Jerry Adams didn’t have a clue what he was getting himself in to when he decided relaunch the Shepparton Gift.
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By reintroducing professional athletics to the town, the promoter uncovered a rich history of the sport in the Goulburn Valley.
It’s no surprise to Shepparton sports fans, but to Adams, a Goulburn Valley newcomer, it was like uncovering a hidden gem.
“I moved here about six months ago and I am amazed at the stories of professional athletics from around this area,” Adams said.
“The Shepparton people have been fantastic with their support and it seems that everybody has a connection to the sport or knows somebody that won a pro race.”
The Shepparton Gift itself has been named in honour of George Nelson, a successful district professional athlete and the only Indigenous trainer of a Stawell Gift winner.
Nelson, who died earlier this year, trained former Shepparton News sports editor Noel Hussey to win the 1964 Stawell Gift.
His efforts in training Hussey have been officially recognised as one of the greatest moments in Stawell Gift history.
Raised at Echuca, Hussey was 21 when he won Australia’s most prestigious professional sprint race.
Running off a handicap mark of 8½ yards, Hussey breasted the tape in a time of 12.1 seconds to take the win.
It ended up being the only professional win in his career.
“I only won the one professional race. People can’t believe it when I tell them. We did aim for it two years before I won it though, so there was some planning that went into it,” Hussey said.
“I’m not really a sprinter and I have never really called myself one, but I happened to win one of the best sprint races around. I was more a 400 and 800m runner.”
To go along with his prizemoney of 750 pounds, Hussey won another 600 pounds with the bookies after getting odds of 10/1.
“I ended up being favourite just before the final, but I backed myself a lot earlier and I did okay. Others were even luckier and got in before I did at even better odds,” he said.
Hussey paid tribute to Nelson and recalled him being a fantastic athlete.
“George was a good mentor and friend. I went to him when I was 14 or 15 years of age and we trained together in Echuca. He was a good runner. He won some big races, including the 220 yards and the half-mile at Stawell.” Hussey said.
A man of many talents, Hussey was pivotal in organising the Shepparton Gift in the early 1980s.
“After I finished running, I tried to promote the Shepparton Gift. I remember local identity Paul Briggs won a 70m race at one of the meetings. We used to have the athletics as well as the cycling at the velodrome,” he said.
“I wish the new committee all the best with this year’s gift, because it’s a lot of hard work getting it up and finding the money to run the event.”
Hussey went on to train runners himself and he prepared mid-distance runner Terry Brown to win the 800m at the 1988 Shepparton Gift.
“It was held at Princess Park and it was run by the Lemnos Football club. Terry was a local lad and a great 400 and 800m runner. He scorched them that day in the half-mile. It was his only win in the professional ranks. That same year he got second in the under-18 Australian 800m titles as well,” he said.
Now living in Toowoomba, 80-year-old Hussey is a great storyteller.
As a former sports editor of the Shepparton News, he has amassed 1000s of sporting stories from across the Goulburn Valley.
“I did 30 years at the Shepparton News and I was the best sports editor they have ever had,” he said laughing.
“In all seriousness, the Goulburn Valley is a great running nursery, but the fastest of them all was Noel Pattison. Patto won the 1965 Bendigo 1000 and was the last winner of the Shepparton Gift held at Deakin Reserve in the 1960s.”
Other than athletics Hussey was a handy boxer, winning 19 of 20 amateur fights.
He was also involved with the Shepparton umpires, the Shepparton Runners’ Club and the Goulburn Valley Football League.
Contributed