In our “A Drink with Jeff” series, Campbelltown Catholic Club community liaison Jeff McGill has been catching up with a diverse selection of club identities. This time, he caught up with Collegians Cricket Club legend and longtime educator GAVAN MARTYN.
When Gavan Martyn’s niece, Sarah, recently graduated from university the family gathered to celebrate at The Catho. This photo shows them lined up on our wooden staircase — a handy well-lit spot for a snap.
Missing, but not forgotten, were Gavan’s late parents: Barbara and Daryl Martyn. But Daryl’s name did cast a benevolent gaze at them from across the foyer. His is one of the 160 names featured on the engraved timber poles: that grandiose roll-call of pioneers who joined our club before it opened in December 1968.
That resonates with Gavan. Not just because his dad’s name is ingrained in the very architecture, but because he also recognises so many other names on the poles as dear family friends or mentors.
It’s not just due to that family connection that The Catho is a backdrop to Gavan’s life. He’s a legend of our Collegians Cricket Club, and as a long-serving teacher at Rosemeadow’s John Therry Catholic College he has seen the way club donations have helped build local schools.
So, I invited Gavan to join me as my latest Drink with Jeff interview.
We arranged to meet at 4.15pm but I didn’t actually see ‘Gav’ (the name most of us know him by) arrive. I’d bumped into Sonya Moulang — a skilled local chef, now teaching at TAFE — and was deep in conversation with her when I looked around to see Gav’s big, patient smile. Gav and I have known each other for more than 35 years, so he’s well aware that I can get a bit distracted.
After a warm handshake, we grabbed a couple of beers from Dee at the bar. “Reschs Refreshes,” quipped Gav, quoting the famous old slogan that once adorned pub art. We sat at one of the tall timber benches in the lounge, giving Gav a clear view through the windows to Koshigaya Park across the road. It immediately triggered his memories of playing soccer there as a kid in the 1970s. Yes, young readers, that meticulously-manicured park of today was once a dusty paddock that pretended to be a sporting field.
“I started playing when I was at St John’s [primary school]. They’d line up the boys and say ‘Do you want to play footy or soccer?’. That’s how they built the junior clubs. Cricket came a bit later on for me.”
“Dad was heavily involved in these teams as Secretary of the Collegians Rugby League Football Club — the first sporting Club in the Catholic Club. Then the Collegians Cricket Club was the next club to form. He was great mates with John O’Reilly who was the President and the two families used to socialise with each other considerably over those years. I still see one of his sons, Patrick, who is the CEO of the Marist 180 Youth Services at Marist professional development events.”
I remembered Daryl and Barbara as very kind people who were staunch supporters of Macarthur’s 24 Hour Fight Against Cancer charity, and Gav nodded his head. “Yes, particularly when Dad and Mum faced their own cancer battles. Mum was with the Quota canteen at the event since it began”
Our conversation went back in time to the mid-sixties when a group of parents at St John’s working bees came up with the idea of creating a club that would raise money for local Catholic education. Daryl and Barbara were among the parents who joined up dearly — his father was member number 65.
“Mum and Dad lived in Campbelltown from 1964, and they built a house Grandview Drive. All four of us kids went to St John’s (walking there and back most days), but we were more scattered in high school — Trevor and I went to St Greg’s, Katrina went to St Patrick’s, and Stephanie went to John Therry.”
But Gav doesn’t think his parents were present at the official opening of the club in December 1968. “Dad got a job as district manager for Golden Fleece in 1967, which involved briefly relocating down the coast. That’s why I was born in Bega, five or six weeks before the club opening, in October 1968.
“We lived in Tathra until 1969, then moved back to Grandview Drive. Dad at first worked for a small company that sold project homes in Sherwood Hills (modern Bradbury), then worked for [local realtor] Frank Ward in 1970. Soon afterwards, he started his own business — Daryl Martyn Real Estate. He was very proud of that business, and mum was always there by his side. The office was in Dumaresq Street.
“I’d go down there from St John’s after school, often chatting to shopkeepers on the way. One of them was Jimmy Bright, who owned a carpet shop. Little did I know that years later I’d be playing first grade cricket with him!”
With the floodgates of Gav’s memory now opened, he went through a flurry of familiar names. “I remember growing up with the McGowan family next door, and we used the play sport with all the kids at the back of Ron and Ruth McDonald’s back yard who were great neighbours. Also the Slatterys, Comerfords, and Vardys. Mum and Dad used to socialise a lot with Teddy and Corrie McGoldrick.”
Gav also remembered fondly Stan Simmons, one of the early Catholic Club presidents. “I’d get in trouble as a kid for calling him by his first name,” he laughed. “I’d be training at Camden Road Reserve [Koshigaya Park] until dark and he would drop me home afterwards. As I got out of his car, I’d yell, ‘Thanks Stan!’, but when I walked in the door Mum would say, “He’s an adult, and you’re a child, you should be calling him Mr Simmons!’ ”
Gav remembered his father’s involvement in the famed Cork Club. This was an extended social group of Catho stalwarts, colourful characters such as Gordon Fetterplace, Kevin Nott and John Davenport, with each member issued with a cork which had to be carried at all times. Failure to produce it when challenged by a fellow club member resulted in a fine.
But the club was far more than just a social thing for Daryl, and I suggested Gav’s father used it for a fair bit of ‘networking’. Peter Barron — the first club member I interviewed for this series of interviews — told me: “Daryl Martyn sold soooooooo many houses through the Catholic Club.” Gav smiled. “Well, Dad didn’t actually call it networking, he called it ‘connecting’. My brother, Trevor, used that line in Dad’s eulogy because it was his favourite line: ‘It was all about connection’.”
The friendships the Martyns made here extended well beyond the walls of The Catho. “There were the famous card nights that carried on when we moved to Lilian Street,” Gav recalled. “Some of the participants were Ron McDonald, Max Comerford, Stan Simmons, John O’Reilly, Noel Burton, Bernie McGrath, Peter Barron — and Des Chapman was always happy to show me how to win at cards. Leo Delissen also came to the house one day with golf clubs and took me down to Lillian Reserve so I could have a smash. It was Leo who showed me how much fun golf can be.”
“We had a great time living at Lilian Street with families such as the McGoldricks, Dunphys, Bagleys, Hicks and Limbrey clans all close by.”
As this point in our conversation it is noted that I was among the big backyard crowd that gathered at Lilian Street when Gav celebrated his 21st birthday party in 1989. “Back when we both still had hair,” we laughed. Gav goes back even further with my wife, Trish (Monkcom). They both attended kindergarten together at St John’s. Another kindy friend, Julie Ward is married to a top local cricketer Jason Ellsmore, who Gav has both played with, and against. “Jason’s quite a character on the field.”
Which brought us neatly to Gav’s link with the Collies.
He started playing with Collegians Cricket Club in U/12’s 1980/81 coached by John Evans. “I was invited to play by my mates Ian Maher and Frank Hicks as the team were short players that season. I ended up playing for Collies until I was 38.”
He said he stepped down when his son, Sam, was born so could could concentrate on being a dad. “But I eventually came back to the Collies through Sam, coaching him in the under 10s through to the under 16s, and now playing 10th grade cricket with him. I then had the satisfaction this year of winning the premiership with him.” (Note: This grand final-winning team is largely made up of Collies veterans, Life Members, and father/son combos. “Sweet victory,” said Gav. “That’s the best thing about the Collies — we really are the Family Club. I love seeing those that I coached at an early age play Seniors and now have their own kids playing cricket for the Collies — you can’t beat that!”)
Their ‘local’ to celebrate is the Campbelltown Golf Club, a place Gav said reminded him of the old outdoor barbecue/pool area at the Catholic Club (lost in 1986 when the land was resumed to construct Kellicar Road). “We now treat the Golf Club like that: a place where you can go back after a match, be outside in your cricket whites and a bit sweaty, and just relax and have a beer.”
Gav became the longest-serving President of Collegians Cricket Club (a marathon term from 1995 to 2008). Two other Collies presidents — Paul O’Loughlan and David Olsson — both went on to become long-serving presidents of The Catholic Club itself, and Gav spoke highly of both men. Indeed, Gav lists Paul’s son, Greg O’Loughlan, as one of the local players who inspired him the most.
Mentoring is a topic dear to Gav’s heart. He believes strongly in providing strong role models for young people. That is understandable, as Gav is not just a keen sportsman and clubman, but one of the longest-serving teachers at John Therry College. His official title at present is Coordinator of Teaching and School Operations, but I reckon ‘living treasure’ might be more apt: he has spent more than three decades as a senior staffer, in a variety of roles, embracing the transformative power of education.
He also sees connections everywhere. “One of the best thing about the Catholic Club is the members who give their time, heart and energy to the right causes. And that’s very important for me. It’s also really important for kids to have healthy role model. If you take the opportunity to get involved with what the club offers, as far as sport and activities, you will not only meet some great people and make some great friendships, but encounter strong characters who can give guidance.”
I’ve seen Gav’s own mentoring with my own eyes, from his support of my own sons when they were at the school, to his work with students creating historic DVDs which has led the school be be a frequent NSW winner of the federal government’s Anzac Day Schools Awards. (It must be a family trait, too. I’ve also seen up close the way Gav’s teacher wife, Kirsten, engages her students at Bradbury Public School.)
“I love my job,” Gav said. “I’ve had many different roles, which keeps it fresh. I’ve done coordinating, pastoral care, admin ,and have been acting Assistant Principal five times. But I also like to fit in the continuity of teaching classes.”
He also notes the generosity of The Catho in helping fund his school’s growth over the years, from the undercover area, and landscaping of the hall, or fitting out the library, even funding school counsellors. The annual Jack Crawford Games have long been held at John Therry to honour the memory of a Catholic Club director who died in 1987 but was instrumental in founding the school.
Gav spoke fondly of the patchwork quilt method in which John Therry was built largely via parent working bees. “These days, I’ll show a new teacher around and they’ll notice, for example, sections of differently-coloured concrete pathways. That’s because they were all created in little bits, at different working bees — with love and sweat. These pathways may not look as neat and flashy as some of these brand new schools they’re building today, but I prefer John Therry the way it is.
“One memory I have of getting into a bit of trouble from dad was because my sister, Stephanie, was at John Therry and the students were asked to bring grass runners from home to plant out the front of the school. So, wanting to do our bit, I grabbed a shovel and dug up a portion of Dad’s prized lawn for the cause. [Laughs].”
In our chat, Gav spoke at length about Marist values and actively engaging students who are thinking about a career in teaching. “We work with them from about Year 10, helping them, engaging them, getting them doing presentations to class, or working with students at Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School next door. We got 17 students from last year’s HSC choosing teaching as a career. Just as the Marist order talks about growing brothers, we grow our own teachers.”
Our discussions of mentoring also lead us to a mutual friend — Paul Hughes, the Principal of Rosemeadow Public School. Paul is widely admired for his innovation and mentoring and has created a truly special culture at his school, noted for its high morale and cutting-edge ideas. “Absolutely,” Gav said. “The first time I met Paul we were still young blokes, down at the old Showground. I was doing a bit of cricket training and he was with the Harlequins rugby union team. We hit it off straight away and, all these years later, Paul has has been a great mate. We’ve travelled overseas with him and his wife, Vickie, and their two girls and we feel very lucky to have them as part of our lives.” In a small world sort of way, I noted Paul also attended Campbelltown High with my own brother back in the 1980s.
As we wrapped up our chat, I asked Gav to sum up his feelings of The Catho: “My life has been walking step by step with the Club’s growth,” he replied. “We were both born in 1968. It was still a little building as I was kid playing soccer next door to it. As the club developed, I’ve also growth, and seen its huge impact, not only socially, but professionally, with so much money going back into the schools. It’s the place where you celebrate as a family, or with friends. We also came here after Dad’s funeral. The Catho has always been a gathering point. Even as a kid, we met up at the club for our away soccer games, with all our cars parked here.”
Gav proudly showed me his membership card — he now has his Dad’s number 65. His son, Sam, has his grandmother Barbara’s number. “Sam feels that family link strongly and, walking through the foyer, I think he’s very proud.”
As we began walking out, past the bar, Gav and I ran into club identity Phil Crosland, and Gav immediately started chatting to him about cricket and family. “Phil’s a great friend who I first met playing cricket against one day — batting with Mick D’Arcy to save an outright loss.”
Phil was on his way to join his mates at the ‘Table of Knowledge’, Gav explained. People like Peter Barron, Tony McKee and Kerry Hooten. “The table were a particularly important group of people who supported our family when Dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer and later passed. We will never forget their support.”
As we reached the foyer, Gav and I stood for a moment at the bottom of the big staircase where the photo of the Martyn family, mentioned at this interview start, was snapped. Gav, being a very proud uncle, spoke warmly of his niece Sarah who graduated from the University of Sydney with a Masters of Speech Language Pathology. “She’s going to make a huge impact in her field,” he beamed.
It made me realise that, for Gav and his family, The Catho and its foyer is more than just a convenient spot for a photograph. Metaphorically, it is where generations and stories still converge. But the Martyns are just one of so many families who find a piece of themselves within our club’s embrace.
