18.2 C
Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

From Young to Ballina: the Eoin and Barry story

Latest News

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

A man has been charged following a pursuit near Tweed Heads on Monday.

Other News

Records galore!

Byron Bay Easter Record Fair returns again to Ewingsdale Hall. Now in its 15th year, the Byron Bay Easter Record Fair is one of the biggest and best in this country. Matt the Vinyl Junkie has spent years on buying trips to the US and Japan scouring dusty warehouses, shops, flea markets and private collections. He can offer an astounding 30,000 records in one place covering most genres.

How the coral crisis affects other marine wildlife

Marine heatwaves are killing coral and denuding reefs of their colourful beauty – but in a world where everything is food for something else, these heatwaves also pose a major threat to biodiversity.

Cinema: Wicked Little Letters

Based on a true scandal that stunned 1920s England, Wicked Little Letters centres on neighbours Edith Swan and Rose Gooding in the seaside town of Littlehampton.

Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?

Save Wallum finalist in NSW 2024 environment awards

The Save Wallum campaign has been named as a finalist in the Nature Conservation Council of NSW Environment Awards 2024. The award ceremony will be held in Sydney tonight, and Save Wallum spokesperson and ecologist James Barrie will be attending with Tegan Kitt, another founding member of the group.

A seasoned bard

Guy Kachel had an idyllic entry to the world of music. Born in Tamworth, he was raised on the banks of the Peel River. The landscape was a fertile ground for his imagination. Seeing this rustic world change, as Tamworth developed into an inland city and friends grew to sometimes troubled adulthoods, provided insights for the artistry that later powered his career as a performer.

Barry Saxby and Cr Eoin Johnston at Ballina. Photo David Lowe.

Ballina councillor Eoin Johnston and local legend Barry Saxby have a long history together, as Echonetdaily discovered when Barry’s race-walking champion daughter Kerry Saxby-Junna was honoured in Ballina last week.

Cr Johnston said, ‘My memory of Barry goes back to when I was at Young, South West Slopes, Barry was the agricultural science teacher, and the only subject I was good at was agriculture, and I put that down to the fact I loved the subject and had a very good teacher.’

Barry Saxby said, ‘I always remember the troublemakers!’

Cr Johnston said, ‘Barry was also the first grade rugby league coach, and he was quite a renowned boxer. I’m 75 and he’s 87, so when I was 12, he was only 22, and he was still making his mark at that early age.’

‘You didn’t mention that I got the young record for highest cricket score then, 320 not out,’ Mr Saxby reminded his former student.

Eoin Johnston credits Mr Saxby with helping him overcome a childhood stutter, to the point where he was later able to become a barrister.

Olympic origins

Echonetdaily asked Barry Saxby how his famous daughter got her start in race-walking.

‘Kerry always race-walked as a side issue at events,’ he said. ‘The coach of Cowra Athletic Club said “this girl’s going to represent Australia”, and she was only 14 then. It didn’t ring a bell at the time, but later on she got more serious.

‘She got picked in the Australian team as a reserve to compete at the Isle of Man, the World Titles. She got ninth in it and beat all the other Australians.’

Kerry Saxby-Junna AM with her parents and local Ballina legends Barry and Jan Saxby at the opening of the new signage. Photo David Lowe.

When the family moved to Ballina, Mr Saxby remembers the coach at the Australian Institute of Sport asking about his daughter’s training program.

‘She said about 100 kilometres a week, running. He said, “if you get serious about race walking you’ll blitz it.” Kerry got a scholarship to the AIS and she went on from there.’

In the early days, Barry Saxby was his daughter’s main trainer, but he remembers she didn’t need much encouragement. ‘I just rode the bike. She made me get out of bed to go training with her!’

Barry and his wife Janice have remained stalwarts of the Ballina athletics scene since those early days. He said he’s seen some other big talents come through the area too.

‘We had Cathy Sharp, she won the Australian high jump championship. Sharon, our other daughter, she won the Australian 800 metres, with a scholarship to Hawaii, but she tore her Achilles tendon over there, and it was never right ever since, so that was sad,’ he remembered.

Eoin and Barry meet again in Ballina

Cr Johnston says Barry Saxby was ‘instrumental’ in organising the Ballina 10,000m race, as well as the Shelly Beach Handicap on Sundays for the last forty years, where ‘all kinds of people from kids to grandparents turn up’ to have a go.

Shelley Beach SLSC.

The two men were reunited again after many decades when Cr Johnston was working as a patrol captain with the local lifesavers.

Mr Saxby remembers, ‘He was supposed to be guarding the surf, and suddenly he’s kicking us off the beach!

‘I said “wake up to yourself, do your bloody job properly!”

‘He said who did you think you are? I said “I’m a very important man.” And he went and talked to my son Justin, and he said we’ve just come up from Young. He didn’t recognise me ’til then – didn’t want to!’

‘I came all the way up here to get away from him!’ said Cr Johnston with a grin.

A few years after that, Barry Saxby talked Cr Eoin into coming to Shelley Beach for a race, but Mr Saxby had a heart attack that day and had to be rushed to hospital. Fortunately he made a full recovery, and these days is as active as ever.

Eoin Johnston said, ‘The great thing about Barry is that he’s never stopped raising funds for his beloved runners or his little athletics. He has to go to Shaws Bay and drink beer and sell raffle tickets, hates the beer bit but he loves selling tickets don’t you? And he’d be doing it now if it wasn’t for the COVID.’

Mr Saxby added, ‘and at the Slipway Hotel too for the hockey club!’

It’s not hard to see why Barry and Janice Saxby won the Senior Citizen of the Year Award for Ballina in 2020. This year’s awards will be announced at the Lennox Head Cultural Centre on Tuesday.


Support The Echo

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week – or maybe more – we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Where should affordable housing go in Tweed Shire?

Should affordable and social housing in the Tweed Shire be tucked away in a few discreet corners? Perhaps it should be on the block next to where you live?

Making Lismore Showground accessible to everyone

The Lismore Showground isn’t just a critical local community asset that plays host to a number of major events each year, but has also been used as an evacuation centre during past natural disasters in the region. 

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

Govt cost-shifting ‘erodes financially sustainable local government’

Byron Shire Council looks set to add its voice to the growing chorus calling on the state government to stop shifting responsibilities and costs onto local government.