Mark Manolios
Mark Manolios was a Zimbabwean top sport administrator who is hailed as the doyen and granddad of Olympic sport and hockey in Zimbabwe. He had served as the president of the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe for more than 50 years.[1]
Background
Mark Manolios was born on 21 June 1939 and died on 17 September 2018 at the age of 78. He was married to Alison who also played hockey and softball for the Zimbabwe women's team and their daughter Mandy also played hockey for the national schools' hockey team. He became the first Prince Edward School pupil to be awarded full colours for his exploits in hockey back in 1957.[2]
Career
Player
After completing his education at Prince Edward Schools, Manolios moved on to play hockey for Old Hararians which he rated as one of the best sides in the country. He also played for the provincial Mashonaland side and his team mates in the Mashonaland team all made it into the national side. He started watching sport since he was nine years old and he remembered listening to the 1948 Olympic Games on the radio. Besides his passion for hockey, he later developed into a renowned umpire, coach and later on as sports administrator.
Umpire and Coach
He officiated in 11 pre-Olympic matches at the 1972 Games, where he sat together with various selectors and coaches, listening to their team talk, which increased his knowledge of the game and helped him in the long term to take up coaching on a full time basis. Manolios became the national en's coach from 1970 up to 1986. His team enjoyed success in overseas assignments with players such as Gerald Peckover, Marshall Page and Alan Peake forming the backbone of the squad. At one point the men's team was ranked eighth in the world, winning a bronze medal at an Eight Nations Tournament in the 1980s. It was no mean achievement, considering that they beat European champions Spain twice in one week on their way to third place finish.
Administrator
Manolios is remembered for the tremendous contribution he made to sport in the country. He served on the Zimbabwean Sports Commission for 12 years and on the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) for 26 years, during which time he accompanied teams to the Olympic Games nine times as coach or administrator, two of them as Chef de Mission. He was also twice elected Vice-President of the ZOC and is credited as the driving force behind Zimbabwe’s hosting of the 1995 All-Africa Games.[3]
But, it was especially as hockey coach, administrator, international umpire and member of the equipment committee of the world hockey organisation, FIH, that he made his mark. He was eventually honoured with a life Presidency of Zimbabwe Hockey. The period 1970-85, when Manolios was national hockey coach, is known as the golden years of Zimbabwean hockey, when the ladies national team won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. The team became a strong contender on overseas tours, for example, beating the European champions Spain twice in one week at the Eight Nations Tournament. His wife, Alison, was also a member of the national hockey team. He was the first chef de mission of Team Zimbabwe at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as well as the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Business
The name Mark Manolios has been synonymous with Zimbabwe sport for almost 40 years. That's when the first - and still the flagship - Mark Manolios Sports (MMS) retail shop was opened on 13 August 1973 at the Avondale Shopping Centre in Harare. That remained the sole centre of excellence in supply and advice for sports equipment in Zimbabwe until 2012 when, sensing the moment, two new branches were opened in quick succession in Harare.[4]
Death
Manolios died on 17 September 2018 after he collapsed from suspected dysoected heart failure in a Johannesburg hotel in South Africa, where he had undergone a minor operation at Four Ways Hospital.
