Way Back When – Fred Foord, a member of the Adelaide Soaring Club, was the GFA Trophies Officer – a position that he held for many years. (1985-1989, 1992-2007) Fred donated a trophy for competition in SA/NT among gliders with wooden structures or similar. Eventually, with dwindling numbers of this type of glider the number of pilots competing for this trophy dropped to zero. In 2015 SAGA Trophies Officer, Geoff Wood initiated a revival of the trophy. SAGA subsequently decided to repurpose the trophy donated by Fred and make it SAGA’s award recognising service to the gliding movement. This was felt to be a very appropriate use of the trophy, given the fact that Fred himself had been notable for service over decades to gliding at every level from local clubs, to national, and even assisting with international competition. The title was changed to the perhaps more dignified “Fred Foord Memorial Trophy” at the same time. (Fred passed away about 10 years ago)
This year the recipient was our President, Craig Vinyl. He was awarded the trophy for his service over many years as Soaring Development Manager. This position used to be known a RTO (Sports) but Craig has gone far beyond the role of organising competitions, which used to be the major focus of this role. He has been a power behind the coaching scene, he has participated in and led contests, and developed knowledge as well as skills for less experienced pilots through the series of winter lectures he has promoted. Additionally he has been a continued mentor and encourager of our own pilots and assessed by the SAGA President and Trophies Officer as a most worthy recipient.
I am sure that all club members will join me in congratulating Craig on the award. Hats off to Craig!!!
During the recent Nationals at Waikerie, Geoff Wood took the opportunity to formally present the award to Craig.
Probably worthy of mention is that these awards are recognition of a lot of largely unsung continuous effort by volunteers to get traction and results. We should all appreciate the work of many of these volunteers who keep SAGA and GFA motoring along. Without their contributions we wouldn’t enjoy the privileges and freedoms that we have in Australia to pursue our chosen sport.
David Pietsch
With thanks to Geoff Wood from whom I plagiarised most of the above information.
