JASON Beavan and his family have a long history of building in Tumut, and Jason is still building, and building the strength of Tumut basketball.
The Beavan family first arrived in Tumut from Sydney in the 1920s, starting up business in the building trade and owning a brick kiln.
They built infrastructure around the area including the old Rural Banks and a lot of the old red brick houses you see around town today.
Not long after this they became involved in the funeral industry as well.
Jason’s parents Robert and Denise, ran Beavan’s Funeral Home, after his grandfather and great grandparents had done so.
Jason was born in Tumut, went to Tumut Preschool, then Franklin Public School, then Tumut High School, where he completed year 12.
On leaving school he got an apprenticeship as a carpenter and joiner with Greg Christian Builders. He worked with a few other builders before venturing out on his own in the early 2000s.
He still enjoys the work as much as ever.
“Every day is different,” he said.
“You’ve got challenges every day, doing something different every day; it keeps your mind ticking and ticking, and you are meeting different people.”
Most of his work is in the Tumut, Adelong and Batlow area and he said the local building trade was going quite well.
“Everyone seems to be busy; there’s lots of work on.”
He concedes he may have a genetic disposition for the trade, being a fifth-generation Beavan builder.
“It must be in the blood,” he said.
“We just like to use our hands and do stuff; help people and stuff. Like with my parents and grandparents in the funeral industry; they’re always there helping people; helping the community, especially in that time of need. Only certain people can do it, especially the things you’ve got to do; the things you’ve got to see and deal with, there’s only a few who can do it.”
Jason’s long involvement with sport began when he was five.
“I started out at soccer, also had a go at playing minor league, and from the minor league ranks went through to senior league.’
He played in the Tumut under 16s and under 18s before suffering an injury in his last year of school, ending his rugby league career
He started playing basketball when he was about six and this is his true sporting passion.
He played representative basketball for Tumut, and played for school teams, and then got into coaching and refereeing. He is still involved in refereeing and coaching at a high level.
“At the moment I’m assistant coach for the girls under 18 Wagga representative teams. I have three kids; Jack Lily and Olivia; they did their last few years (of schooling) over at Kildare with Olivia starting Year 11, Jack now learning to become the sixth-generation builder and Lily starting at Deakin University in Melbourne, studying Exercise Sports Science. Hence the reason I got asked to help with coaching and refereeing over there.”
He’s been involved with Tumut basketball for decades and received life membership a few years ago.
“That was a great honour,” he said.
When he was younger, playing basketball was the best thing about the sport but Jason has come to appreciate coaching and refereeing.
“I have three brothers, Brett, Todd and Adam. We use to play all different kinds of sport against each other every day in the back yard. This is where you could say the passion for sport began and the competitive streak in us developed.”
“I got into coaching early, coaching my younger twin brothers in basketball when they were in the U18 rep teams. It just grew from there, coaching all of my three children in both soccer and basketball” he said.
“It’s great seeing the Tumut kids grow up from little five-year-olds into teenagers who are now adults with families of their own and you see their kids playing now. You’ve seen the kids grow up and then you’re teaching their kids. Seeing the kids grow and improve; not just in playing but in life in general. It doesn’t matter what sport you are coaching, you don’t realise until you get older and you look back and see those kids grown up that you’ve taught them life skills as well.”
Few could deny that Tumut punches above its weight in basketball.
“One of the proudest things you can feel as a coach and an administrator is when Tumut goes away; how we compete with the big cities like Canberra and Illawarra, Albury and even down into Victoria and you get feedback from people congratulating you on how well the kids behaved and played on the court; they can’t believe such a small town can produce all these talented kids that are really punching above their weight. I take my hat off to the parents who put their hand up to coach and mentor the kids; not only their own but other kids. We don’t have the elite coaching clinics here, we are self-taught and the kids seem to be improving all the time.”
He would like to see a more upgraded facility to strengthen the spot in the town.
“It will be unbelievable if we get the multi-purpose centre,” he said.
Jason loves Tumut but isn’t 100 per cent sure if he will spend the rest of his life here.
“You don’t know what the future’s going to hold,” he said.
“Your kids grow up and you don’t know where they are going to go. Family mean a lot to me.”
