Gary McSweeney is being remembered as a treasured friend, wonderful mentor, great club member and a man passionate about education and sport and providing representative opportunities for kids.
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Tributes are flowing for the man affectionately known as "Gaz" after he lost his battle with cancer on the weekend.
The 66-year-old father-of-two was a prominent figure in the Tamworth and wider Armidale Diocese community as the chairperson of the Armidale Diocesan Primary Sport Council and Polding committee, long-time St Edward's Primary School principal, and Pirates stalwart.
In recent times, the ground announcer for their home games, McSweeney co-coached the first grade side in 2000 and 2001, before transitioning into the administrative side of things and serving as president from 2002-2005.
President Mark Gallienne said the Pirates family is "deeply-saddened" by his passing and he will be missed greatly.
"He was a treasured part of the club," he said.
Tim O'Callaghan was among those to call McSweeney a close friend. He was "our little mate".
The two struck up a friendship when O'Callaghan started teaching at St Edward's in 2000 and joined Pirates. McSweeney was the principal then and also the co-coach and would go on to be a great mentor for him.
"He helped me through my teaching career and also with those early years of football at Pirates," O'Callaghan reflected.
"But I think he was a mentor for a lot of people to be honest, even the young kids coming through playing for St Ed's in the day, or the Armidale Diocese, or the young juniors coming through Pirates.
"He always had time for people."
He was, he added, a person "that you could rely on" and "an extremely loyal mate".
And very generous - with his time that is. Not so much his money, he joked.
"We were only having a bit of a joke about it the other day actually, saying that his wallet certainly had some moths hanging out of it for sure," O'Callaghan said.
In a tribute online, the Armidale Diocesan Primary Sport Council wrote of how grateful it was for his contribution and the role McSweeney played in the inclusion of Catholic students in NSW Primary School Sports Association (NSWPSSA) carnivals.
"Gary's involvement in Armidale Diocesan Sport, NSWCPS and NSWPSSA has been instrumental to so many students over the years," the statement read.
"Gary shared his wealth of knowledge about a variety of different sporting structures, rules and regulations and he could always be counted on to assist. He was particularly successful as a mentor for teachers and principals, to encourage their involvement in sport within the Diocese."
His involvement in Armidale Diocese sport started in 1992 when he convened an Inter Diocesan Catholic cross-country carnival at Barraba. At the time it was the first carnival to be held outside of the metropolitan area.
Five years later he took the first-ever Polding athletics team to a NSWPSSA carnival.
He was later the first member of the Catholic school system to be appointed to an executive position with the NSWPSSA, serving as vice-president from 2005-2009. Since 2010 he has been the senior vice president, and he was for his contribution made a life member of the NSWPSSA in 2012.
He was also the NSW representative on the School Sport Australia board, and the organisation's president from 2021 to 2022.
His funeral will be held at St Nicholas' Catholic Church in White Street on Friday, commencing at 2.30pm.
There will also be a livestream of the service. The link for that can be found on the Shaun Hamilton Funerals website or Facebook page.
