Manny Galanos and Graham Fahey have been awarded the prestigious Hans Ebeling Award at the MCC Sporting Sections Annual Dinner held on Monday night.
The Hans Ebeling Award, introduced in 1981 and last presented in 2019, honours those who have given outstanding service to the Club’s sporting sections and recognises a Sporting Section member’s exceptional contribution to their chosen sport.In 2022, the Award was presented to Emanuel ‘Manny’ Galanos and Graham Fahey for their services to the Bowls and Croquet Sections respectively.
Across 29 years of service and an outstanding 489 Saturday Pennant games, Galanos has left an undeniable imprint on the MCC Bowls Section.
First joining the Bowls Section in 1992, across his tenure, Galanos won four Club Triples Championships, three Club Fours Championships and was awarded Best Lead in the Club for the 2018/19 season.
In addition to his on-field accomplishments, Galanos’ influence extended to the operation of the Section after joining the Committee in 2012.
In 2013, he was elected to Chair of the Bowls Section and was instrumental in introducing a number of meaningful accolades including Life Membership of the Bowls Section and the Baggy Blue Hat, which is presented to bowlers who have played 250 games for the section in a single pennant competition.
Galanos also moved to appoint qualified coaches within the Section which has led to success, strongly advocated for female participation and election to the Committee, encouraged wider Club and Section use of MCC facilities and more before stepping down as Chair in 2021.
“I’m incredibly honoured to win the Award. I look around and I’m looking at names that have won this award too and are here tonight (at the Annual Dinner) like Rob Storey and Hassa Mann and I just can’t believe I’m in the same air as these blokes,” Mr Galanos said.
“You do it because you love it and people like the President of the MCC. To receive the Award from Michael (Happell) and to call people like (Vice-President) Fred Oldfield a friend, but also see them engage with the Sporting Sections because they love it too, it makes it all worth the hard work and effort.
“I’m very grateful to our whole Bowls Section, those who have been part of the Committee, to my family and to everyone who I’ve called a friend through sport.”
Since joining the MCC Croquet Club in 2005 Graham Fahey has represented the Melbourne Cricket Club in over 600 games of Association Croquet and 100 games of Golf Croquet in his 16 years of service.
From 2005 to 2007 and 2010 to 2019, Fahey featured in the senior team in pennant and won the Eastern Metro Pennant in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
His passion for the sport also lies in the maintenance and construction of equipment for the Club which he engaged in upon joining in 2005. His off-field contribution continued in 2012 when he became a member of the Committee. In 2015 Graham was elected to Chairman of the Croquet Club where he actively engaged the Club and wider community and introduced a number of Club competitions to encourage competitive play.
Fahey earned his qualification as a certified croquet coach in 2012 and as Chairman, used his vocational training to implement and manage a learning program for students at a local school for children with learning difficulties in addition to performing coaching at the MCC Croquet Club for new and existing members.
In 2017, Fahey became a certified referee with the Victorian Croquet Association and has since served as a permanent referee for the MCC Croquet Club’s division three and four pennant matches and Club tournaments. In addition to refereeing state championships, in 2020 he was selected to referee the World Association Croquet Championship in Melbourne.
“I’m incredibly humbled to receive this award. At the end of the day, and almost everyone involved with the Sporting Sections is one, but we are all ‘volunteers’ and we just want to feel like we’ve made a difference,” Mr Fahey said.
“We do it out of love and passion for the sports we love playing and for the Club we love representing.
“There are so many people to thank, but mainly I’m just incredibly humbled to have even been considered for an Ebeling Award.”
All of the MCC’s 14 sporting sections were represented at the annual dinner where players who had reached MCC milestones were recognised with a Club tie or pin. Those players were:
- Alex Ball – Netball
- Amy Vine – Cricket
- Emily Findeisen – Netball
- Bruce McComb – Croquet
- Scott Mejean – Bowls
- Kevin Duane – Bowls
- Michael Logarzo – Tennis
- Allan Elliot – Target Shooting
- Eddy Bidese – Target Shooting
- Jaan Simpson – Squash
- Patrick Lynch – Squash
- Charles Bunker-Smith – Squash
- David Taylor – Squash
- Benn Mathieson – Squash
- Chris George-Dymoiotis – Squash
- Luke Sims - Squash
To find out more about the Hans Ebeling Award and view a list of past recipients, click here.