A ferret racing passion for 'Whitey'

WHAT started notoriously with a headlock in a carpark between mates was an idea for fundraising that continues to flourish for Avenel stalwart Martin White. During a progressive tea celebration for the Avenel Swans football and netball club 15 years ago, the former 1980s player was scruffed by then player Joey Pollock. "I was trying to clean up and Joey was dragging the chain so I had to get him out onto the bus," Martin said. "Then Joey got me in a headlock and said 'listen, we have yabby races at cricket during the summer, what about you arrange for some other animal races for footy?'" That was 14 years ago and since then Martin White - 'Whitey' to everyone at the club and beyond - has been a celebrated star of fundraising for community groups all around the state and deep into NSW. To get the bus away on time, Martin agreed to think of something. "Joey said to me 'just find us an animal'" With pet ferrets at home and a keen eye for ingenuity, Martin birthed Whitey's Ferrets which became an extraordinary portable event and annual highlight on many sporting clubs' calendars. From running eight race meetings in its first year, Martin now finds need to declare a nine-month racing season between February and November with bookings for 2025 already filling up. "I go to sports clubs mainly," Martin said over a coffee in a precious short break from his busy life. "But last year we did a race at the Deni Ute Muster to raise a bit of money for a cancer support service out in central NSW." Whitey's Ferret Racing raised over $15,000 at the muster for the Deniliquin branch of Can Assist, a community group designed to fill the gap in travel, accommodation and medical costs for families affected by cancer. And if the light under that bushel was not hidden enough, in November he helped raise $50,000 in Robertson in the NSW highlands for the famous Illawarra Convoy as part of that charity's $2.5 million donated to help families with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses. Can Assist Deniliquin patient liaison officer Bianca Armytage lauded the effort of the Deni Muster in arranging Martin to raise funds for them. "The races always draw a big crowd and Whitey never fails to make everything run smoothly," Bianca said. "At the same time it helps us raise vital funds for those affected by cancer in our own community." Martin pivots the attention back to the charities themselves. "If someone's got sick kids, they can get money for accommodation or fuel and stuff like that - it's just to help," he said. Martin said 20 years in Avenel should be sufficient to 'get a spot' in the cemetery as a local, but by any measure he brings to the town an experience from childhood that is both earthy and generous. As one of 13 children on a farm, friends were never needed for cricket games. "We'd have our own test matches, there were enough of us," he said. A blend of family resourcefulness and a strong involvement with their Catholic church is clearly what helped form the industriousness of this community man. Martin saw the ingenuity of his father who worked at an abattoir when he begin trapping rabbits on their property. "Probably the amount of rabbits we trapped and sold paid for Mum and Dad's house," he said. "We all got involved, there was always plenty to do before school and we had a bit of a bartering system with the neighbours, exchanging milk and eggs and maybe a load of firewood. "We were a big Catholic family with the church down the road and when my brother bought our first colour TV, we had the nuns and the priests coming to see it. "So we grew up help doing things, you know, what we could." Martin's career in the railways began in Bendigo in 1980 and saw him gravitate towards Avenel via Seymour where he was V/Line's parcels manager. When not enough players talked to him at the local football club, a mate lured him to a training session at Avenel. "I went up on a Thursday and I think I got home at seven o'clock on the Friday morning, or so it was said. "I thought 'this is quite good' and then I met up a local and we married. "I've been in Avenue ever since." Between his playing years and ferret racing era, Martin presided over the football and netball club during years of major change, including the construction of new netball changerooms in 2008. Since retirement, he has helped out around town with 'a spot of gardening' and odd jobs for those who need it. "I always looked after a lot of the elderlies around town, helping with their lawns and different things like that. "It was just something that I took on being able to, because I did shift work." He finds a nice play on words before dashing back to replace some bolts on his mower. "They call me the Colin Hayes of ferrets, but I would say that ferrets would have to be the grass roots of racing." There is a pause. "Of course, the ferrets live underground among the actual grass roots." A handshake, and he's gone.