The spirit of the former Carlton footballer “Jack” Massey is alive and well at YMCA, with Carlton Coach Michael Malthouse this morning dedicating his time and energy to a Breakfast convened by the YMCA Bridge Project of which he has been Patron since 2006.
Malthouse gave of his time to address guests at the breakfast at Show Time on the South Wharf Promenade. Few in the room could have known that Malthouse’s commitment to the cause is in keeping with that of the late Jack Massey MBE - the two-game Carlton footballer of 1910.
For it was Massey who also served as honorary Captain i/c of the YMCA with the AIF’s 4th Division from 1915-19; as National Staff Member of the YMCA in the United States in 1925; as Executive Secretary of the National YMCAs of England in 1939; and as National General Secretary of the YMCA of Australia from 1944.
Malthouse, in an interview with Carlton Media Manager Loretta Smith, told the gathering of his passion for the YMCA Bridge Project, which helps rebuild the lives of young offenders who have been involved in the youth justice system.
He talked of his keen personal interest in helping to rehabilitate young men whose lives have gone off the rails in some way and he used sport as a means of telling the story.
“If you go back through history you see great sporting achievements from people who have been given a second, third and fourth chance,” Malthouse said “You look around the world and you see people on the sporting field and in life in general just get that opportunity, that one glimmer of hope . . . and run with it.”
Malthouse’s dedication to the YMCA, which in Victoria has served the community since 1853, follows in the grand tradition set by the likes of men such as Massey.
John Tolson Massey was born in Hawthorn on May 1, 1887, the son of Henry John Massey, a draper, and Fanny Tolson. Recruited from Carlton Juniors (later Carlton District), Massey became the 242nd senior player to represent the Blues, managing two appearances in Rounds 17 and 18 of the 1910 season. The accompanying portrait was taken in 1912.
John Tolson Massey. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)
Notwithstanding his involvement with the YMCA, Massey was also seconded to the Commonwealth Government as organiser of voluntary organisations and churches assisting assimilation of immigrants into Australian life in 1949.
He was twice married, lived in Glen Iris and died in Camberwell on July 18, 1981 at the age of 94.
