths Squash by playing competitively and supporting social events, Geraldine commits 100% at all times, including taking her turns at being team captain and playing in a semi-final at 5 months pregnant.


2005 - Graham English

For any club to be successful it needs members who are prepared to support all its activities and graham is one such member. In recognition of this support Graham was a recipient of the captain’s award in 2003 and it is for this reason that we are nominating him for the president’s shield award. As well as representing norths in pennant he is a regular attendee at our round robins, where he can always be relied upon to welcome new members and make them feel at home. On the social side graham is always one of the first to put his name down to join in our social functions a squash player for more years than he would like to remember, Graham has been nsw masters 'D' grade champion twice, a gold medal winnner at the australian masters games in 1989. Since joining norths in 1999 he was club 'D' grade champion in 2002 and has been a member of 3 grand final winning teams.

Every club needs its grahams!


2004 - Lynda Cronshaw

Lynda has been member of norths Squash Club since 1988 and was made a Life member in 2005. Although not a top squash player, she has managed to pick up a couple of minor B grade trophies during her time with the Club and has represented North Sydney at A & B Grade pennants and Masters’ Squash.

However, when it comes to any sport, Lynda firmly believes that the most important things are firstly to ensure that, win or lose, you enjoy playing the game and secondly, you should do your best to put something back into the game. As her administrative skills far outweigh her court ability, Lynda has served on the Squash Committee over the last 12 years as Social Secretary, Secretary, the first female Club Captain and first female Club President. During this time Lynda also produced the club's Newsletter for many years and also passed her refereeing exams, enabling her to officiate at Australian tournaments.

In the 35 years since she started playing squash, Lynda has also coached juniors and organised tournaments at both club and national level.

Perhaps, if she hadn't been so busy organising, she could have spent more time practicing!

2003 - Greg McGuire

Greg joined the squash club back in 1988, starting off in 'C' grade,working his way up through the ranks to the top men’s team and culminating in back to back grand final wins in 2003. During this time, in 1996, Greg also won the Club Championships.

Apart from his playing achievements, Greg has spent many years involved with the squash club committee, holding several positions such as social secretary, club captain, selector and club president.

In fact, such is his devotion to the club that he and his new wife anne, even interrupted their honeymoon to attend a squash club social weekend!

In the past two years greg has been selected to serve on the nsw squash northern districts committee. He has also recently qualified as a squash referee and, through his ability in this field, has been chosen to be ‘fast-tracked’ through the grades, which will qualify him for selection as an official referee at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.

Currently, Greg is playing 'A' grade for the club and is about to embark on his 33rd consecutive pennant for norths.


2002 - Tim Harradine

Tim has only been a Club Member for 5 years, but his contribution in that short time has been phenomenal.

Starting out as a Monday night player he began his playing career in low 'C' grade and is now playing 'A3'. During this time he has been a member of 4 winning Pennant teams in 'C2', 'B4', 'B2' and 'B1'. Tim has also been the recipient of Most Improved Monday Night Player (1999), Club Captain’s Award (2001) and Best Performance, Spring Pennant (2001).

Always cheerful and willing to contribute to the running of the Club, Tim took over the organization of the Monday night Round Robin, where his friendliness and encouragement towards new members has greatly assisted in recruitment of new Pennant players, particularly from the younger age group.

Such a talent was not to be wasted and in 2001 Tim was elected to the position of Social Secretary where, with his willing band of innovative helpers, he was responsible for organising our picnics, trivia nights and dinner dances. To all of these he brought a fresh and lively approach and, doubling as DJ for the dances, has helped make these nights extremely popular with increased attendances. However on his first function, our May picnic, he was severely reprimanded for forgetting the onions for the BBQ!!!

Tim’s popularity saw him elected Club Captain in 2002 and, again, he gave 110% organising our internal tournaments and overseeing the 15 Pennant Teams. During his participation as a Selector, the club has had two of our most successful Pennants ever and we are pleased that he will continue as a Selector for at least the next two competitions

Tim has also found time to complete the Squash Referees' Course and a Part I Coaching Course when he was able to put his new found skills to the test at the Club’s internal coaching sessions, where his patience and good humour proved a great asset.

It is encouraging for the future of any Club when younger members choose to participate in the organisation and running of events and, in ‘young Tim’ we have been fortunate to acquire such a member. In 5 short years, he has made an invaluable contribution and we hope that his association with NSLC Squash Club will long continue.