Fundraising Reunion Dinner A Huge Success

By Todd Nicholls

On October 11 a Reunion Dinner for the 1987 World Cup-winning All Blacks was held to raise funds for the John Drake Memorial Scholarship Fund. What you may not know was the huge amount of work that went on behind the scenes to make the event one of the most successful of its kind in New Zealand rugby history.

The core objective for the Scholarship itself is to support a young promising individual who displays the potential to develop the attitude and success of John Drake. The Scholarship is awarded on an annual basis. Former All Black Captain and University player Sir John Graham acts as the Patron to the Scholarship.

The Scholarship supports the winner's tuition at the University of Auckland while the individual will follow in John's footsteps at the rugby club. The combination of these influences contributes to the rounding of the individual, to mirror success on the rugby field, with a personal standing in the community.

The idea to hold a dinner was that of University club legend Simon Johnston who reasoned that as there had been no official celebration of the achievements of the 1987 All Blacks planned that it would be appropriate to hold one and raise money for the Scholarship fund at the same time. Simon himself is too modest to blow his own trumpet and accept the recognition for this event, although he does say that hosting this dinner was one of the most satisfying things that he has undertaken at the club.
"A lot of people were responsible for this event and it was a wonderful way to remember John Drake and at the same time ensure that some young players will get financial assistance."

Those connected with the dinner, which ended up raising a staggering $160,000, pay tribute to Simon's vision and work.
The other primary organiser of the event, Rebecca Brown, says over 700 people attended the dinner and that there was no trouble selling tickets. "Word of mouth was crucial with this event," she says. "We did not have to do very much direct advertising at all."

Rebecca pays tribute to the members of the '87 squad who went out of their way to support the cause. "They were just fantastic. We had every member of the squad apart from Bruce Deans (who had last minute business commitments) and Zinzan Brooke (who was still in the UK) at the dinner which was lovely."

The idea for the fundraiser was hatched late last year. The aim was to raise money for the scholarship fund and so it was decided that the dinner would not be black-tie. The full proceeds from the event (and auction) have gone to the scholarship fund as the event was fortunate enough to be well-sponsored.

"We had three main sponsors in Giltrap Prestige, Barfoot & Thompson and Steinlager, as well as substantial assistance from Auckland University," says Rebecca. "We could not have run this event without the help of these organisations and many others."

Also assisting the organisers were people from around the country. "We did not have to buy anything for the auction," Rebecca adds. "Robert Drake, John's brother, is friends with Robbie Deans and so we had a couple of signed Wallabies jerseys to auction. Then there was this very kind man down in Nelson who gave us two mint condition 1987 World Cup final programmes."

MCed by Keith Quinn, the event saw a panel discussion take place with Brian Lochore, Sean Fitzpatrick, John Gallagher and Warwick Taylor. "Everyone seems to have enjoyed the event and celebrating what the '87 side achieved," Rebecca says.
Sir John Graham says that the trustees had hoped that the dinner would raise around $50,000-$60,000 and so reaching the $160,000 mark was beyond everyone's wildest dreams.

"What this means is that a number of young rugby players will benefit greatly from being awarded a scholarship," he says. "It will mean that these young players will not have to spend time worrying about finding the money to attend university."
Sir John says that the pressure on students now is a good deal different than what occurred in his era. "My fees were paid for and I got a free education," he says. "These days things are different."

Sir John believes that while the fund will continue to look for money to boost funds further, the success of the fundraising dinner has provided much needed funds that will ensure that the amount of the scholarship will not decrease. "This is one of the most rewarding things that I have ever been involved with in sport," he says. "There is of course an enormous amount of respect out there for John Drake which helped, but the dinner was an extremely good cause and its wonderful that people really got behind it."

All those spoken to who were involved in running this event say that it is an example of what makes the University club special. "There is always something special about university clubs when you are out there playing with your mates, a special bond," Sir John says. "This dinner was yet another example of the spirit of this club in action. Other clubs are trying to replicate it and that's okay too, but the model that we have here is tremendous."

There are no plans at this time to organise another dinner of this kind. There will be however annual events announcing the winner of the John Drake Scholarship, further reflecting on the memory of John Drake and at the same time celebrating the promising rugby talent coming through this wonderful club.

Westlake rugby captain awarded Drake Scholarship

Sam Viskovich from Northcote, Auckland has been selected as the third John Drake Memorial Scholar at The University of Auckland.

The scholarship, established in 2009 and worth $5000 a year, supports an outstanding all-rounder who intends to study at the University and also play for the Auckland University Rugby Football Club.

Sam was named winner for 2012 at a reunion dinner in Auckland last night for the 1987 All Blacks held to raise money for the Drake Scholarship with 800 attending.

John Drake, who died in 2008 aged 49, was an Auckland graduate and a redoubtable prop forward in the World Cup-winning team. The scholarship in his memory is awarded to a school leaver who has excelled both in rugby and academically while showing the potential to emulate John Drake's attitude and success both on and off the rugby field.

Sam Viskovich is Sports Captain and Deputy Head Boy at Westlake Boys High School where he captained the first fifteen this year. Playing at flanker he was in the team for three years. In 2010 Westlake were the North Harbour Champions.

He is also involved in acting and debating. Last year he scored highly in the Cambridge International Examinations and he will be sitting NZQA scholarship exams in history, economics and statistics.

At university Sam plans to take a conjoint Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts. For his BCom he will do a double major in Economics and International Business while for his BA he will major in Psychology. His career ambition is to be a future business leader in New Zealand.

Sam quotes a Croatian family proverb passed down from his great-grandparents, translated as: "Give me knowledge and I'll give you wealth." He sees the Drake Scholarship as "the perfect opportunity to continue acquiring knowledge and gain wealth, not simply in money but in experience and values with which to make a positive and significant impact on society".

2011 Recipient Announced at Memorable Function

On 29 September, The University of Auckland hosted an outstanding event in the Alumni Marquee in the grounds of the Old Government House.

The evening featured three highlights; the first being the announcement of the John Drake Memorial Scholarship recipient for 2011; the second being an interview with former Auckland University Rugby Football Club, Auckland and current All Black coach, Graham Henry; and the third being the announcement of the University of Auckland all-time Alumni XV- the latter selected from all those who had attended (for at least two semesters) or had graduated from the University, whether or not they had played for the AURFC.
 
Despite the fact the evening clashed with another major rugby event in Auckland, over 270 alumni and rugby enthusiasts were treated to a very special evening.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon (pictured) welcomed all present with a very positive reflection on the strength of the relationship between the University and the AURFC.

Following that, Daniel Wein spoke on behalf of both the AURFC and the JDMS Trust about the purpose of the Scholarship, and  gave a brief overview of the Club's 2010 season, noting that the Club had the largest number of lower grade teams in Auckland. He especially outlined the exceptional performance of the inaugural recipient Matthew Matich, both on and off the field.
 
Matthew then spoke very amusingly about his experiences as a player for both the Under 21s and Premiers, and the challenge of juggling his engineering studies, his rugby commitments and his sleeping patterns!

John Taylor, Director of External Relations at the University, a Trustee of the JDMS, and former HM of Kings, had the pleasure of announcing the 2011 recipient of the Scholarship, a very promising  Mt Albert Grammar School  product, Sean Brookman, had been selected as the second recipient of the Scholarship.  After being presented with his award by John Drake's widow, Cathy, Sean spoke movingly and impressively about his rugby career to date and his hopes for the future.
 
Peter Montgomery, who created an excellent atmosphere as MC for the event, then conducted a most frank, informative and enjoyable interview with All Black Coach, Graham Henry. This was followed by an entertaining Q&A session, including one query as to whether or not the recent World Cup winning performance of the Black Ferns had helped the AB's to focus on doing the same in 2011!