Book review: Australian Book Industry Awards winner about a First Nations and Carlton identity
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent is an Aussie sports memoir about Eddie Betts’s long, hard road from the bush to the stadium.
The Australian Rules football legend tells how he was once a “skinny Aboriginal kid” growing up in Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie but found success against the odds.
Significantly the life story has become a bestseller and won the Australian Book Industry Awards 2023 Social Impact Book of the Year.
So keep scrolling to find out more about this giant of the sport, his life story and tips for your own creating…
What The Boy from Boomerang Crescent is about
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent starts with Betts growing up in Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie playing street games with his family and friends.
But soon he moves to Melbourne and overcomes homesickness to play professional football for Carlton.
From humble beginnings he goes on to become a star who plays 350-plus games, kicks 600-plus goals, receives multiple All-Australian nods and Goal of the Year awards.
However, off the field he also meets wife Anna, raises a family of five, plus becomes a mentor, community leader and social activist.
“When I think back to my childhood, what I really recall is that it was all about family. We never went without and we were raised with a strong sense of belonging. Our family made sacrifices for each other and we learned to put others before ourselves. We were taught to respect our Elders and our traditions, and, most importantly, we were taught to have a strong sense of self-identity.”
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Highlights from Betts’s book
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent opened my eyes to many things.
Firstly, how culturally unsupported and misunderstood Aboriginal players like Betts were by their clubs in earlier days.
Also the ferociousness of crowd members who insulted him mid match and even hurled a banana in a horrendous racist attack.
Importantly though we learn how Betts grew and became a leader for anti-racism in his club and more widely for the sport.
And finally of his enormously big heart for taking in younger Aboriginal players under his roof and for organising weekly ‘mob’ meals.
“I know that playing footy has given me a platform and if I can use it to educate people about what it’s like growing up in an environment where it’s seen as normal for the police to take people away, then it might help.”
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Tips from The Boy from Boomerang Crescent
Read The Boy from Boomerang Crescent and discover much for your own life-story creating.
For example, be incredibly inspired that Betts wrote this memoir at all given he grew up illiterate and only learnt to read and write once he turned professional.
Certainly this fact should dispel any of your own niggling self doubts that ‘writing prerequisites’ are needed to attempt a life-story project!
In addition, read this book to see how Betts weaves his story effectively with clear and concise words just as if he was having a chat post game.
“They didn’t know that I couldn’t read. No-one at the club would know until my second year.”
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Final say: The Boy from Boomerang Crescent
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent by Eddie Betts is an inspirational story of a true Australian Rules champion, on and off the field.
In sum it is a moving tale of an Aboriginal boy who battled discrimination and who grew up to be famous for his gravity-defying kicks.
However, read this life story if you also want to better understand the importance of family, self belief and the unifying power of sport.
Certainly this is a memorable read full of soul, unpretentiousness and Aussie humour.
Happy writing and reading!
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