I really could fill up a thousand pages on the subject but I’m not going to, it’s probably boring to anyone outside myself and family perhaps. However I did achieve a few credits that are noteworthy, so I feel it only fair that I list the more notable ones.

 

During my twenties and thirties I was the Australian National General Secretary for the National Physique Committee (NPC) affiliated to the International Federation of bodybuilders (IFBB), which at the time was the world’s fifth largest sporting organisation, with 146 member nations.

 

I officiated at 5 world championships and then judged the lucrative American professional circuit and was the first Australian to judge the Arnold Classic which is the only link Arnold Schwarzenegger maintains with the iron game that gave him his start. It was nice meeting and working with Arnold for that competition, he was a down to Earth regular bloke and little did I know back then that one day he would become the Governor of California.

 

 

During that time I was also given the honour of representing Australia on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary Congress and General Assembly of the General Association of International Sports Federation in 1994 in the Sydney Opera House and was also invited by the Hon. Nick Greiner, M.P. Premier of New South Wales to attend a dinner party.

 

I was then further honoured in Parliament House in Warsaw, Poland, when I received the IFBB’s Presidents Silver medal for services to the sport of bodybuilding by the then president and founder, Mr. Ben Weider. I still remember with great fondness the kindness and wisdom of this great man whom is no longer with us.

 

During that era I met every significant amateur and professional bodybuilder and have the most wonderful memories of them, I also treasure the friendships I formed with many of the administrators from around the world. I retired from active service due to a heart attack and thought that I was finally finished with the sport of bodybuilding, after all I had done everything there was to do, I have circumnavigated the word at least a dozen times, I was ready to settle down.

 

However the president of a drug-free amateur Australian federation, a lifelong friend in Robert Powell somehow convinced me to return to bodybuilding as the Australian National General Secretary of his federation and seeing that I was vehemently opposed to drugs in sport after seeing quite a few friends pass away probably as a result of steroid abuse, I decided to accept the role and dedicated the rest of my time in this position. As I write I am still currently in that position and I fully expect to be in that position when I eventually check out.

 

The highlight of this tenure amongst many, was my receiving the first ever Australasian Natural Bodybuilding federation (ANB) Lifetime Achievement Award in a glittering ceremony that somehow, they had kept secret from me, which was truly the greatest surprise of my entire 40 years in the sport. I thought for sure someone would let it slip, but when they called me to the stage to make the presentation I was truly humbled and in one moment, that single act, made all the years of hard work seem like no effort whatsoever.

 

If you live in Australia or are just passing through and would love to see a bodybuilding competition then see this site: http://www.anb.com.au/ for details, there is a good chance I’ll be there, helping the young men and women of Australia learn about the benefits of good nutrition and healthy exercise, and how to say no to drugs.