"I was brought up with it; it's been part of my life ever since I can remember."
Barry, who would go on to mostly work in RSAs or Cossie Clubs, moved to Tauranga with wife-to-be Bev in 1967.
The couple left in 1976 for a number of Central North Island stops, before returning to the Bay in 1988.
Wherever he went, sport was never far behind.
"It was enhanced by working in the clubs because guys have a few beers and what do they want to talk about? The All Blacks and cricket. I was reasonably successful as a club manager because I took sport into it."
His association with boxing, which would see him become president of the national boxing association, was down to family too.
"Darryl got involved with Denny Enright, and Denny being Denny he started pushing me into things. We were going to have the nationals here in 1991 and he said that I'd better go over with him to the AGM for the Central North Island Boxing Association.
"That was about all, but by the time we left to come home not only was I the treasurer of the 1991 nationals I was treasurer of CNI. It just went from there.
"I guess the reason we got into boxing so heavily is because of what it did for Darryl.
"In the mid-1980s we lived in Wairoa and they had the worst Mongrel Mob in the country; they were animals.
"Darryl got himself on the fringe of them. He got involved with boxing at the same time and boxing won and it changed his life completely."
Darryl is now a trainer in Australia, who returned to the ring twice in two days recently after a decade away.
He won the first fight at middleweight before stepping up for a close decision loss in a light heavyweight contest the next day.
That is the great thing about chatting with the man affectionately known around the traps as Baz. Every story has another behind it.
His long stint as a boxing announcer, for instance, began with a pithy remark to a drunken rum-drinking Scot too afraid to do his duty straight.
But Barry's days of being right in the thick of it are coming to an end.
Aside from media and historical duties with Bay Cricket, covering Bay rugby and a few other favours to his vast array of local sporting connections, Barry is stepping back after decades of service.
"There's lots of things over the years that I've done. You do what you do because you enjoy it. There's no other reason.
"The big thing with sports administration is knowing when you've reached your used-by-date.
"With boxing, I had concerns there were too many guys my age that are still there.
"Your used-by-date comes when you know you have made as much a contribution to your chosen sport as you possibly can. The real trick is to make sure you leave a strong heritage."
He and Bev plan to spend winters in Australia from next year, with Barry believing sport in the region - in the Western Bay of Plenty in particular - is in good stead.
Cricket pathways in the Western Bay have never been so well defined, the standard of Baywide rugby continues to improve and the proliferation of parks and fields means the Bay is one of the best places for young sportspeople in the country.
The club picture and the state of sport in the Central and Eastern Bay though, is another matter. "Some of the clubs have adapted and some have not. One of the things the city council does is encourage the multi-use of facilities.
"In the Mount it's crazy - you've got the cricket club, the rugby club, the Cossie Club, hockey and netball and they've all got their own separate facilities.
"It's hard to force clubs into doing things - often they don't look at the big picture - they look at the short-term future.
"What is worrying in club cricket is the demise of Rotorua and Eastern Bay. They're just not competitive. I've been reporting on cricket for 11-12 years and when I first started there were four teams from Rotorua. Teams would go down to Rotorua and really have to scrap for a win.e
