When he sees that something needs doing, he does it. It's a straightforward outlook, yet it accounts for the mountainous resume that the 44-year-old has compiled as president of the Tamworth Swans.

And for that long history of service, McKenzie received the Ken McKenzie Award for Services to Sport at the annual Tamworth Regional Council Sports Awards on Friday.

"It was nice to be nominated at all, really," McKenzie said.

"To win that award is pretty special. It's still sinking in, I guess. It's not about being recognised in that sense, I'm quite happy to see our players enjoy the opportunity to play sport. That's the reward I get every Saturday."

Having lived in Tamworth since 2005, McKenzie started playing for the Swans that year.

He put his hand up for the role of president in 2008 when the club was at "a bit of a crossroads", and has held the position ever since.

But why did he decide to run for it in the first place?

"They needed people to step up," McKenzie said. The short phrase quite succinctly summarizes his approach to volunteering.

The club president is unsure who put him up for the award in the first place, but whoever did so cited his work as ground manager, player, umpire, support for the Tamworth Roosters juniors, and the time he also invests supporting the Swans' netball teams as reasons for the nomination.

"The Swans are a great club to be around," McKenzie said.

"I get as much out of it as I put into it, personally. It's a great outlet for me, and it self-feeds. Because when you've got as much time as I've got invested in it, you want to make sure it succeeds."

The concept of success is subjective, but most people would agree that in sport it generally equates to winning games and titles.

McKenzie, however, sees it differently. Yes, accolades and silverware are nice, he said, but it's more important for people to have fun.

"I've always tried to measure success not purely in winning games," he said.

"In community sport, there's more important things to concentrate on than that. If you've invested all your chips in winning grand finals, then the last three losses [in 2020, 2022, and 2023] would have been pretty disappointing.

"But for us to make it to three grand finals is pretty special, and the way the girls' team keeps building is really exciting as well."