Herbert George "Jock" Austin (16 March 1938 − 3 May 1990) was an Indigenous Australian community leader.[4] He was a Gunditjmara man who served as the coach and president of the Fitzroy Stars Football Club in its early years.[5]
| Jock Austin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Herbert George Austin[1] | ||
| Nickname(s) | Jock | ||
| Date of birth | 16 March 1938[1][2] | ||
| Place of birth | Framlingham, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 3 May 1990 (aged 52)[1][3] | ||
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1980s | Fitzroy Stars | ||
His son, Troy Austin, is also a former Fitzroy Stars president and currently serves as a member of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria after being elected in 2023.[6][7]
Biography
editAustin was born in 1938 under a gumtree at Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve as the son of Ella Clark and Cyril Austin.[2] He had 11 siblings.[8]
He moved to the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in the 1950s where met Patricia Prior, whom he raised two children with.[8] He participated in Australian rules football and boxing, while also working as a boilermaker and having a job laying tramway track.[8]
Austin founded the Melbourne Aboriginal Youth Sport and Recreation Co-operative (MAYSAR), an Aboriginal youth sport centre and boxing gym, in 1982.[2][9][10]
In the 1970s, Austin became associated with the newly-formed Fitzroy Stars Football Club, a football club run by Indigenous Australians.[11] He introduced the club's first junior team in 1978.[12] After the Northern Metropolitan Football League, which the Stars were competing in, disbanded in 1980, Austin was a driving force in the club staying afloat.[12]
When the YCW Football League (YCWFL) folded in 1986, the Stars applied for entry in 36 local competitions, but received rejections from every single one.[12] As a result, Austin (who was also serving as club administrator) formed the Melbourne North Football League (MNFL) in 1989.[12][13]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Herbert George "Jock" Austin". billiongraves.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Today we acknowledge Herbert 'Jock' Austin on what would have been his 80th birthday". Facebook. Fitzroy Stars Football & Netball Club. 16 March 1938. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "JOCK Austin 30 year anniversary of his passing - Sunday 3rd May 2020". Trove. MAYSAR, Melbourne Aboriginal Youth Sport and Recreation Co-Operative. 2 May 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Yarra to mark January 26 with a tribute to Herbert 'Jock' Austin". Yarra City Council. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "The Fitzroy Stars Football & Netball Club Have A Story To Tell". 3KND. 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "The Fitzroy Stars - A Place for Community". Deadly Story. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Troy Austin". First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Herbert 'Jock' Austin". First Peoples - State Relations. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ Dinham, Abby (30 May 2017). "Melbourne gym inspiring next generation of Indigenous boxers". SBS News. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Barracking, booing, boxing". ABC Listen. 6 July 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Fitzroy Stars: Melbourne's only Aboriginal footy club - in pictures". Guardian Australia. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d Gorman, Joe (4 March 2016). "Jason Mifsud and Fitzroy Stars: a man on a mission at a club that means so much". Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ Evans, Michael (31 August 1988). "An Aboriginal community's sporting life". Trove. Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved 4 October 2024.