Sport Hawke's Bay founding trustee and former long-time Hawke's Bay Football chairman Rod Pelosi has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to football.
From Scotland and now living in Palmerston North for almost 30 years, he was chairman of Hawke's Bay Football for 10 years and was part of the board which founded Sport Hawke's Bay in 1988.
He was later chairman of the Central Football Federation, and New Zealand Football Referees and, now aged 80, was bestowed life membership of Football New Zealand in 2016.
