The De La Salle College Weightlifting Story

Forward - by Dave Hale In compiling this booklet, I feel that the De La Salle Weightlifting Story needs to be told. Amazingly, the sport was introduced by a young student, Adrian Kebbe, in 1974. Over the next forty years, the sport has grown and prospered, with De La Salle providing an assembly line of future champions. Over this time, the College has dominated the State competitions and shown itself to be the best weightlifting school in the State and arguably the Nation.

The De La Salle Weightlifting Story The story begins in the Blue and Gold of 1975 and I quote “In February, this year, Adrian Kebbe, a new boy to the school decided to form a school weightlifting team”. This team comprising 14 senior lifters won the Schoolboys Weightlifting Perpetual Trophy in August. By 1976, the team had grown to 31 lifters with Adrian Kebbe as Captain. The Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club Sponsors Adrian and a link is made. The College is State Champions by 25 points and 60 members represent the College through A to E Grades. The team’s success continues in 1977 as De La Salle defends its title. Two lifters Mark Shanahan and Brendan Webster represent Victoria at the nationals (for a silver and bronze). Br. Michael Feenan has been coerced into role as Manager and Adrian continues as Captain/Coach. The team has several younger members and Paul Coffa is thanked for his support and guidance. 1978 is another successful year as De La retains its trophy despite injuries and renovations to the gym. Phil Curtis is Coach and old collegian Adrian Kebbe wins Silver at Edmonton, five boys qualify for Victorian Championship (including evergreen Martin Leach). The college includes weightlifting into house system and Edwins wins. The team photo for 1979 has only eleven lifters but obviously a quality team as we win the ’Puma School Boy Clean and Jerk Competition’ ably led by Brendan Webster. July saw our boys win the Victorian Schoolboy and Youth Championship from Scotch, Xavier CBC North Melbourne and St Albans Tech. De La hosts the National Schoolboy and Youth Championships and four of our lads make the state team with B. Webster getting gold. For some unknown reason 1980 Blue and Gold has no weightlifting section but the 1981 report starts with a bang and I quote “weightlifting undoubtedly reached the peak of its existence at De La Salle in 1981, as a determined team of lifters won almost every event open to them” writes Mark Brittain. De La narrowly defeats Wesley in Victorian Schoolboys. Old Boys Andrew Forrest, Brendan Webster and Marty Leach selected for World Juniors in Italy. Thanks go out to Paul Coffa and team captain S. Lele for a successful year and more boys are making the journey to Hawthorn Recreation Centre to train with the big boys. Ron McIver is mentioned and his influence over the years is immeasurable and he must be recognised for his tremendous service to weightlifting at De La Salle. M. Brittain, K. Harper and M. Leach make junior Worlds in Brazil and B Webster is selected for Commonwealth Games.

Arguably, the best lifter to ever come out of De La Salle namely Harvey Goodman appears for the first time in the 1982 Blue and Gold. The team is coached by weightlifting legend Doug Esler and the team shield is lost to arch enemy Wesley by a narrow margin. Ron McIver is firmly entrenched as coach by 1983 and through his efforts 917 boys enter the Clean and Jerk Comp which means we start to accumulate valuable weightlifting equipment (Olympics bar sets) Nick Cumino (super heavy) and Harvey Goodman (67.5kg) win gold and silver. De La wins Vic Schoolboys for 9 times in 12 years on the last lift of the night. Harvey is outstanding gaining gold in 67.5kg class and selection to Victorian Team and wins silver at Nationals. The Sport and Recreation Cup is won at St Albans with final scores De La 99 points to St Albans Tech (94) and Mt Clear Tech (93 points). ‘1984 A Year of Success and growth’ heralds the weightlifting report. We win our 9th Schoolboy Title, a $1000 in the Clean and Jerk Comp and some of our greats appear on the team sheet including A and H Goodman, N. Cumino, S. Haldun, D. Brown, S. Grace, A. Pisani. We enter the Buffalo Weekend League and an ACC League involving Parade, De La, CBC North Melb and St Bede’s is formed (with a comp run over 4 weeks). With Ron McIver coaching 1985 sees some talented lifters leave but “De La Salles’ great depth and the talent found through Clean and Jerk Comp” means the success continues. We win the Schoolboys by 8 points and D. Brown (48kg), S Grace (56kg) and D. Doherty (60kg) win National Schoolboy Titles. We clinch the Sport and Recreation Cup in Ballarat in October. “1987 De La Strong” De La wins Schoolboys for eleventh time in 15 years beating St Bede’s by a solitary point. We retain Sport and Recreation cup and mention is made of the three principal coaches M Dowse, M. Leach and of course R. McIver and the Hawthorn Club. Dom Harrison’s report for 1987 states “De La Salle once again proved itself to be the strongest weightlifting team in Victoria” winning Chiko State League, Sport and Recreation Cup and the Victorian Schoolboys, winning the Schoolboys by a massive 39 points (12th time in 16 years). D. Brown and C. Sinclair represent Victoria at the Nationals. Special mention is made of coaches P. Coffa (Olympic Coach) M Leach and Ron McIver (as State Schoolboy’s coach). The 1988 report is very brief but mentions “De La Salle continued its awesome tradition in weightlifting winning all Schoolboys titles.” S. Holdun (Team Captain) and B Chafer make the Victorian Team. A young M Curtain appears for the first time. Amazingly the 1989 Report claims the 15th State Schoolboy titles, not sure about that but goes onto say that the team is “a model of consistency.”

It declares that names like “Mercer, Russo, McIver, Curtain, Beggs and Chafer” could follow in the footsteps of Goodman, Cimino, Brown, Grace, Leach, Webster etc, in wearing the Green and Gold of Australia.” It mentions that we are not just producing champion lifters, but in the case of Marty Leach a Commonwealth Games Coach. In typical De La fashion the report doesn't mention that De La lost Sport and Recreation Cup to St Bede’s under guidance of ex De La Coach Mick Feenan. De La wins all three titles despite losing six very experienced lifters at the end of last year. No report seems available for 1991 but 1992 sees the arrival of a new coach in Brian Grace. De La continues to churn out champion lifters and dominate all competitions. Many significant De La Weightlifting records are smashed this year. Matt Curtain (6 Victorian Schoolboys, 40 De La records in 90 &100kg class. Ian Russo breaks two of Adrian Kebbe’s records (60kg class) and Paul Grace two records (44kg class) including one of Damien Brown’s. The Victorian Schoolboy team to Nationals in Melbourne includes 7 De La boys out of a team total of 14. The boys win 4 Gold and one Silver for Victoria - Gold to P Grace, M. La Rue, I. Russo and M. Curtain. Damien Brown returns to De La Salle in 1993 to teach and naturally takes over weightlifting duties. The team wins both cups including the “18th Championship in only 21 years.” against 13 other schools. Four senior lifters in N, Orloff, P. Grace, M. La Rue and S. Heffernan win Gold at National Schoolboys and Simon Heffernan collects Bronze for Australia in Taiwan. With Damien Brown at the helm the weightlifting reports suddenly become much longer and details many outstanding results. His 1994 report highlights victories in both cups and especially the efforts of Dave Thomas (64kg) clean and jerking 92.5kg. D Wilkinson wins the encouragement award N Orloff, p. Mateos, D. Thomas and W. Italiano make National Schoolboys in Canberra. The Fathers Association refurbishes the College Weight Room. The 1995 team includes some new names and future stars such as Joel De Carteret and Lukas Krajewski. Once again we beat Doncaster and Whittlesea Colleges to win Schoolboy Title with first places to J De Cartevet, M. Chew, N. Orloff, P. Mateos and J. Keed. The first ever Victorian U/16 Championship held in June with 7 De La boys winning gold and 9 others having podium finishes. De La wins Sport and Recreation Cup which is conducted at De La in September. Boys compete in Canberra and Adelaide. Nick Orloff is team captain and many of our boys train and compete at the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club. De La narrowly wins both cups in 1996 beating Doncaster Secondary College by 74 pts to 73 for the schoolboys and Doncaster again by 2 points for S & R Cup. Some standout efforts see Paul Matteos visiting England and Austria (Australian U18 Weightlifting Team). Paul sets 5 Australian U16 records in 59kg class. L Krajewski 4 Victorian U16 records in 70kg class. J De Carferet sets 1 Australian record in U16 and

U18 50kg class along with numerous Victorian records. Other notables are M Hornley (Nationals), Dean Hewson and Jacob Reed (State and Nationals). De La faces a tough year in 1997 and wins the Schoolboys by a single point and ties the S & R Cup with Doncaster Secondary College. Damian writes that “tactics and manoeuvring of lifters in body-weight classes ended in a stalemate “each team winning 6 divisions “each. Special mention goes to Paul Matteos and Rob Biviano who are in their final year. The 1998 report (D Brown, author) emphasises consolidation at the senior level especially at a National level but also mentions “a young and talented bunch of juniors.” The College wins the schoolboy championships for a remarkable 23rd time (out of a possible 26) from seven other schools. Doncaster Secondary College beats De La Salle in the Sport and Recreation Cup, but Joel De Carteret, Lucas Krajewski, Caesar Webbe, Lukas Letson all win their divisions. Joel and Lucas Krajewski excel at both State and National levels. Unfortunately 1999 sees Damian Brown leave De La Salle and the coaching is covered by Sevi Marinov and the lifters from Hawthorn Weightlifting Club. The College again wins the double. Lucas Krajewski snatches 120kg and cleans 145kg while Simon McCoy snatches 77.5kg and clears 100.5kg. Lucas breaks 27 State and 7 National records in 77 and 85kg classes. Ken Stokes steps up to coach in 2000. The loss of 4 National lifters from 1999 doesn’t weaken the team too much and we win the schoolboys competition but narrowly miss Sport and Rec Cup by 1 point to Doncaster Secondary College. Will Kelly coaches the boys and makes a huge trip from Eltham each day to oversee the boys’ development. Simon McCoy (team Captain) is voted best schoolboy lifter of the year and Johno Derrick (possibly the biggest lifter to ever compete for De La) shines. Marty Leach is thanked for the time he puts into supporting the College program. 2001 was very much a development year and the report mentions a “set of disappointments after some unexpected results within the competition”. No mention is made of results from either comp. but the team is ably coached by Will Kelly and a big input from Marty Leach the head coach at Hawthorn. Pete Nicholls in his 2002 report mentions that the “team is inexperienced” and finished runners up to Doncaster Secondary College , and he talks about the exciting young talent emerging namely C Merrey and P Nicholls who are already lifting above their body weights. Willy Kelly and Sebi Marinov (World Champion and Olympian) get special mention. We have Year Level Champions with J Haley (Primary) N Parianos (Year 7) C Merrey (Year 8) J Weston (Year 9) successful. “Back on Track” is the title for the 2003 report and De La Salle claims both titles.

Anthony Dove takes over specialist coaching (ex St Bede’s boy) some outstanding efforts for years include Chris Merrey and Matt Nayna competing at both State and National levels. C Merrey (77kg) U16 Vic record total 202kg M Nayna (105kg) U16 Vic record total 210kg We have a training camp at Jan Juc and several of our boys compete in Under 16 and Under 18 Nationals in Adelaide. The 2004 schools comp is now the Snowhite School League which we win ( run over 4 rounds) and miss the Victorian School Championship by a single point. Chris Merrey and Matt Nayna continue to shine—setting College records and Matt Peterson gets 55kg in the snatch for a record. Ken Stokes, Dave Hale and Anthony Dove oversee the program. Twenty two smiling faces make up the 2005 team photo and De La Salle due to interest in the sport is now fielding two teams in all competitions. Some stars of the future and present stand out namely M. Nayna, C. Merrey, S. McConnell and our present coach Simon Francazio. Anthony Dove coaches and C. Merrey is Senior Captain and S. Francazio is Junior Captain. We miss Sport and Recreation Cup by 4 points, (to Mt Lilydale) but win Schools League and Victorian School Championships. Best Lifter (2005) S. McConnell. Most Improved S. Francazio. By 2006, four school competitions run and De La Salle wins League (by 1 point to Mt Lilydale) School League by 23 points, Sport and Recreation Cup by 2 points and Weightlifting School Championships by 44 points. S. McConnell, C. Barry—Murphy and C. Merrey win gold at the Victorian Open Age and Under 20 State Championships, M. Peterson and S. Francazio win Silver. These boys complete successfully at the National Championships. Chris Merrey gets special mention for his efforts from Year 7 -12 especially for a 151kg clean and jerk which is best effort by a boy at De La Salle since Damian Brown. Chris achieves a Sinclair Score of 300. Anthony Dove continues to produce technically excellent lifters. De La sticks with its policy of giving boys a chance to shine and produces an “A:” and “B” team in 2007. Matt Peterson, Simon Francazio and Stephen McConnell share the leadership role. Our teams come first and second in the School League and eight boys go to U/16 and U/18 National at the Olympic Centre in Sydney. Boys to achieve first places were S. McConnell (U/16-69kg), L Henriques-Gomes (U/16 & U/18-51 kg) M Peterson (U/18-56kg class). Matt Peterson named U/18 Victorian Captain and Josh Quinn the same position with the U/16 squad. We win the Sport and Recreation Cup

by 6 points from Leongatha College. Luke Henriques-Gomes breaks a College record and Anthony Dove continues his outstanding record as coach. An old boy of the College Paul Grace returns in 2008 to teach at De La and being an ex champion lifter himself takes over the reins. The team is built around a nucleus of outstanding talent namely Nathan Phillips, Luke Henriques-Gomes, Josh Quinn, Steve McConnell, and Simon Francazio. Steve and Luke represent Australia at the Commonwealth Youth Games and against representatives from all corners of the Commonwealth, Luke finishes 8th and Steve 5th. At the end of 2008 we lose former National Champions Simon Francazio and Matt Peterson. But the report mentions “welcoming a new group of recruits from Years 7 & 8. Paul Grace’s tenure as Coach is short and he is replaced by a tremendous young coach in Simon Francazio who is very popular with his young charges. The team is built around the super talents of Phillips, McConnell and Quinn and includes a very young future champ in James Delaney. Josh, in his report says that “2009 marked the year of rebuilding for the De La team”. The boys win the schools league easily and win the Sport and Recreation Cup by a narrow margin. Josh Quinn and Steve McConnell provide outstanding leadership and they thank Ken Stokes and Simon Francazio for their organisation and coaching. Amazingly in 2010 Paul Grace makes a comeback to coach a “new generation of lifters who are experiencing the sport for the first time”. Luke Henriques-Gomes is farewelled after representation at State and National levels plus U18 Commonwealth and Oceanic Championships. The team still includes stars such as Nathan Phillips and James Delaney. It misses out on both Schools League and Sport and Recreation Cups. With Paul Grace replaced by Simon Francazio in 2011, we win the Sport and Recreation Cup (88 pts to Mt Lilydale 86) and the Victorian School Championships (115 pts to Mt Lilydale 111 pts). James Delaney is voted best lifter at the Sport and Recreation Cup with 178 Sinclair points. Phillips is captain but receives strong support from J Lever. Two future stalwarts emerge as Year 7’s namely Frank McCormack and Bryce Morgan. Weightlifting returns to De La Salle in 2012 and for the first time for many years we host the Sport and Recreation Cup in our College Gymnasium. Our lifters are encouraged by strong peer support and enjoy lifting in front of good (noisy) crowds, lunchtime saw standing room only. We are very fortunate to have a superstar old boy lifter in Damian Brown return for the day and do the official presentations. We thank Jacquie White (VWA Operations Manager) and her team for helping organise and run the day. We retain both competitions by narrow margins and James Delaney shines. We lose two bright prospects to other schools on sporting scholarships which is a shame.

In 2013 De La Salle, Mt Lilydale and a new competitor in Maribyrnong Secondary College battle out the two Schools Comps with De La successful in both. Maribyrnong is a sports scholarship College and uses weightlifting as a fitness base for its other major sports, and some tremendous natural talent is on show. We have the Sport and Rec Cup at De La -- which is a great success. We also take a group of our novice lifters to Mt Lilydale for experience. Simon Francazio has “upped the ante” with our more committed lifters and they have started training mornings at De La Salle and afternoons at Hawthorn, with remarkable improvement. They also help coach the novice lifters at lunchtime twice a week. James Delaney is the stand out and represents Australia at the Oceania Titles. B. Morgan, F. McCormack, J. Saddington, N. Chatcoglou, V. Williams and J. Dakdouk, with increased training make serious improvement.

2014 Victoria Schools Weightlifting Champions

First Weightlifting Memories & Reflections from some Prominent De La Salle Lifters

The golden years of Ron McIver & Martin Leach

Recollections from Martin Leach In 1974 when sport at De La consisted mainly of Football, Cricket, Swimming and Athletics, Adrian Kebbe, a young man with passion and vision introduced a new sport to the College, the sport of Olympic Weightlifting. A small group of enthusiastic boys joined Adrian and so started De La Salle’s 40 year journey with weightlifting. My own involvement started in 1976 as a Year 9 student. Michael Feenan, who at the time was a De La Salle Brother, was placed in charge of this rabble. At that time, over 100 boys had participated in weightlifting from DLS. I can’t imagine how many it would have been by now. It is surprising that De La has had so much success, and I have many documents (up to about 2002 when I stopped working for weightlifting) that show the many lifters who have represented Australia. Whilst it goes without doubt that the two most successful lifters have been Brown & Goodman, many others have also achieved great achievements in the sport. Many names remembered, some more than others. I would like to put a few down in writing. Andrew Forrest, Kelvin Harper, Brendan Webster (Commonwealth Games rep), Mark Dowse (international class referee at World Championships), Michael Brittain, Stephen Lele, Simon Grace (the same Major Simon Grace featured in the recent old colls mag). Paul Grace (taught at DLS), David Doherty, Ian Russo, Monty (la Rue) Sullivan, Simon Heffernan (Comm Games medalist), Paul Mateos, Stephen Haldun, Simon McCoy, Simon Chant, Joel DeCarteret, Nick Oorloff, Ian Russo, Joshua Johns, David Thomas, Lukas Krajewski, Bill Italiano, Chris Sinclair, Marc DeKok, Frank Mattea, Kieran Larkins, Leo Ryan, Mark Shanahan, Mark Brittain, Nick Cimino, Matthew Curtain (Commonwealth Games Competition event manager 2006, Olympic Games event manager 2008)….and many others. All of these people had added to the history of DLS weightlifting, but non would have been given the opportunity without Adrian Kebbe, and his association with the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club’s chief mentor and coach – Paul Coffa. I personally know the power of their influence. No history of DLS weightlifting would be complete without recognition of these two people, and I hope there will be a special place in the new facility to make mention of the founders of DLS weightlifting. Regards, Martin Leach

Recollections from Ron McIver It has been 30 years since my involvement with weightlifting at De La Salle College. I know our squad was exceptionally successful, but I must say, my memories are not of trophies, titles or championships. I remember vividly the students, both past and present during that time. I remember the ethos that was instilled in each lifter by our weightlifting staff, Martin Leach and Mark Dowse, and above all, I remember the outstanding young men who were part of our squads, every one of them! Every student entered the Clean and Jerk competition as part of their Physical Education program. If students were interested, they could come to training at lunchtimes and they could also participate during sport at Hawthorn Recreation Centre. Serious participants trained after school at Hawthorn. We had 60-70 participants every week. It was great to see so many committed young lifters. The real highlight for me was our Weightlifting camps. We spent the weekend at Jan Juc, trained hard, played hard and finished with a competition and recognition ceremony. It was so good to see lifters of all abilities mixing as one, supporting one another, and past students returning to help the next generation of lifters. Some memories do stand out. • Damian Brown came to De La in Year 9, weighing in at 36 kilos. I remember his first clean and jerk lift. It was something special. • Kieran Larkins, hanging from a coat hanger in the change rooms when he decided to disagree with Marty Leach. • On my first weightlifting camp many were Year 7 students on their first camp. I checked their rooms to make sure everything was OK. Six of them were sitting in a circle, on their bunk, playing cards. All of them had their asthma pumps going. I thought I was in Torquay Hospital. It is interesting to note that none of them needed a pump in future years. • I will never forget our heavyweight lifters. They were worth their ‘weight’ in gold when it came to points tallies in the Sport & Recreation Cup and Schoolboy Championships. This was a sport for ALL body types. • The group of lifters who trained at Hawthorn regularly were disciplined athletes who were a credit to their sport, their school and their families. They all displayed outstanding personal qualities in any situation. It will be so interesting catching up with everyone at the reunion to see the pathways followed and the directions taken. I am sure their involvement in weightlifting at De La Salle College would have helped their preparation for this journey. Ron McIver

Recollections from Michael Feenan A school which can trace the origins of a sporting tradition back some 40 years may not seem unusual in Australia if the sport was as popular as cricket or football for example, but a school which has produced the number of state, national and international champions that De La Salle College has produced in Weightlifting holds a unique place by any measure. My first impressions of Weightlifting at De La were at the very least confused. In a small room at the back of the hall I found a large group of kids, the clanging of metal consistent with an engineering works, and not a teacher in sight – a recipe for disaster. But then I met Adrian Kebbe! Adrian’s ability to motivate people was extraordinary. The numbers of kids in the Middle School who attended his training sessions at lunchtime and utilised the very limited and nonspecific equipment was a comparable feat to the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes!!! As a young De La Salle Brother who thought his teaching vocation came from God (mistakenly in my case) I believed I should be actively supportive of everything positive that kids attempted, and found my classes had a high proportion of kids who were “Weightlifters”. My sporting background was essentially surfing and Rugby League, (having grown up in Sydney) which had limited value in Melbourne in the 1970’s. The 1976 Victorian Schoolboy’s Weightlifting Championships (no girls!) were about to be staged somewhere in North Melbourne and I was enthusiastically encouraged to “watch us!” by the kids I taught. I didn’t know much about the geography of Melbourne let alone Weightlifting, however the Principal Bro Damien Harvey, and one of the senior teachers Mr James Will, were planning to go to an Old Collegians’ game (A Grade Amateurs) in North Melbourne and intended to drop in and encourage the De La boys, so I tagged along. It’s important to note that men such as these by such unpublicised acts of courteous generosity laid the foundations for De La Salle College. The kids were delighted that we had bothered at all, but I then found that most divisions had a kid I knew competing, and I felt obliged to stay for the duration. Needless to say the competition didn’t follow the timetable, and concluded well after dark! I came to understand that the purpose of a timetable was only ever intended as a guide in a Weightlifting competition. The kids won; I was presented with the trophy; congratulated on my coaching expertise, the achievements of the team, and was asked to make an acceptance speech. I hope I was gracious, and believe I made a conscious effort to publicly state that Adrian Kebbe was the mover and shaker behind the success, - and I apologise to Adrian if I didn’t! Before long the whole Weightlifting scene unfolded before me – Hawthorn, the boot shop, Wog’s Weakly … Sam and Paul Coffa … Bob Edmond, Robert Kabbas, (I was amongst the stars) – and Eric Rosario wisely thought I should undertake training in Weightlifting. Eric generously gave of his time and knowledge and presented me with my one and only program,

which I possibly still have! Paul Coffa also wisely told me in his own quiet way, “You’ll never make a weightlifter”. Having jumped in the deep end I regularly caught the tram from Malvern to Hawthorn with the likes of Mark Shanahan, Brendan Webster, Andrew Forrest, Mark Dowse, Michael Britain … (and I apologise again to the many others whose names I’ve forgotten). I also travelled with a cheeky but likeable character by the name of Martin Leach. It’s not unusual for a Year 9 boy to enjoy school for reasons not shared by adults and Martin seemed to enjoy school for many of the wrong reasons, but Weightlifting became an interest for him, a passion and a career. As we all know Martin went on to represent Australia as a successful competitor, coach and administrator. (Details here Martin!!) Having wrested the Schoolboy Championship trophy from Scotch College - the only winner until 1976 - De La began an incredible tradition to be envied by other schools and other sports. Adrian was without question the De La Salle benchmark for Weightlifters in 1977, but the likes of Webster and Leach were on the ascendancy and a newspaper article appeared in The Sun (I think) with photos of these two young men in a training routine. With their pressure on the administration at De La Salle - and of course the persuasive powers of Paul Coffa – a House competition was organised for Wednesday afternoon sport at Hawthorn. Brendan fashioned a very impressive trophy during his Woodwork classes. The 1977 Schoolboy Championship was a resounding success! I don’t remember who had to starve and who had to gorge to balance the team in each division but Adrian was required by the maestro Paul Coffa to compete above his normal weight - possibly two divisions. Adrian’s bladder was at bursting point, but he made it, and comfortably won the division with weights he would normally use for warm-up. The trip back in the school bus after the championship was marginally less than riotous. Operation Entebbe (Ref: Wikipedia) was still popular in the media, but the De La boys coined “Operation En-Kebbe” and announced their success at every stoplight between North Melbourne and Malvern. For my part I was apparently showing signs of understanding the sport of Weightlifting and was asked to accompany the Victorian Schoolboy team to Tasmania for the National Championships as an assistant to the Assistant to the Manager (I don’t think I actually had a title). Considering that the team had a significant number of De La boys in it I considered it an honour anyway. Unfortunately I don’t remember the results but Mark Shanahan and I headed off to Mass on Sunday morning. Mark was wearing a Weightlifting T-shirt of some sort, and although he had won his division (48kg “Paperweight”, I think) he was not a hulking brute. Some Tasmanian teenager was making fun of him during Mass, so at the Sign of Peace Mark crushed the kid’s hand - just to make a point! Another De La boy who shall remain nameless was seen hiding behind a fence instead of attending to his Sunday obligation.

It has been a pleasure to recount these memories. Thank you for the opportunity. I congratulate you all on your successes as individuals and as a school (except when you beat St Bede’s) and I hope De La continues the tradition began 40 years ago. It is possibly debatable but I would guess that De La has produced more Victorian and Australian representatives than any other school in any sport in Australia. It would be an interesting exercise to compare these numbers internationally – with the exception of the Soviet bloc etc. for reasons we won’t go into here. Michael Feenan (De La Salle College 1976-77)

Recollections from Damian Brown Reflecting on my history as a Weightlifter at De La Salle College has evoked much nostalgia in me - so please indulge me. My first memory of De La Salle is having a few Year 12 boys ‘wolf whistle’ at my mother. It was my first day and I was walking up the driveway in front of the High Street reception with Mum to start my education at a brand new school. It was 1984 and the start of Year 9 for me. My second memory of De La is my first Physical Education lesson on this day. My P.E. teacher was Mr Ron McIver and he told us we were doing Weightlifting. Every student in the school had to do it each year as part of the schools P.E. program and a broader national based talent identification initiative for the sport. I was 14 years old and the shortest and smallest kid in my class, I weighed only 36kg. I lifted 35kg in the Clean & Jerk that lesson, the same or more than many of the bigger students around me. I could sense a keen interest and enthusiasm from Mr McIver in my lifting. At the end of the lesson he asked what sports I played. I said soccer and cricket but that I had just moved down from Sydney with my family and hadn’t as yet joined any sporting clubs. He said, I now had two choices and that I could do Weightlifting or Weightlifting and that he would see me back in the weights room at lunchtime. I'm sure he wasn't that forthright but it's certainly how I remember it. My third memory at De La is at the start of lunchtime that day and looking around the school yard and as a new kid and having no one to play with, I decided to head off to the weights room under the guise of doing what I was told. And as the saying goes, the rest is history! These events have shaped my fate more than anything else in my life. The sport of Weightlifting dominated my life for the next 18 years until I retired in 2002, aged 32. Weightlifting is my backbone and ingrained in every cell in my body. I began this epic journey with and just like dozens of other De La boys, spending lunchtimes in the gym and doing Weightlifting for weekly school sport and also inevitably training after

school down at the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club – and over the years experiencing the magnificent highs and devastating lows and the lessons in life that sport provides. Other De La boys, my training partners, the ones who you suffer with, compete with, travel with and ultimately spend countless hours with, are the people that I have developed lifelong friendships and unbreakable bonds with that I cherish. I simply, do not make friends like this anymore. As a case in point, I couldn’t write about my journey as a De La Salle Weightlifter without reference to Martin Leach. He was also a De La boy and an elite lifter. Marty was the one constant throughout my career and a coach of mine for literally every lift I ever did (a million of them). Marty’s investment of time and energy in me as a boy and man and his enduring and selfless commitment to my success as an athlete leaves me forever in his debt. Multiply this commitment to a few hundred odd other De La lifters that he coached, inspired and influenced in one way or another, then it probably makes Martin Leach the most significant and influential person in the success of De La Salle Weightlifting in its forty year history! By the end of my sporting career I had competed in 3 Olympic Games (’92, ’96, ’00) and 4 Commonwealth Games (’90, ’94, ’98, ’02), winning; 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals. I also competed in 2 World Junior Championship and 12 consecutive World Senior Championships (a world record) and was given the honour of carrying the flag for Australia at the Opening Ceremony at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, in Manchester. For most of this time and for most of these achievements De La Salle was a significant part of my daily life. After Year 12, I went onto university and studied to become a P.E. teacher with a great desire to return as an old boy to teach. I was fortunate enough to do so for six years, from 1993 to 1998. I was teaching at De La when I competed at the 1996 Olympics and also the 1994 & 1998 Commonwealth Games. I remember returning to work for my first day back from the Commonwealth Games with a gold medal around my neck. I had gone from normal Mr Brown before I left to being mobbed on my return like a celebrity rock star by the students. The boys were of course over it by the next day and I returned to normal humbled Mr Brown. I naturally became De La Salle’s Weightlifting coach and we won the State Schoolboy Weightlifting Championship six out of the six years that I coached the team - we had if I recall correctly, only lost it on one or two occasions in the twenty or so years it had being going so in that sense it was nothing remarkable and more a credit to the coaches, lifters and tradition of the sport at the school before me. Some of the students I taught as well as coached, I also trained with at the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club and as such, they became fellow club members, training partners and friends. It was an unusual dynamic from a student/teacher perspective but being part of these boys’ lives and watching and helping them improve as students and athletes and grow up and mature into fine young men is the most memorable and rewarding aspect of my time as a school teacher. I am very proud of my achievements in sport and forever thankful and grateful for the opportunities, enormous influence and endless support that the school and the whole De La Salle community has provided me throughout my journey as a student, teacher and athlete.

I am also very proud and delighted that the school would name the new weights room after me, an honour that means more to me than you probably think, so thank you! It’s also quite fitting that I share the name with my dear mate Harvey Goodman, a world class athlete and one of greatest lifters that Australia has produced. Harvey and I made the vast majority of the same teams throughout our respective careers and have countless shared stories and remarkable experiences. Harvey was always there thrashing it out on the training platform right next to me. The good old days! Damian Brown

Recollections from Harvey Goodman From the age of eight I was always interested in strength and lifting. I remember at this age I would attempt to pick up the largest rocks in the garden and when my father played squash I would sneak to the gym and peek at the guys lifting the weights, wishing I could do the same. Year 7 saw me start at St Bede’s College in Mentone as a boarder. I had weights once per week as part of the after school boarders curriculum. I remember training hard and lifting 40kg above my head in something resembling a Clean and Jerk when I was 12. I started at De La Salle in the last term of Year 7 and remember in Year 8 being offered tickets to the 1980 Moomba Weightlifting Tournament by a student named John Rupik. John was a weightlifter and his father was a weightlifting coach. John asked me to come to Hawthorn and train, which I declined due to shyness. I also declined the tickets to the Moomba tournament for the same reason. In Year 9 I commenced weigh training at De La Salle, but not weightlifting. In Year 10 I remember De La Salle entered most students in the 1982 Clean and Jerk competition in an attempt to win weightlifting equipment. I keenly lifted approximately 60kg thinking I was pretty strong, however I was beaten by 4 others in my year level who lifted in the vicinity of 70kg. Not wanting to be beaten I ventured to Hawthorn to take up the sport in April 1982 at the age of 15. Mark Britain was a Year 12 De La student at the time who commenced helping me with the technical aspects of the sport. By the end of Year 10 I lifted 100kg, far exceeding all in my year level. At this stage I was lifting four times per week. For the next 30 months I ventured to Hawthorn each Wednesday, De La sports afternoon, to help the De La boys who were interested in trying weightlifting. I remember Damian Brown as a 14 year old and also Nick Cimino, Steve Haldun, David Doherty, Kieran Larkins and Tony Pisani, all who achieved varying degrees of success. I was always reminded of the history of weightlifting at De La Salle and remember the trail blazers such as Adrian Kebbe, Martin Leach, Brendan Webster, Andrew Forrest and Steve Lele, all of whom I had the pleasure of training with. Heading towards the end of Year 12, I was selected to represent Australia in the America Cup in Allentown Pennsylvania. This was quite close to my final exams, but my parents allowed me to go, suffice to say I did virtually no school work for 2 weeks. I got through my HSC

exams and took a gap year. I continued to support the De La boys each Wednesday in 1985 whilst I was training up to 10 times per week. From there I continued to improve, representing Australia at the 1986 and 1987 World Junior Championships. The 1988 Oceania Championships, in Tahiti, was the first International trip that Damian and I went together on as well as Nick Cimino. We all competed well. I was close to qualifying for the 1988 Olympics but didn’t make the squad. Towards the end of 1989 I was selected for my first Commonwealth Games team for the 1990 games in Auckland, New Zealand. I finished up with 3 bronze medals after a severe bout of gastro and Damian finished with one bronze. I continued to train and improve and in 1992 was selected to represent Australia at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where I finished 8th overall. I remember Damian sliced the back of his thumb off in a bakery incident leading up to the trials. He required surgery to repair tendon damage and recovered just enough to qualify for selection. In 1994 Damian and I were selected to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada. I finished with 3 gold while Damian won a medal of each colour. In 1996 Damian and I also qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games, where we roomed together for 2 weeks. Nowadays I work in the senior management team a Telstra and coach a number of weightlifters, including my daughter Rachel, who has achieved significant success at such a young age. My memories of weightlifting at De La Salle are very fond and I continue to follow the De La boys who are currently competing and hope that there are some more champions within the current group. De La all has had a rich history of producing quality lifters and I honoured for the gym to named after myself in part, with Damian Brown. Harvey Goodman

16 year old Harvey Goodman

Damian Brown—2000 Sydney Olympics

De La Lifters in the 1990’s

De La Salle Australian Weightlifting Representatives OLYMPIC GAMES Year 1992 1992 1996 1996 2000

Athlete Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown

Category 75kg 90kg 76kg 91kg 77kg

Loao Barcelona, ESP Barcelona, ESP Atlanta, USA Atlanta, USA Sydney, AUS

Category 67.5kg 82.5kg 75kg 90kg 76kg 91kg 77kg 94kg 77kg 94kg

Loao Edmonton, CAN Brisbane, AUS Auckland, NZL Auckland, NZL Victoria, CAN Victoria, CAN Kuala Lumpur, MAS Kuala Lumpur, MAS Manchester, ENG Melbourne, AUS

COMMONWEALTH GAMES Year 1978 1982 1990 1990 1994 1994 1998 1998 2002 2006

Athlete Adrian Kebbe Brendan Webster Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Simon Heffernan Damian Brown Simon Heffernan

SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Year 1979 1985 1989 1989 1990 1991 1991 1993 1993 1994 1994 1995 1995 1997 1997 1997 1998 1998 1999 1999 2003

Athlete Adrian Kebbe Brendan Webster Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Damian Brown Stephen Haldun Simon Heffernan Damian Brown Simon Heffernan Damian Brown Harvey Goodman Simon Heffernan

Category 67.5kg 82.5kg 75kg 90kg 75kg 75kg 90kg 76kg 91kg 76kg 91kg 76kg 91kg 76kg 83kg 91kg 85kg 94kg 85kg 94kg 94kg

Loao Thessaloniki, GRE Södertälje, SWE Athens, GRE Athens, GRE Budapest, HUN Donaueschingen, FRG Donaueschingen, FRG Melbourne, AUS Melbourne, AUS Istanbul, TUR Istanbul, TUR Guangzhou, CHN Guangzhou, CHN Changmai, THA Changmai, THA Changmai, THA Lah=, FIN Lah=, FIN Athens, GRE Athens, GRE Vancouver, CAN

Result Silver Reserve Bronze Triple Bronze 1G, 1S, 1B Triple Gold 2 Gold, 1B Triple Bronze Gold Silver

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Year 1975 1980 1980 1981 1981 1982 1982 1982 1983 1983 1986 1987 1987 1988 1989 1990 1993 1993 1994 1995 1995 1995 1996 1998 2002

Athlete Adrian Kebbe Andrew Forrest Brendan Webster Andrew Forrest Mar=n Leach Kelvin Harper Michael Britain Mar=n Leach Kelvin Harper Stephen Lele Harvey Goodman Simon Grace Harvey Goodman David Doherty Damian Brown Damian Brown Ian Russo Ma@hew Curtain Simon Heffernan Monty Sullivan Paul Grace Simon Heffernan Monty Sullivan Paul Mateos Simon McCoy

Category 60kg 60kg 75kg 60kg 110kg 67.5kg 75kg 110kg 67.5kg 90kg 90kg 60kg 90kg 75kg 75kg 75kg 59kg 91kg 83kg 59kg 59kg 91kg 59kg 62kg 85kg

Loao Marseille, FRA Montreal, CAN Montreal, CAN Lignano-Sabbiadoro, ITA Lignano-Sabbiadoro, ITA Sao Paulo, BRA Sao Paulo, BRA Sao Paulo, BRA Cairo, EGY Cairo, EGY Donaueschingen, FRG Belgrade, YUG Belgrade, YUG Athens, GRE Fort Lauderdale, USA Sarajevo, YUG Cheb, CZE Cheb, CZE Jakarta, INA Warsaw, POL Warsaw, POL Warsaw, POL Warsaw, POL Sofia, BUL Havirov, CZE

UNIVERSITY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Year Athlete 2000 Lukas Krajewski

Category 85kg

Loao Montreal, CAN

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS Mar=n Leach

Coach Assistant Manager Sec=on Manager Coach Coach ChieE EFecu=ve OGcer Joint Na=onal Coach

1990, 98 & 06 Commonwealth Games 1994 Commonwealth Games 2002 Commonwealth Games 1996 & 2000 Olympic Games 1992 & 2004 Paralympic Games Australian WeightliHing Federa=on Australian WeightliHing Federa=on

Damian Brown

Chairman

AthletesI Commi@ee Australian Olympic Commi@ee XVII Commonwealth Games

Australian Flag bearer Ma@hew Curtain

Compe==on ManagerXVIII Commonwealth Games ChieE EFecu=ve OGcer Australian WeightliHing Federa=on

De La Salle College Malvern