But Murley does not mind, for to him it is about the sport he loves, one which has been a big part of his life.
Murley (69) was made a life member of Volleyball New Zealand recently, recognition of the contribution he has made to the sport.
The honour was decided upon in October last year but it has taken 12 months for it to be formally awarded.
"They decided they would give it to me at the secondary schools championships in March this year but they got canned. Then it was going to be the club champs, but they also got cancelled," he said.
So in the end, at the Southern league championships in Christchurch, a small presentation took place with patron of Volleyball New Zealand Gilbert Enoka handing over the honour.
"It was quite emotional for me as I had played and coached with Gilbert in the 1980s, and then getting it given to me in front of all the players."
Murley, who went to Hastings Boys’ High School before heading south, first got involved in the sport in the 1970s. He went to the Caledonian Ground one day to see how the game was played as Otago Girls’ High School, where he taught, had a team.
Phys ed lecturer Peter Chin, who led some ground-breaking work at the university, pointed out some finer points of the game and from there Murley "muddled through".
Bill Turnbull was another volleyball stalwart who helped him in the early years and Murley’s involvement just grew as the sport became more popular.
The Federation of New Zealand Volleyball Clubs, as the federation was known back then, was looking for a secretary and Murley applied. There were no emails in those days so it was about mailing correspondence in many hundreds of envelopes after each meeting.
Things became modernised and Murley, who retired as deputy principal at Otago Girls’ High School in 2016 after 42 years at the school, continued to be involved at a national level.
He went all over the globe in many different roles. He has just stepped down as the president of Volleyball New Zealand but will stay on the board.
During his time the sport has grown swiftly and is safely ensconced as one of the top participation sports at secondary school level, easily inside the top five, especially for girls.
"It is a good team sport and has a good social side — that has a lot of appeal to it. And you can play it to any skill level.
"To play it well you do need an advanced skill level but there are all levels you can play at.
"Plus it is a non-contact sport so you do not get a lot of bumps and collisions. Plus, dare I say it, it’s not exhausting."
It was played in summer in New Zealand at school level which made it the choice of sport for many youngsters.
"It is growing very rapidly. When I started out at Otago Girls’ we had just a few girls then we got up to 8-10 teams in the late ’80s. Now we’ve got 18-20 teams at the school."
