Mr Sperber started playing badminton 80 years ago, when he was aged 14, in halls across Ballarat.

His life-long passion for the game has not left him and he enthusiastically picks up his racket every week to play against competitors who are 30 to 40 years younger than him.

Two years ago, the Victorian Badminton Veterans Association presented Mr Sperber with a diamond achievement award for playing the sport after reaching 90 years of age.

He believes he is the oldest Victorian still playing the game competitively.

Mr Sperber said he learned how to play badminton after his family of eight moved from Pomonal to Ballarat in 1939.

"We got burnt out in the Black Friday fires and came to Ballarat in 1939. I was 12-years-old. Some locals got us to go to the church in Albert Street (Sebastopol)," Mr Sperber said.

"They had a group there and a hall, and I started playing badminton. That started me off."

Mr Sperber said he played football and cricket but he did not enjoy standing out in the open waiting for the ball, and a night-time sport suited his lifestyle.

He said in the early days, there were quite a number of badminton enthusiasts who formed the Ballarat Badminton Association and competitions were held in halls across Ballarat.

"Some halls didn't have high ceilings and they were used to hold dances, so they were slippery," he said.

"After playing badminton, we got a good country-style supper. That went on for a number of years. Then Ken Kay decided we needed a hall and (the association) had fundraisers and got grants from the council."

The Ken Kay Ballarat Badminton Stadium was built in Dowling Street, Wendouree, and Mr Sperber said it flourished for years.

He said a veterans' association was then formed and competitions were held in Ballarat, Geelong, Swan Hill and Albury-Wodonga.

"We had 500 to 600 players. It was a good competition," Mr Sperber said.

A highlight of any sporting group is the social aspect and badminton players led the way, holding balls at the Civic Hall with 500 people in attendance.

Mr Sperber said he felt very fortunate to be still playing the sport at his age. He has not stopped at badminton, though.

He still helps out at Ballarat Bird World at Mount Helen, which he and his late wife Joan established in 1974, he owned Sebastopol Central Motors for 60 years and he is a proud member of the Sebastopol Fire Brigade.

Mr Sperber was a volunteer firefighter for more than 50 years and worked tirelessly on his own, taking emergency phone calls and attending fires.

He said people often asked him why he fought fires for three days without receiving a payment.

"I just go along quietly and do things that people appreciate," Mr Sperger said.

He said over his life, he could have died up to seven times, when he was carrying out dangerous work including carting logs, driving trucks and fighting fires.

He remembers one high-risk incident when an LPG tanker was on fire on the Ballarat-Colac Road. The driver had emptied his extinguishers on it and Mr Sperber was left to face it with the water he had.

Luckily, his mate Jack Ryan came in to give him a hand with the hose and he gradually got it out. Later, two police investigators were unhappy with him for risking his life.

"I am prepared to die. When my time is up, it's up. I am not scared of dying," Mr Sperber said.

With a very good memory, Mr Sperber can recall so much of Ballarat's history, including the fire at Ballarat's Coliseum Hall in 1936.

He was waiting to catch the train with his mother when he heard the building's windows blow out before the fire took control.

He said growing up in the Great Depression years had had an impact on how he lived his adult life, with money never at his forefront.

Mr Sperber said he and his family lived on kangaroo, rabbit, bread and fat.

"We were destitute, like everyone else," he said.

"If I had my life again, I would do everything exactly the same. I would not change anything because I am content."

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