Bruce Cleland (pictured left) has been named as volunteer/administrator of the year at the Sport Taranaki Sportsperson of the Year awards, held at the Quality Hotel Plymouth International last weekend.
Bruce is well known in the Stratford sporting community being president of the Stratford Tennis Club and chairman of the Stratford Community Sports Society.
Earlier this year, Bruce was a recipient of Tennis Central's volunteer award, and now has another trophy to add to his collection.
Bruce says it was an honour to have even been a finalist in the Sport Taranaki awards, and winning the award was "humbling, as well as a great honour".
He says volunteering has come naturally, describing it as a natural progression from playing sport to then giving something back to the sporting community.
"Without volunteers our community would be a very dull place to live," he says, adding that there is great reward to be had in being able to inspire a new generation with a love of sport.
Bruce's passion for the sport, along with his willingness to commit many hours of his time to all aspects of it, has seen the Stratford Tennis Club grow from "just over 40 members three years ago to more than 100 members now".
He puts this growth down to initiatives such as twilight tennis and the juniors programme, meaning the club has reached new groups of players, but it is hard to believe that this growth would have happened had he not been involved, with his infectious enthusiasm for the sport.
"Not everyone is going to be a great tennis player, but everyone can enjoy the game, everyone can have a go and hit a ball about."