In what has been an unprecedented year, the Otago Rugby Football Union has decided the winner of the Ray Byrne Memorial trophy for volunteer of the year for 2020 will be all volunteers involved in the game in Otago.
"Due to the thousands of hours put in by all wonderful people on the ground we felt it unjust to single out one person from the hundreds that gave up their time to coach, referee, manage and administer in what was one of the most challenging years not only for rugby, but society as a whole," Otago Rugby Football Union community rugby manager Richard Perkins said
"Our volunteers in Otago have always gone above and beyond what is typically required and no more so did we see this behaviour throughout the Covid rugby season of 2020," he said.
"On behalf of Otago RFU can I extend a massive thank you to all the wonderful people that enabled rugby to be played this year. We saw that rugby is still the heartbeat of our communities, it is a game for all and creates connections that evolve over a lifetime. We look forward to returning to some semblance of normal next season.”
The award is normally given out to a club member who has worked hard over a number of years for the game.
