Footy, cricket, campdrafting: Dalby’s 10 inspiring sports families revealed
From lifetime Dalby Devils members to campdrafting champions - meet the region’s most passionate sporting families who have paved the way in their field. FULL LIST:
Dalby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Dalby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There is nothing like sporting events in Dalby and there’s nothing better than a dedicated family who drive up the competition.
Whether it’s a family with generations of sportsmen, or a family fairly new to the scene meet the 10 most notable names making a mark in our region.
Nolan family – Touch Football
Being active and playing sports is all the Nolan family have ever known.
Shell and her late husband Dennis Nolan instilled this passion into their children and it continues to show.
Shell who has played touch football for more than 15 years said her late husband was an avid player of cricket, squash, rugby union and touch football.
“He was an active man and coached the boys in soccer before they started playing touch football,” she said.
“We would prefer to see them outside kicking a footy or hitting a ball than sitting inside on a screen all day.”
Shell said the family of five started playing touch to keep fit and social, however they always had a competitive streak.
“Dennis decided that playing beside the boys would be a better way to teach them while on the field, so after juniors, both boys (Corey and Mac) played in the seniors competition with him at an early age.”
While the family are heavily involved in the local fixtures, they have an enormous amount of success in the representative side.
“The kids have all represented Dalby Christian College away at the annual All Schools Camp where Dennis was the first coach of the senior team,” she said.
“Four of us (Corey, Mac, Lainee and myself) played in our first carnival together before Covid hit at Fast Fours Carnival in Chinchilla.”
In more recent news, son Mac was selected for the under 18s National Youth Squad to trial for the Australian team.
“His selection for the Australian team is yet to be confirmed and if chosen he will play next year at the Trans Tasman Test series in April next year.”
Her youngest children Tessa and Kwade currently play for juniors.
“This was how we were bought up and we were always grateful to both our parents that this was how we were raised.”
Johnston family – Rugby Union
Rugby union has been the Johnston family’s calling ever since Leigh became a founding member of the Dalby Wheatmen club in the 1960s and later went on to coach his son Andrew in the under 8s team in the 80s.
Andrew who is currently president of the club said he, his brother and even their kids are drawn back to the club even after leaving years at a time.
“My kids (Sam, Tim, Joe and Isabel), they went away to private school but they all played junior and teenager rugby, two have come back and are now playing for seniors,” he said.
“I’ve had the privilege of playing with one of my boys a few years ago, we won a grand final together.
“It gives me great pleasure in watching my kids come back and play.”
On top of having a member of the Old Boys Committee (Leigh) and a president in the family, the Johnston’s also include an A grade coach (Robert) and current Wheatmen player (Lachlan).
Andrew explained that it’s not just his love of rugby union that keeps him ingrained in the sport.
“It’s not all about the game, it’s about the club,” he said.
“Family can come along and enjoy a good afternoon and watch their kids or friends play, it’s a good environment to be around and that’s what we try and nurture.”
Sankey family – Rugby League
It would be a fair bet you have heard a Sankey voice over the speaker during a footy game, been greeted by one of their smiling faces at the front gate.
Mum, Kylie who is also the secretary at the Dalby Devils, said her family had been invested in the club since their eldest son Nicholas began playing for the U6s team 15 years ago.
“It’s a very family-orientated club, any members will say the same thing and everyone makes you feel welcome,” she said.
“Nobody is segregated and everyone’s treated the same.”
Kylie, who also works in the call box on Saturday, is a fundraising and merchandising co-ordinator.
Husband Paul has been coaching for nine years, while their other youngest Lachlan, who used to play for the Devils, is now a referee co-ordinator.
“Paul’s youngest brother Jim is also the under 17s coach and his family is heavily invested in the club as well,” Kylie said.
On top of that Kylie’s dad, Tom Schloss, is the welcoming face that greets attendees and players at the front gate each game day, while her mum Norma also assists in merchandising.
This year Toowoomba Junior Rugby League gave out their first ever ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award, which went to Kylie.
“It was really nice to be acknowledged in the first award, a lot of people don’t realise how much goes on behind the scenes at these clubs,” Kylie said.
The family who are born and bred in Dalby have no prospects of leaving the club anytime soon and said it was the connections that kept them tied to the sport.
“Some of the boys who have gone in as under 17s, five years ago those boys still talk to you if you pass them on the street, the families stay connected, it’s that sort of club,” Kylie said.
Peltz family – AFL
Despite his efforts to stay away from the spotlight, Greg Peltz and his family are no strangers to success and great achievements within the AFL community.
Players may be very familiar with the name Peltz as the best and fairest award is named after Greg’s late father and former president of the club, Merv Peltz.
Greg who played footy for many years and said perhaps he played “too long” as the “body’s hurting now”.
But he has children who are still very much involved in the sport.
“This year Tyler was captain and Brandon was part of the leadership group,” he said.
Wife Sue, has also played a huge role in the AFL community has she spent time as treasurer and secretary of the club.
“I was assistant coach but didn’t do a hell of a lot,” Greg said.
An astounding highlight from Greg’s career has been making the ‘Best team across the Darling Downs in 50 years’ which he said was a “humbling experience”.
While he’s recently cooled off from having a huge amount of involvement in the club, Greg said it’s the people that make it what it is.
“There’s a lot of good people, that’s what it is, good people in the club.”
Ryan family – Campdrafting
For 22 years the Ryan family have lived in Dalby and despite growing up on the rugby union and league fields with dad Jim assisting in coaching the boys and their teams they made the switch to campdrafting where horses became the main focus of their lives.
Mum, Bec said they started to get involved in the local Campdraft & Darling Downs Stock Horse Branch 15 years ago, and since then, she and Jim had worked on various committees across Queensland and NSW.
“Both boys (Cody and Darby) have had success at national level with Cody winning the Australian Campdraft Juvenile Rider at 16 years of age and Darby winning the National Youth ASHS Judging when he was 15,” Bec said.
“Over the recent years, Jim has handed the horses to the boys and in 2021 he rejoined the Dalby Rugby family where he coached Wheatchix to their first-ever premiership win.”
Youngest child Matilda can be found running around with Bec as she is taken to netball games after she made the Dalby under 12 rep team this year.
Currently Jim is the longest standing president of the Darling Downs Branch of the Australian stock horse Society, while Bec takes on a variety of hats including secretary, marketing, events and sponsorship co-ordinator.
Bec said Jim is passionate about helping others and this year along with Darby travelled to NSW to assist with the livestock recovery efforts after the floods.
“Although it can be exhausting at times, we both feel it’s important to give the Darling Downs area the opportunity to attend and compete in these events and to see the kids competing and riding horses.”
Hart family – Cricket/Football
The Hart family consists of not one but two Dalby Devils lifetime members and have been affiliated with the organisation since the beginning.
Tim Hart said he joined the under 8s team in 1985 while his mum Siene worked at the canteen and took on the position of secretary.
“My mum was involved for such a long time it felt like a natural progression to start volunteering and help give back once I finished playing the game,” he said.
“I went through the Dalby Devils, then went to Diehards and played A grade for them, got married had kids and my two boys play now as well.”
The township is well associated with the Hart’s as Tim’s mum Siene has not only offered her time to football but dedicated time to giving back to the community as she currently still volunteers at the Information Centre for council.
Tim and his family didn’t stop there though as their love for cricket was just as strong with his father Vince umpiring with Dalby Cricket Association for a long time as well.
“I’ve been involved in Dalby cricket now for 12 years, I’ve been secretary for the association a couple times and played with the junior and senior teams.
“I think I was made a life member of the cricket association as well,” he said.
The love of cricket and rugby league come from his parents as Tim said it just felt natural.
Monaghan family – Cricket
For 71-year-old Ian Monaghan the only sport he had his sights set on was cricket, and his father, brother, sons and wife Lorraine have been the same.
After having a crack at rugby league and ending up waking up in the footy sheds from being tackled unconscious, the father-of-two decided that he would stick with the game he loves and knows most instead.
“I grew up on a farm and started playing for Coringa-North in the Dalby competition before moving to Dalby in 1965,” he said.
The cricket-lover said his dad also played in Dalby competitions until well into his 50s, with his sons Regan and Jarred also playing the game as they grew up.
“I still play for over 60s for Wide Bay during winter and now I umpire for Dalby cricket whose season is starting in the next couple of weeks.”
Wife Lorraine can also be seen at the cricket pitch as she’s previously held secretary and treasurer positions at Dalby Cricket Association. And continues to be the score keeper at local games.
“She’s always been into cricket as well, she probably didn’t have a choice.”
Mr Monaghan said his love for cricket just comes with participating in it for so long and claims he “doesn’t know any different”.
“It’s a good team game, I’ve just played for so long I don’t know when to stop,” he said.
Carmichael family – Rugby League
If you live in Dalby there’s a high chance you’ve heard the Carmichael name floating around with Kerry as the current Dalby Diehards A grade coach, and dad Lee being a prominent figure in the footy community since the start of the clubs formation.
Lee and Lyn Carmichael along with their five sons Kerry, Tony, John, Kevin and Glenn have been involved in rugby league since the beginning of time and are well-respected within the town.
The family’s seen great achievements over the years with Kerry having played multiple seasons for the North Queensland crushers.
Brady family – Rugby League
A family name you can’t leave off a Dalby sporting list, and consists of so many kids that it may make up an entire list, is Brady.
Current Dalby Diehards under 19s coach Derek, along with his wife Petoni, have contributed to the club along with their fives sons (Max, Conor, Wil, Noah and Osca) and daughter (Liv).
The family comes with major achievements as Derek won his first premiership with the under 18s teams in 2021, and three of his sons played together this year in a representative clydesdale Squad.
Last year on the premiership win, Derek told Toowoomba Rugby League all the coaches from the club have a great relationship and said it was an “outstanding” feeling to help the boys achieve their first premiership win.
Turner family - Squash
From the ages of 16 to 68, the Dalby Squash Courts is where you could find Kevin Turner, however it wasn’t through that sport that he met his wife Beryl, who also happened to be an avid squash player.
Beryl who played from the age of 18, was also an amazing table tennis player according to Kevin which is how the pair crossed paths.
“There was an enormous following where some 10+ churches in Dalby played in the church competition that was in the late 60s and early 70s,” he said.
Between the two they have six sons, five daughters and 35 grandchildren who are all themselves heavily involved in sports, and most have played squash when they were younger.
At age 48 Kevin was nominated for Australian Masters Singles and Teams in Brisbane but was knocked out in the semi final for singles however won the team event.
“Really, all 11 of our sons and daughters are/were extremely talented in most sports they’re committed to,” Kevin said.
HAVE WE MISSED ANYONE? Add your notable Dalby family names to the comments below.
Drunk footy player hid in bush after crash, left barely breathing girl on road
Hiding in the scrub, a drunk ute driver watched as paramedics desperately tried to save his critically injured 19-year-old friend. It wouldn’t be enough to stop him from another dangerous trip - this time involving cocaine. DETAILS.
Qld election: Who is running in Toowoomba seats in 2024
The 2024 state election campaign is just a few days old but Toowoomba and Darling Downs voters already have more than 15 candidates to choose from across four seats. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW HERE: