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SKAAC History Index
Authors' Preface to 1994 and 2004 Editions
Formation of the Club
The Forties - Rise and Fall
The Fifties - Glory Days
The Early Sixties - Decline and Drift
The Late Sixties and Early Seventies - J D Noonan and Marathons
The Mid to Late Seventies - The Times They are a Change'n
Formation of the Club
Background - St Kevin's College 1918-1940
To fully appreciate the remarkable achievement of the original foundation of the St Kevin's Amateur Athletic Club one must also be familiar with the details of the history of the College itself. St Kevin's College was founded in 1918 as a Central Leaving School for students at Christian Brothers Colleges around Melbourne. Students wishing to sit for their Leaving Certificate (then Matriculation) and Leaving Honours examination (their last two years at secondary school) would come together at the one school to receive the best tuition the Brothers could provide. The original school building for St Kevin's College was located within the grounds of C.B.C Victoria Parade, East Melbourne - better known as Parade College. In 1968 Parade College moved to Bundoora and the original buildings are now Cathedral College. The students that attended St Kevin's during its earliest days considered themselves still to be students of their feeder schools and would represent these on sports days. Thus a boy originally from C.B.C North Melbourne would turn out for North in their football team or cricket team or athletics team on these occasions.
By the end of the 1920's the small and cramped East Melbourne campus was feeling the strain of increased numbers and the principal, Br Kearney, purchased the Glenbervie mansion on the corner of St George's and Lansell Road. The College moved to this site for the start of the 1931 school year. The move to Toorak helped establish an independent identity from Parade College, the home of the original school, and the other feeder Brothers schools. The creation of a St Kevin's identity was further enhanced by the institution of primary, junior and middle secondary classes at the Toorak campus. In 1931 Br Kearney also purchased the Heyington property for sports grounds which provided a training and competition venue for St Kevin's College. Ironically, the land on which the Senior College is now located was known as "Kearney's Folly" particularly when, on frequent occasions, the lower section was flooded.
In 1935 the College conducted its first ever School Athletics Carnival at the Richmond Cricket Ground with the Senior Champion being Jock McCorkell who was to make his name later as a North Melbourne footballer.
Athletics premierships had been contested among Catholic Schools at the St Patrick's Day Sports since at least 1906 with the winning school being awarded the Archbishop's Shield. Competition was open to all Catholic schools, Country as well as Metropolitan. Up until 1940 no St Kevin's team had appeared at these sports days for without a sizeable junior school the College could not be competitive and also because students still felt they were in fact members of their original schools.
In 1940 St Kevin's College made its interschool athletics debut and won the 2nd Division title at the St Patrick's Day Sports. By 1943 the College had within its ranks a collection of outstandingly talented athletes that would act as a catalyst for the formation of the St Kevin's Old Boys Amateur Athletic Club in 1944.
Formation - Tom O'Donnell, Buster Rahill, John Stoney.
The 1940's were an extraordinary period of time in the sports history of St Kevin's College. In 1948 the school commenced a four year unbeaten run in the newly formed Associated Catholic College's cricket competition; won the same organisation's football premiership; and in 1950, after several years of being runners-up, won the tennis premiership with a few handy players in the guise of John, Ian and Neale Fraser. However, it was in athletics that the school seemed to have a production line of highly talented runners, particular sprinters. In 1943 there was such a convergence of talent that the school was able to win its first and only Athletics Premiership.
Part of the credit for the success of the school's sporting teams must be attributed to the College sportsmaster of the period Br Phillip Rahill.
The sheer mention of his name at Old Collegians Dinners brings a chorus of "Buster", his affectionate nickname, to students of the era.
It is hard to imagine now how this small, stocky, rather rotund man could inspire a generation of St Kevin's students, but his keen and infectious enthusiasm for all sports and his encouragement to many to participate made him a most loved and respected man.
In 1940 he had encouraged a rather indifferent athlete, Tom O'Donnell Junior, to train for the mile at the Catholic Colleges' Sports Day.
Unfortunately mumps prevented Tom from participating but he was now keen on the sport and ended up joining the Old Paradians Amateur Athletic Club upon leaving school.
Although not a Paradian he, like many St Kevin's Old Boys, had close affinity with other Paradians through their years at St Colman's (a scholarship class in Fitzroy for the Junior Government Scholarship) and St Kevin's.
Thus many of St Kevin's best athletes of the era ended at the Old Paradians.
One of those, along with Tom O'Donnell, to finish up registered with the Old Paradians A.A.C. was John Stoney, a runner up of freakish sprint talent. As a schoolboy he was an outstanding sportsman and Captained the College in Football, Cricket and Athletics. At the 1944 Catholic Colleges' Sports Day he ran a blistering 9.8 seconds for the 100 yard on the Fitzroy Cricket Ground. Some members of the press questioned the accuracy of the track's measurements given the outstanding time. Subsequent checking of the 100 yard track found it to be 1 foot too long!! He also won the high jump on the same day by jumping 5ft 10ins using the scissors technique. The V.A.A's historian and statistician, Bert Gardiner, recollected over forty years later a 220 yards race for the 1942 Victorian Schoolboy Championship which John Stoney won. He claimed it was among a handful of the best and most memorable races he had seen in his seventy years watching and participating in the sport. The time of 21.1 seconds was not only quick by the standards of the time but recorded on an appallingly wet and boggy Olympic Park grass track.
Stoney was among the Club's earliest members but was an infrequent competitor, preferring to concentrate on his medical studies. In 1947 he broke down with a hamstring injury shortly before the trials for the London Olympic Games and decided to turn professional. On his pro-debut he won the prestigious Bendigo Thousand. The following season, under the guidance of his coach Charles Hazen, he won the Australian professional 75, 100, 130 and 220 yards titles. In his final ever race, the 1949 Stawell Gift, he finished third running 9 yards 21½ inches inside even time as the back marker.
Laurie Kerr was another outstanding sprinter of the time with wins in the 100 yards and 220 yards at the Catholic Colleges' Sports Day in 1945 and won the Victorian U-17 100 yard Championship in 1945. He was probably better known as a Carlton and Victorian footballer and, after losing amateur status playing football, competed in professional footrunning winning the Bendigo Thousand in 1948.
Geoff Griffiths and John Hutton were two other talented sprinters of the time and Len Drummond was a fine 440 yard runner.
Tom O'Donnell was by 1943 Old Paradians Track Captain and had tried to encourage these talented runners to join him at Old Paradian's. Some did, but most were only vaguely interested in competing for a Club with which they had little or no affiliation. The seemingly sad loss of so many talented runners to the sport led Tom and 'Buster' Rahill to the conclusion that a St Kevin's Old Boys Athletics Club must be established.
With the support of 'Buster' Rahill and Tom O'Donnell Senior (Tom Senior was patron of the Club in its infancy, paying affiliation and other fees, and in the early 1950's becoming President), Tom O'Donnell Junior set about the formation of the Club. Tom Junior's initial approach to the then V.A.A Secretary, Frank Pizzey, received almost no enthusiasm at all with the advice that the Association wanted no "Old Boys" Clubs at all. Although there were some quite strong Old Boys Clubs at the time, most notably Old Scotch Collegians, Northcote High School Old Boys and Melbourne High School Old Boys, several were languishing, examples being Old Melburnians, Old Xaverians and Old Wesley Collegians. This was not surprising in 1944 given the strong support to the services given by ex students from these schools. The V.A.A. were wishing to promote a structure based upon League and Association football in which suburban district Clubs dominated. There was already some basis for this with strong district Clubs such as Collingwood, Richmond, Footscray, Coburg, GlenHuntly and Malvern.
Despite the initial lack of enthusiasm Tom Junior persisted and affiliation with the V.A.A was completed in time for inclusion in the 1944-45 season. However, a further obstacle was placed in the way of the Club's inaugural season. A V.A.A rule permitted athletes transfers between Clubs up to a certain date prior to the season by a simple majority of Club delegates at the Association Council. After this date, unanimous approval was required. John Stoney, Geoff Griffiths, Len Drummond and Tom O'Donnell Jnr all were registered with Old Paradians and sought transfers to the newly formed Club with the support and good wishes of the Old Paradian's. Unfortunately, the obstinant vote of the Collingwood Harriers' delegate against the transfers prevented an unanimous vote and blocked all but Geoff Griffiths joining the Club for twelve months.
No details exist of any formal dates on which it can be stated the Club officially began but an initial meeting interested members took place in the later half of 1944. At this meeting Br Rahill was elected President, Camilus Hayes Secretary, Gavan Sparrow Assistant Secretary, Jack MacDonald Treasurer and Charles Hazen Club Coach. Charlie Hazen's connection with St Kevin's was through the O'Donnell's. He was a friend of the family who coached Melbourne High School Old Boys and he invited Tom to train at Melbourne High. He asked Tom and John Stoney to Melbourne High oval and was so impressed that he shifted his training squad, MHSOB and all, to Heyington. Charlie Hazen shaped the styles and had a profound effect on the great St Kevin's sprinters of that time; John Stoney, Geoff Griffith and Laurie Kerr. That the club was formed is amazing given the indifference of the V.A.A, the failure to gain transfers for four key athletes (including the Club's founder), the difficulties affecting sport given Australia's wartime effort and the small size of the College at the time.