This week marks 25 years since the 2000 Sydney Olympics and in the days leading up to the games, many Australians held the torch in its travel to the harbour.
One such torch bearer was local Ron Banbury, who planned to walk to savour the moment, but would ultimately run in excitement.
Gazette journalist Corey Everitt spoke with Ron and wife Beryl about that moment, their contribution to the community and being superfans of Catani Football and Netball.
“I felt on top of the world,” he said.
In Kooweerup, there is a hidden settlement of Catani.
A house adorned with navy blue, but in place of the accompanying red of the Kooweerup Demons is the white of the Catani Blues.
This is not a hostile act, a sign declaring Catani sits by the door but out of sight of the street to not cause offence or confusion to visitors.
If you know anything about the Banburys, then it makes sense. Ron and Beryl are super fans of Catani Football and Netball Club and are core to the club’s strength.
Both 87, they may not make it down to every training night anymore, but they are there for every game.
In 2016, they were awarded the Stan Henwood Award for their 50 years of dedication to local sport.
This is the highest achievement in volunteering for Cardinia, however, a peak in their sporting fanaticism came years prior.
In 1999, they received a letter from the Olympic committee that Ron had been selected as a torchbearer for the relay to the Sydney games.
Ron was tasked to run from Trafalgar town centre to Sunny Creek Road, representing his area of Catani, Bayles, Modella and Yannathan.
“He practised walking, because that’s what he thought he’d do, walk the distance, and then he jogged all the way,” Beryl said.
Ron described it as, “I felt on top of the world.”
The same as what hopefully many will experience in 2032 when the flame makes its way to Brisbane, the Olympics are a celebration of the country experienced collectively.
“People would come up to you as you were running to touch the torch and cheer you on, it was a really community experience,” Beryl said.
The day of Ron’s leg of the relay included a lunch for all runners in Warragul, excited coverage from the local papers and a fair few handouts; the Banburys ask if their unused McDonald’s coupon from then is still redeemable.
It was a celebration of athletics and there are few in Cardinia more dedicated to sporting activities than the Banburys.
It was eight years ago that they moved to Kooweerup, before that, Ron and Beryl lived on the family dairy farm in Catani.
It’s Beryl who holds the original claim to Catani, being raised on the farm where she played netball. Ron grew up around the corner in Bunyip where he was a boundary umpire at 12 years old and would go on to play for the club. In the old catchment for the Bloods, he would play many games for the South Melbourne reserves.
Moving to the farm after marrying Beryl would bind Ron to Catani. Today, they have collectively contributed over a century of service to the club.
The farm was a walk away from Taplins Road and it was a matter of just what they did off the farm.
“It was one of those things that the footy club became our hobby, if that’s the right thing to say,” Beryl said.
They both grew up playing local sport, but in their time it was rare for parents to be down at training and the games, the depression-era parents of their generation were just too busy ensuring a livelihood.
With Beryl and Ron, they volunteered with their kids and held many different roles in the club; it became much more than the weekend competition.
Many at Catani do the quiet work of maintaining the grounds, cleaning the rooms and running functions.
“Ron never once cleaned the floor at home, but he always did it at the club rooms,” Beryl joked.
It was a busy life, but a rewarding one. The Banburys would look after the farm while turning up to cook for training or presentation nights and cheer on the teams on the weekend.
They still made time on weekend evenings to make it to the weekly dance where Ron played the drums for many years.
A typical day was a rush between the milking sheds, the oval, the court, the clubrooms and then the dance hall.
Such work has made the Banburys a staple of the club, not an easy achievement for a club with a long list of legendary members.
Ron and Beryl think that has influenced the extended family, passing on a love for Catani to the next generations, such as their daughter Angela, who is a 500-game legend of the netball club and is a former longtime president.
Angela co-coached the under 15s to a back-to-back premiership this past weekend in the Ellinbank League.
She would organise and initiate a round dedicated to Footy Kicks Cancer campaign, all with custom pale blue guernseys to raise funds to fight prostate and ovarian cancer.
In 2020, Ron and Beryl were invited to the Grand Final as AFL Victoria’s Country Volunteers of the Year in recognition of their years with the club.
The Banburys prove that carrying the torch for your local club is about supporting your own community as much as it is about cheering on your team.
