Basketball has always been a part of my life even before my life. Does that even make sense? Let me explain. Many of years after entering this earth, my parents chose to reveal my entry came courtesy of basketball. As the youngest of seven kids by a long, long, long, long way I was already resigned to the fact I was clearly a mistake. I wasn’t meant to be here.
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But it was not until my later years my now late mum and dad revealed I was the result of a, um, well, err, a “celebration” following a premiership party for the local housewives basketball competition my mum played in at the time. Hearing that was, um ……. enlightening.
Nothing a good couple of years of therapy couldn’t fix. Just kidding. Sort of. Growing up on the North-West Coast of Tasmania basketball was a pretty big part of life. Every town along the Coastline has its own team in a strong inter-town competition and every town has a pretty decent stadium.
With a brother in law who was a top coach and stadium manager, I grew up watching some great players. Players the calibre of Ian Davies (pictured), Cliff Martin, Curtis Coleman and many, many others let alone North-West locals like NBL great Anthony Stewart. Tassie won it’s only National Basketball League title in 1981 and it wasn’t Hobart which won it. It was a side called Launceston Casino City. Like the North-West Coast of Tassie, basketball is ingrained in this region’s culture.
The National Basketball League this year celebrates 40 years and there has been one club which has been the whole way through – the side we now call the Illawarra Hawks. That’s a pretty amazing thing when you stop and think about it. Alongside the club, the Illawarra Mercury has been right by the Hawks side for the entire journey and we look forward in helping to celebrate that history with the club more this year. We will bring you more information on how soon.
