The Carbine Club of New South Wales is a not-for-profit members’ club whose charter is to raise money for junior sport in NSW. The club has a rich history of members from the greatest athletes we have seen to leaders in the racing world, sporting administrators and members of the media who have contributed to sport in the State.
The membership list includes champions from many sports including horse racing, Olympic and Commonwealth Games, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, Australian rules football, surf lifesaving, golf, motor racing and more. Other members have established their reputation in sports administration, business, politics and the media.
The Club conducts several sports based lunches annually providing a wonderful camaraderie for members and their guests with auctions and raffles to assist in CCNSW donations to junior sport.
From the Beginning
The original Carbine Club was founded in Melbourne in1961 with the NSW branch founded in 1976 by racing and sports identities including Al Smith, Keith Robbins, Tim Cox, Hugh Gage, Alan Davidson, Kevin Humphries and Jim Comans.
Initially the club was named the Tulloch Club but after discussions and assistance from the Victorian Carbine Club President Ken Cox and Secretary Trevor Craddock, it was decided to rename it the Carbine Club of New South Wales, loosely following the Victorian constitution.
In 1977 the NSW Club became the third Carbine Club. Today there are 15 clubs spread across Australia and around the world. The original 13 members were Tim Cox (Chairman), Alan Davidson (Deputy Chairman), Al Smith (Secretary), Hugh Gage (Treasurer), Keith Robbins and Noel Robinson (Committeemen) and Ray Alexander, Kevin Humphries, Ken Rowland, Jim Carr and Sir Clyde Kennedy as members. Bart Cummings, a Melbourne member, became a member when he moved to Sydney. This number rose over the next two years to 40 members.
The aim of the club was to honour sport and enjoy good fellowship. Lunches were to be held in conjunction with major sporting events with two of the feature luncheons to be the Rugby League Grand Final Luncheon and the Autumn Racing Carnival lunch.
The first lunch was held at the RAC in Macquarie Street with guest speaker Tommy Bishop (then Captain of the English rugby league team) who was later to play for Cronulla.
Subsequent speakers included Russell Bartlett, who spoke on motor racing and Peter Falk who was the first speaker on rugby union. Over a very short time numbers grew so quickly that lunches had to move to a larger venue than the RAC. Initially venues were chosen in association with the sport that was being highlighted. Subsequently, major venues such as Tattersalls and Randwick Racecourse were chosen to cope with the increasing number of attendees.
Coinciding with our beginnings was the introduction of the raffle at each lunch with proceeds going to junior sport. Over $1million has been donated to junior sport covering a variety of sports. The first donation went to junior cricket, where the under 17 competition was played for the “Carbine Club” Cup. Another group to receive support is junior Orienteering where the junior NSW team is known as “The Carbines.” Other cheque recipients to reach the highest level in their chosen sporting arena include current Sydney Swans’ stars Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills. CCNSW is also proud of its partnership with Commonwealth Games Australia and the NSW Institute of Sport in funding the “Kurt Fearnley Scholarships” supporting junior para-athletes to reach the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, with Jasmine Greenwood a swimming gold medallist in 2022.