Geraldton Easter Carnivals commenced soon after the shift from St. Pat’s Primary School to Sanford St in 1964. Most Perth division 1 teams travelled to Geraldton as a prelude to their Winter season commencing.
A highlight one year was Trevor Monger reaching Ric Longley’s nose with his elbow, accidentally of course. Ric is Luc’s uncle.
Another feature of the early days was the tussles between Geraldton & Highgate (East Perth). Around 50 teams attended during this period.
The move to Eighth St and the attraction of an indoor stadium in 1974 was the catalyst to growth with 140 teams coming one year. The fixtures were a nightmare because many teams registered but didn’t always turn up and some teams turned up without registering. This caused fixtures to be finalised on the Wednesday and faxed out to teams, and then changed again on Good Friday. University (UWA) sent 12 teams one year and one particular player attended over 15 carnivals. He was a studious type.
The Geraldton Carnival was the go to carnival for many years until the Perth club decided to run a similar carnival in Vic Park. The following year Bunbury decided to run a carnival also and with the option of three carnivals on the weekend, teams were spread over the whole state. The result was that within 2 years, all carnivals cancelled through lack of players. A very successful carnival, run over more than 25 years, was defeated by greed and jealousy. University continued to come to Geraldton until the very end but lack of other teams made the carnival unviable. A regular attendee was the HEH Naval Base team from Exmouth, and the most watched team was the athletic Meekatharra (George Flanagan) team which was always a highlight. Broome was also a regular attendee at Easter. Fergie, the driving instructor, organised this team.
For many years, Geraldton hosted an Aboriginal Carnival which attracted teams from as far as Broome and all districts in between. This started in the nineties and continued for around 5 years.
L-R: Mike Ellis, Mike Langoulant (on knees), Stuart Campbell, Robbie Bresa, Phil Lowe, Ken Ferguson, Glenn Ellis, Stephen Ellis, Jeff Anderson, Terry Richardson (Gton Trophy donor)
(Photo – GABA)
Harold E Holt Base – American team from Exmouth
Mike Munjak organised the team
Ray Crudelli, Craig ‘Scurge’ Butler (4), Hugh McNeil?, Phil Cant (5)
Warrick Glenister (11) – Olympians – up the back
(Photo – GABA)
Back L-R: Jenny Grosse, David Grosse, Brenda (Herring) Ferguson, Bronwyn Thornton, Helen Ferguson, Paul (Buddy) Herring
Middle L-R: John Mortimer (9), Steven Wornes (6), ?, Danny Hayes (5), Mark Thornton (12)
Front L-R: Andrew Rogers (4), Jeff Tubby (10), Tony Ferguson (8), ?
(Photo – GABA)
(Photo: GABA)
Scott Marsden (1 – East Perth), Trevor Torrence (10 – Swans), Peter Dix (5 – East Perth), Brett Ellis (Swans)
Peter Dix (5 – East Perth), Trevor Torrence (Swans), Brett Ellis (15 – Swans)
(Photo: GABA)
(Photo: GABA)
Wolves v Beagle Bay
(Photo: GABA)
(Photo: GABA)
(Photo: GABA)
Serina Simpson, Mel Gray, Gail Simpson
Court 1 (before the wall was shifted (1974 – 1976)
(Photo: Annette Cooper)
Court 1 (before the wall was shifted (1974 – 1976)
(Photo: Annette Cooper)
Source: Kerry Clark
1990 Mens A Grade premiers at the Geraldton Aboriginal Sporting Corps Basketball Carnival
Source: Trevor Walley
Ernie Dingo, Trevor Walley
Source: Trevor Walley
Ernie Dingo, Richard Walley
Source: Trevor Walley