The Christian Brothers and Handball in Australia

The Irish Christian Brothers and Handball in Australia

There are various views about the purpose of handball in the history of the Brothers in Australia. One view was posited by Ron Blair in his one-person play The Christian Brother. The character in the play has very clear views about the place of handball in the Brothers’ lives:

Juniorate boys at the handball courts, Mount Saint Mary’s, Strathfield, 1960s. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW

Christmas Day handball tournament at Mount St Mary’s campus, Strathfield. Players, Brothers, and spectators at handball courts, 1919. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

Junior students at St Enda’s, Strathfield, due to enter the Novitiate, in front of handball courts on Mount Saint Mary’s campus, 1926. Christian Brothers’ archive, Balmain

Aerial view of the facilities of Bundoora Novitiate, Victoria, which served the order from the late twentieth century. Handball courts can be seen on the left. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

View of the handball courts at St Enda’s Juniorate, Strathfield, as students and Brothers spectate during a sports day, 1922/1923. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW

Students pose in front of the courts during a handball tournament, Christian Brothers’ College, Balmain, 1920s. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW

. Students playing handball on the courts, Christian Brothers’ College, Lewisham, early 1920s. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

View of the Scholasticates’ handball courts at Strathfield, 1960s. The Scholasticate itself stands directly behind the alley. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

Handball courts at St Joseph’s, Minto, the Christian Brother’s provincial Novitiate from 1939 to 1970. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

View of the Junior courts from the St Enda’s dormitories, busily occupied by students, 1924. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

Strathfield handball courts known as ‘Davy’s Dell’, 1958. Christian Brothers’ Archive, NSW.

From ‘Irish Exile’ to ‘Australian pagan’: the Christian Brothers, Irish handball, and identity in early twentieth-century Australia

Another more academic approach was taken by Rowan Light in his thesis: “The Christian Brothers school culture was characterised by strict discipline, methodology, methodical teaching, hard work, and devotion to academic results. Also not to be forgotten is the Brothers’ commitment to sport as a means of developing health and character among their young students. This was not unique to Irish Catholic schools but was part of a wider discourse around health culture and muscular Christianity in British educational reform…”

Pictured: Handball champions in the senior, junior, and ‘midget’ competition at Christian Brother’s College, Lewisham, 1910. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.

The Orientation booklet from Rostrevor includes the following comment about the facilities at Rostrevor:

It was not until 1955 that Br Mogg re-visited the issue of the Handball courts in his Annual address - “In a few weeks’ time, Rostrevor will have the three finest Handball courts in the Commonwealth – at a cost of £6,500. When these are completed, this College will have unrivalled facilities for every branch of sport”.

Amongst the Brothers themselves there were keen competitions, and the Kelty Archives contains material associated with the organisation of some of these competitions, including the contributions of cash expected from participating Communities to enable the provision of balls and presumably some sort of prizes for the winners.

Handball today

Existing circulars and Draw Sheets from Victoria indicate that Competitions began in earnest in 1930, with preliminary rounds being held in various local courts and the finals being played at St Vincent’s Orphanage. The executive committee arranged the rules and the entries; John Ambrose Mullavey was the Secretary. Up to 12 communities around the city were involved.

Not many of the original handball courts around the country have survived. (Perhaps people could send in photos of those still in existence.) The three at Lower Plenty have survived – even though two of them have been put to other uses. Until very recently a small group of enthusiasts used play in the later afternoons on the third court during Summer. The court at North Melbourne was used as recently as 2015 for the Australian 3-wall National Handball Championships.

The Archives would welcome any Brother’s recollections of handball in the life of the Congregation, especially any references to local competitions amongst the Brothers, Past Students, or amongst the general public.

Pictured: Christmas Day handball tournament at the Mount Saint Mary’s campus, Strathfield. Handball players, Brothers, and other spectators converse under the sports pavilion in front of the handball courts, 1919. Christian Brothers Archive, NSW.