[2] He grew up in Deloraine and attended the local Area School.
[3][4] As a teenager, he was fortunate that his involvement in a motorcycle accident left him only shaken and not badly injured.
[5] Hay played with Longford in the NTFA during the mid to late 1950s and was coached by Fred Davies.
Hay was captain-coach of Rutherglen in the Ovens & Murray Football League from 1962 to 1965.
When he returned to Tasmania, Hay played with Launceston in the NTFA during the late 1960s and early 1970s.