KEN TALLIS
Ken became involved with football when his three sons commenced school at Mt St Bernard. This continued and his family progressed to St Leos College in Waitara. Ken was one of the founders of the St Leos Soccer Club All Age Men’s teams which thrived for many years.
Ken was a tireless worker the Ku-ring-gai and District Soccer Association (KDSA). He held various positions within the Association including Registrar of the Association from 1975 to 1978. In 1975, photo registration was introduced which created a huge workload for this position. This role also involved the checking of match cards for any registration anomalies. In 1979, the role of Registrar was split into Junior Registrar/Recorder and PM Registrar/Recorder; Judy Woods held the position of Junior Registrar/Recorder and Ken Tallis was the PM Registrar/Recorder. Ken was also a member of the Association’s All Age Committee for a number of years.
In 1980, Ken assumed the role of Grounds Controller with the KDSA. In the 1980 KDSA Annual Report Ken reported that he inspected and measured every field used by the Association including some grounds which the Association hoped to have the use of the following year. He reported that the field came under the following areas: –
Ku-ring-gai 59
Hornsby 23
Lane Cove 12
North Sydney 6
North Ryde 4
As a result of these inspections, it was discovered that the Association were using some wrong grounds for some age groups – especially in the U7 to U10 age groups. Having measured all the ovals/grounds it allowed the Association to allocate the correct ground for each age group. Ken continued in the role of Ground Controller in 1981 and again held the position in 1986 and 1987. Ken was also a familiar face at Mimosa Oval in Turramurra where he was a volunteer groundsman.
In 1985 Ken was the Youth Convenor for the KDSA. This was the year that there was the introduction of a new format for the Under 16 and Under 18 age groups in a combined 16/18 Youth League.
Life Member Phil Rees in the 1993 Annual Report that Ken had his own unique way of ‘getting the job done’ and was uncompromising with anyone or anything that stood in his way. Phil also reports that Ken was a tireless worker for the sport and the KDSA. In his latter years Ken was associated with Avalon Soccer Club where his contributions to that club were greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, Ken passed away at the age of 65 in December 1992.
Ken Tallis was awarded Life Membership in 1980 in recognition of his contribution to football in the Ku-ring-gai and District Soccer Association , now known as the Northern Suburbs Football Association (NSFA). We thank Ken for his significant contribution to the Association and the sport in general.