By Colin MacGillivray
LONG-SERVING Broadford Cricket Club president Lee McKenzie believes there are ‘exciting times ahead’ after stepping down at last month’s annual general meeting.
Michael Mirabella will succeed McKenzie as president, and McKenzie said a fresh face was exactly what the club needed.
“Living in Melbourne and having done it for 10 years, I felt like it was time to step down,” he said.
“I highlighted in my presidential report how grateful I’ve been and what a wonderful opportunity it was to be involved at that level.
“I’m grateful for all the support I’ve been given over the past decade, but it’s time for some new people to take over and get some fresh ideas that will carry the club forward.”
McKenzie said the club had a record number of committee members, highlighting its strong position despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It shows lots of people are keen to get involved, and we’re keen to have an active social program. Given the COVID year we’ve come out of, obviously we need to do some fundraising,” he said.
“We talked about the season and what an achievement it was to get through a pandemic season regardless of the actual results, and what a great effort it was by everyone involved just to keep the club alive and well through a pretty tough season.”
McKenzie said he was proud to reflect on his decade as club president.
“We’ve always tried to pride ourselves on being a family club, whether that’s through our social media profile or through our fundraising events or charity events – last year we raised a heap of money for the CFA through some activities,” he said.
“We try to keep the community involved and I’m particularly proud of our standing in the community.
“I’m also proud of the way we’ve been able to develop not only good cricketers, but good people, whether that is through coaching juniors and seeing the kids do well at school, or helping certain club members through issues outside of cricket.
“A lot of it goes unseen, but there is a lot of good work being done in the community, not just from a cricket perspective, which is really pleasing.”
McKenzie said he was also proud of Broadford’s on-field record during his time as president, winning six premierships from 12 grand finals across junior and senior grades.
“It’s exciting to have the club in a strong position for the new wave to take over,” he said.
“We’re not handing over a basket case, we’re in a pretty strong position, on and off-field, to continue to succeed.”
