Stalwart Dan’s the man!
He’s been hailed as one of the driving forces that helped keep Shrewsbury Chess Club going during some of its darkest moments.
Now Shrewsbury A captain Dan Lockett has been hailed for his contribution to the club by becoming the fourth recipient of the David Everington Trophy.
Club stalwart Dan, who has been a member of the club for almost 40 years, was praised for being a regular and welcoming face at club nights, as well as possessing a wicked sense of humour that contributes to the club’s fun and light-hearted vibe, writes Peter Kitchen.
In addition, he has organised a number of events at the club – including the recent inaugural summer quickplay tournament – and as captain has helped the A team compete against the county’s top sides.
Dan was presented with the trophy by club secretary Peter Kitchen at the club’s annual general meeting last week.
Members were encouraged to make their own nominations for the trophy based on their efforts towards the life of the club over the past 12 months. Nominations in support of Dan stated:
“He has captained the A team under difficult conditions and always kept his good humour. He has organised events like the five-minute tournament, and he has been a stalwart over many seasons – one of the reasons the club kept going.”
“I’d like to nominate Dan for organising many of the in-club tournaments and being helpful, welcoming and kind always.
“Dan has captained two teams, runs the website, organised the quickplay tournament and is a regular at club nights.”
A special word of praise was reserved at the AGM for Ben Howells, who narrowly missed out on the award. He had been nominated for his enthusiasms captaining the newly-formed C team in his first season at the club, as well as playing in 29 games across the course of the season and showing great enthusiasm throughout the year.
The trophy is named after another club stalwart – the late David Everington. David belonged to the club for more than 50 years; was a county champion, and for many years the A team captain and top board.
He was also a tremendous character who played for the love of the game, and truly embodied what the club is about. David died after a battle with illness about six years ago.
Previous winners have included Mark Smith, Richard Vernon and last year’s winner David Edwards.
In addition, a medal was presented at the AGM to Shane Greenwood for winning the summer quickplay tournament, while a runners-up medal will be given to Olusegun Ilesanmi, who was unable to attend the meeting.
