Alison Burnley Obituary: 24 September 2009
Alison Burnley was a netball fanatic. Her energy and enthusiasm were endless.
I’m here to pay tribute to Alison’s netball career, her work, her dedication and her achievements on behalf of all those who worked with her; or just enjoyed the extra opportunities that came their way because of what she did.
I worked with Alison for many years, often on the same committees. We didn’t always see eye to eye; we had our differences of opinion and the occasional arguments – but the outcome was always good.
They provoked more thought, producing more ideas, leading to actions being taken – SUCCESS!
Even after being out of committee work for over 16 years I still remember the relentless pressure this puts you under, so I appreciate the time and energy given by Alison who always seemed to come away from a meeting with some extra task to deal with; I marvel how she managed it all.
There are still those who don’t rate committee members or their work very highly – but how wrong can they be. What happens in committee meetings is vital to the growth and continued success of the game we all embrace and Alison certainly played her part. In fact she thrived on it – her service record is as follows, she was a committee member of:
When in these positions she was involved in organising tournaments, umpiring rotas, acted as tournament referee, timekeeper and scorer, and helped with the training and testing of umpires.
On the home front – as well as all her committee work; she found time to help with the selection of club, city and county teams; and took an active role in providing opportunities in the form of umpiring courses and training at local level to enable clubs to obtain their own qualified umpires.
She coached and managed the junior county team for some time and even found time to drive one of our players all the way to crystal palace for England squad training – were her days longer than 24 hours – I ask myself?
At the time of her death she was president of Staffordshire netball and a few days before rang me to ask what I thought of her plans for improving communication of county activities to its life members.
And finally the recognition of her contribution, of her expertise which she used so well, and of all her endeavours; came when she was awarded life membership of England Netball - an award of which she was justly proud, an award which was richly deserved.
I once read that the greatest compliment that can be made about anyone’s life is that it made a difference. Alison’s netball life certainly did that!
She will be missed; and her energy and capacity for work in the world of netball will not be equalled easily.
I’m here to pay tribute to Alison’s netball career, her work, her dedication and her achievements on behalf of all those who worked with her; or just enjoyed the extra opportunities that came their way because of what she did.
I worked with Alison for many years, often on the same committees. We didn’t always see eye to eye; we had our differences of opinion and the occasional arguments – but the outcome was always good.
They provoked more thought, producing more ideas, leading to actions being taken – SUCCESS!
Even after being out of committee work for over 16 years I still remember the relentless pressure this puts you under, so I appreciate the time and energy given by Alison who always seemed to come away from a meeting with some extra task to deal with; I marvel how she managed it all.
There are still those who don’t rate committee members or their work very highly – but how wrong can they be. What happens in committee meetings is vital to the growth and continued success of the game we all embrace and Alison certainly played her part. In fact she thrived on it – her service record is as follows, she was a committee member of:
- North Staffs Ladies NC
- Youth league of Stoke on Trent
- Staffordshire County as secretary / match secretary / umpiring secretary at various times
- West midlands secretary and umpiring secretary
- All England Netball umpiring secretary
When in these positions she was involved in organising tournaments, umpiring rotas, acted as tournament referee, timekeeper and scorer, and helped with the training and testing of umpires.
On the home front – as well as all her committee work; she found time to help with the selection of club, city and county teams; and took an active role in providing opportunities in the form of umpiring courses and training at local level to enable clubs to obtain their own qualified umpires.
She coached and managed the junior county team for some time and even found time to drive one of our players all the way to crystal palace for England squad training – were her days longer than 24 hours – I ask myself?
At the time of her death she was president of Staffordshire netball and a few days before rang me to ask what I thought of her plans for improving communication of county activities to its life members.
And finally the recognition of her contribution, of her expertise which she used so well, and of all her endeavours; came when she was awarded life membership of England Netball - an award of which she was justly proud, an award which was richly deserved.
I once read that the greatest compliment that can be made about anyone’s life is that it made a difference. Alison’s netball life certainly did that!
She will be missed; and her energy and capacity for work in the world of netball will not be equalled easily.