Dan Neser is newest addition to the Harlequins hero’s gallery
The Harlequins club in Pretoria recently honoured another former member with their special and unique honorary award.
Pretoria’s oldest sports and recreation club, Harlequins, has recently honoured a third member of this club with the prestigious Harlequin Heritage Honorarium.
This award is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a member of the club. The criteria according to which the award is assigned is the way the recipient has proven himself in serving the club selflessly and in exceptional manner over an extended period.
The newest recipient of this honour is the late Dan Neser, a former chairman of Harlequins.
The Committee of the Harlequin club has unanimously agreed that Neser be accorded this honour, posthumously, in recognition of and tribute to his immense contribution over many years of distinguished service.
Neser’s homage by Harlequins also underlined the family traditions of the club. Thirteen members of the Neser family were present at the function. They are the third and fourth generation Nesers after Dan’s famous father, Justice Vivian “Boet” Neser. He was a supreme court judge, an avid rugby and cricket player, an international rugby referee and also a former president of the Harlequins Club.
Dan Neser died in 2011. His wife, Jenny, was a well-known community activist in Pretoria and founder of Project Literacy. She died in 2012, eleven months after her husband.
For Dan’s three sons and their family members the function started on an emotional note with a Scottish bagpipe player who led the guests of honour into the Harlequin restaurant while playing the famous song ‘Danny-Boy’.
Several of Dan Neser’s friends and teammates of old have paid tribute to their club colleague by means of tales from his days as sportsman and administrator.
Neser, who worked as a senior advocate in Pretoria, was not only a very good leader and administrator. He was also an outstanding and versatile sportsman.
As an administrator he is especially remembered for his work to develop Harlequins’ infrastructure. He was also well-known as administrator at national level and he was a great friend of the well-known rugby icon, Dr. Danie Craven.
At international level he maintained particularly good relationships with Harlequins clubs in countries such as England, New Zealand and Kenya.
On the sports fields and in the swimming pool Neser excelled for Harlequins’ first teams in rugby, cricket and water polo.
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