Respected and dedicated Southern Rugby Club captain Pete Lowe was taken by surprise when he was nominated for life membership of the club at their last annual general meeting (AGM).
Club patron Robert Ellis presented the life membership to Lowe last month at a club day in Methven.
‘‘I was totally blown away to received the award with all my family present.
“It was great to receive it in Methven as well as our clubs have a good relationship,’’ Lowe said.
Lowe played all his junior and senior rugby for the Hinds Club. But his biggest contribution had been administrative.
This began in 1979 when current club patron Robert Ellis enticed Lowe to attend the clubs AGM were he was duly elected to the to committee.
For the next 15 years Lowe had a very active role in the club serving terms as club captain and secretary.
He was then a leading member of the joint committee that oversaw the formation of the Southern Rugby Club in 1994.
He was on the inaugural committee, around 1998 he took a break to concentrate on family, farming and other activities.
In 2012 he was asked to rejoin the Southern committee with the aim being he would be future president, something he neglected to tell his wife Dianne.
He has definitely made up for his time away in the last 12 years. He was vice-president in 2015/16 and president in 2017/18 with 2017 being one of the most successful years in the club’s history.
Since 2020 he has been club captain.
Lowe doesn’t see himself as special, for him its just being part of the team and doing his part alongside good people to make things happen for the club.
‘‘It’s the people I have met, enjoyed being with and the service I can give my community that has kept me being involved with rugby,’’ Lowe said.
He is the current club captain a roles that sees him ensuring the club and games run smoothly, liaising between the teams, club and players.
While there have been many highlights over his time with the club, there are two that stand out for him.
‘‘Seeing our club win the Luisetti Seeds Division 1 in 2021 was pretty good,’’ Lowe said.
The other was just a few days ago at the Watters Cup final which Southern won.
‘‘To see about 120 of our younger and junior players lined up along the try line, cheering on the senior team, was just great, you can’t beat that,’’ Lowe said.
Club treasurer and fellow life member Garry Brown said the awarding of the life membership to his long time friend Pete was a pretty special moment.
The Southern club which was formed with the merging of Hinds and Mayfield clubs has been very successful. ‘‘Pete was big part of the amalgamation and how well and successful that went and continues to be,’’ Brown said.
‘‘Pete came back to the club 12 years ago when we just needed him .
‘‘There was big gap to fill back then and he filled it. ‘‘He has given so much to the committee.
‘‘He is well respected so it has been great to see him awarded the life membership.’’
