A Life Member of the Ōtorohanga Netball Centre, long-serving stalwart Marjorie Carr has received a King’s Service Medal (KSM) in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to netball and her community.

Describing her 60-plus years involvement as chipping away in the background while looking to help others, Carr’s contribution has been anything but.

The 87-year-old Carr played netball at provincial and representative level, but her major contributions have been made courtside, primarily as a coach and fundraiser.

For more than six decades she has held several roles with the Ōtorohanga Netball Centre, becoming a Life Member of the club and the Centre’s patron since 2007 where she has remained an active and productive contributor.

She is a past president of the Ōtorohanga Umpire Association (1982–1992) and has received Service Awards from Netball Waikato/BOP and Netball New Zealand.

Carr was also instrumental in developing Ōtorohanga College’s netball programme while working as a teacher at the school. Her name is still regularly heard at the college whenever a ‘most outstanding netball player’ is awarded the Marjorie Carr Trophy.

She learnt many of her earliest lessons about sport on her own driveway and in dairy farm paddocks where games were devised with her three sisters and neighbours.

Netball is not her only sport. For more than 50 years, this life member and patron of the Ōtorohanga Tennis Club has been a player, coach, fundraiser and president (1988–1991).

These days she’s more drawn towards yet another code where golf is her new game, taking it up on retirement and playing at the Waitomo Golf Club since.

In addition to sport, Carr has been president of the Ōtorohanga Lyceum Club of which she has been a member for about 20 years.

The King's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and, also, public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975.