George Town has produced more than its fair share of favourite sporting sons and daughters, writes MICHELLE WISBEY.
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THEY’RE a proud bunch at George Town.
And there is no denying the sporting talent George Town has produced.
Maybe it is something in the water or maybe it is something deeply entrenched in the identity of the town.
From Brendon Bolton to Xavier Doherty and Brad Green, the town’s long list of sporting stars spans multiple generations.
Cycling, soccer, motorsport, football, boxing – it is hard to think of a sport that the town of about 6000 has not seen success in.
Former George Town cyclist Danny Clark is a world champion and an Olympic medalist, Des Mills is a Tasmanian champion boxer, Dale Chugg played a total of 380 senior football games in Northern Tasmania, and Justin Barrenger was the top mechanic for Holden star James Courtney.
And today, the next generation of athletes are making a name for themselves.
Toby and Corey Nankervis are proving their worth with AFL, Chloe Gibbons has been selected to play soccer in America, and Jarrod Freeman was selected to play in the Australian under-16 cricket side.
To top it off, Hawthorn assistant coach and former North Launceston premiership player Brendon Bolton was appointed as the new Carlton Football Club senior coach last month.
The Australian Institute of Sport has coined the phrase the ‘‘Wagga Effect’’ to describe regional towns that have seen a disproportionately high number of elite sportsmen and women come from one area.
The study found that sporting stars were more likely to be born and raised in regional towns because children had more space to play, were exposed to many more sports, and often younger players played in the same leagues as their adult relatives.
Although Wagga Wagga has become famous for its sporting output, George Town could give it a run for their money.
Brendon’s father, Lyndon Bolton, can remember his nine-year-old son running around the George Town football oval, with footy in hand and all the ambition in the world.
It was only a few weeks ago that Lyndon got a phone call from Brendon, telling him ‘‘I’ve got the job’’.
Although the hard work has just begun, Lyndon watched on as his son achieved a lifelong dream.
‘‘It’s unbelievable, all the work he has done over so many years, and finally, he had made it,’’ Lyndon said.
‘‘It had been his ambition all his life to coach and he’s certainly got there now.
‘‘He’s worked so hard and when he told me I couldn’t believe it. I had to sit down.’’
Brendon’s football career began at a young age.
‘‘He always played football, he played in the juniors for George Town and North Launceston,’’ Lyndon said.
‘‘He went down south and played with Clarence and coached North Hobart to a premiership at 24.
‘‘I never expected he would make it to this level, he always wanted to play AFL football, that was his dream.
‘‘It’s really unbelievable, he’s come a long way from his little country town life in George Town.’’
Former Melbourne Football Club player and current Carlton development coach Brad Green had the world at his feet growing up.
He captained the Australian under-15 cricket team, he was scouted by the Manchester United Football Club as a teenager, and made his AFL debut in 2000.
But Green had a tough decision to make in his early years, he had to choose just one sport to pursue.
Ultimately, AFL won.
‘‘If I could come back on this earth as somebody, I would come back as Brad because he’s had a brilliant life,’’ Brad’s father, Rod Green, said.
Being so skilled at so many sports, Brad had a rare and much sought-after talent growing up and Rod said that he had a tough time choosing between his sporting passions.
‘‘He knew how to capitalise on the skills that he had and all we had to do was guide him and give him the opportunities,’’ Rod said.
‘‘At a very early age, I told him to choose a direction that you want to go in and never die wondering.
‘‘He had played half-a-dozen games of Australian Rules before he got drafted to the AFL, which is pretty unique in its own right.’’
Left-arm spin bowler Xavier Doherty made his Australian Test debut in November 2010 and has since gone on to become a household name in cricket.
But it is not just his cricketing talent that has made his father Mike Doherty proud.
‘‘We’re proud of him not so much because of what he’s achieved on the sporting field but the way he’s been able to cope with the highs and the lows of it all,’’ Mike said.
‘‘We’re really proud that he’s a lovely young man, he’s responsible, he’s a family man now with a little daughter and another little one on the way.
‘‘Xavier does everything very well but the best thing about him, and the reason people like having him in their team, is that he’s such a good team player.’’
Growing up in a family with seven children, Xavier learned to play in a team very quickly, Mike said.
‘‘He learned his place early on and he knows what it’s like to be in a successful group but he was always a good athlete,’’ he said.
‘‘He had that mental edge, that mental toughness so he was able to think his way through difficult situations and not panic.
‘‘People call it luck but it wasn’t luck. He would score runs when the team needed to score runs and he was just able to rise to the occasion.’’
George Town is a community with a lot to be proud of.
A host of different clubs support and nurture their players while a team of dedicated coaches develop the next generation of athletes.
George Town Mayor Bridget Archer said that she was proud to be a part of such an active community.
‘‘There is a culture of community involvement and I think there’s that true sense of community here,’’ Cr Archer said.
‘‘People are proud of George Town, they’re proud of where they come from and they want to show that.
‘‘It’s a very supportive community and I think that’s probably why the sporting talent has developed because there’s that real community support and really dedicated volunteers that coach local sports teams.’’
So keep an eye out for Tasmania’s sporting stars of the future because it is more than likely that a few of them will hail from George Town – born and raised.