New president has a vast background in basketball

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34128, 14 April 1976, Page 16

New president has a vast background in basketball

(By

ROD DEW)

If there is one person who has contributed more to the development of basketball in Canterbury than any. other this must be Ray Thomson — a man who had his introduction to the sport in the late 1930 s and who has been associated with it ever since.

His achievements are without equal; his service to the game quite incredible. And what is even more remarkable is that Ray Thomson is as enthusiastic about it now as he was more than 35 years ago. It is a tribute to the respect in which he is held that he was recently elected president of the Canterbury Basketball Association.

But it is a position with which he is far from unfamiliar. He was one of the original members of the old Canterbury Men’s Basketball Association, which assumed control of the sport from the Y.M.C.A. in the 19405, became its secretary in 1957 and three years later its president. For more than a decade he was the administrative leader of men’s basketball in the province before stepping down for a well-earned rest.

However, it was not long before fellow enthusiasts

persuaded him to return to the administrative fold. In 1971, the men’s and women’s basketball associations amalgamated to form the Canterbury Basketball Association and three years later Mr Thomson was voted back on to the management committee. Now, once again, he is captain of the basketball ship in Canterbury.

And this time, the women as well as the men are looking to his diplomatic leadership ability to guide them through a period of what appears likely to be unprecedented growth. But he sees himself more as a co-ordinator and a chairman than anything else. He readily concedes that the combination of the men’s and women’s associations has, in many respects, doubled the administrative pressure, but at the same time is quick to point out that there are many things that the women can do better than the men. Because of the size of the work load, he is encouraging what he calls

“decentralisation.” Sub committees are being given specific tasks and a certain amount of autonomy. This reduces the number of occasions on which the full management committee has to meet and helps to spread the work load.

It is working well. However, there is one aspect of the sport he views with disfavour — the unseemly behaviour of some players

and coaches. “In isolated cases, the attitude of some players and coaches from senior to high school level is very poor. Even coaches of secondary school teams have been abusing referees. This is the type of attitude basketball wants stamped out,” Mr Thomson said. Players and coaches had to appreciate that everybody was human and everybody made mistakes. "The referee does his best to administer the game within the laws. If a player complains that the refereeing is poor, there are many avenues open to him. He is welcome to find out how difficult it is to referee — raiher than grizzle all the lime. It is my hope that players, coaches, and even referees will play and referee in a proper manner for the game’s sake.”

Mr Thomson is well qualified to make such a call. He was for many years one of New Zealand’s leading referees until he retired from this field in 1971 and he is still a member of the select band of national badge holders. Mr Thomson represented Canterbury for a decade from 1940 and was chosen to play for the South Island on a number of occasions. He was still in the Canterbury team in 1950 but it had no coach. So, in typical fashion, he retired from representative play to coach the team itself.

It was the start of a coaching career which was to bring him nation-wide regard. Five years later, he guided the Canterbury team to its first win in New Zealand men’s championship at Palmerston North. He coached the representative team for one more year before retiring from the position. But this was far from the end of his involvement in coaching. In fact, he has been coaching ever since. He coached Y.M.C.A. club sides and was the driving force behind the formation of the High School Old Boys club. The infant club first played under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A. in 1964 and the next year made its A grade debut with Mr Thomson playing as well as coaching. He coached the team for several years before stepping down.

He returned as club coach for a two-year spell in 1973 and this season is acting as bench coach for the A grade team once again. But it is at lower levels than this that his real impact is being made. Mr Thomson is the master in charge of physical education at Christchurch Boys’ High School and he has produced many fine school teams and many talented players. The New Zealand representative, Stuart Ferguson, and the New Zealand junior representative, Ed Manco, gained their grounding under him. Others from his “nursery” to achieve high honours in the sport include Allan Hounsell, Kim Luxton, Simon and Tim Guthrie. Geoff Orchard. Keith Milligan — the list

goes on. Another of his proteges, Robin Milligan, is now one of New Zealand’s foremost referees. For many years, Mr Thomson was coach of the Canterbury colts team, reflecting the great interest he has always had in basketball at its development stages. One of his ambitions, now that he is at the administrative helm once again, is to establish Saturday competitions for school players of both sexes under the age of 16. Because of the timing, they could, he says, be obliged to choose basketball as their main spart. The place for social basketbailers was in the mid-week competitions, which had, at any rate, reached their capacity. No door charges are now being made for spectators at these games. If Mr Thomson’s overriding interest, has always been basketball, this has not stopped him taking an active interest in other sports.

He was' the champion sprinter at school right through the age groups and on one occasion, at Timaru, ran 100 yards in the remarkable time of 10.4 sec. He was an inter-school sprint champion and in the early 1940 s won the Canterbury junior 100 yds championship. Unfortunately, the demands of his position as physical director at the Y.M.C.A. forced him to give athletics away. Tn his time his father, Buck Thomson, was one of New Zealand’s leading sprinters. “If he was alive today and running on the tracks we now have . . .” During the depression, Mr Thomson senior and his teenage son ran professionally. “We made more money running pro than we earned during the week,” Ray Thomson recalled. “Dad would win the senior events and I would clean up in the under 16 grade.” Rugby was another sport at which Ray Thomson excelled. He was a corporal in the R.N.Z.A.F. at Wigram when he made his debut as a wing for Canterbury in 1945. He made five appearances that season. The next season, then playing for High School Old Boys, he was again chosen for the

provincial side. Much later, in the 19605, Mr Thomson coached the senior High School Old Boys rugby team for three seasons. It has, nevertheless, always been evident that basketball has held the I greatest sporting appeal for I him. And it is in this fast- • moving sport from the i United States that he has j made his main contribution. I Without his influence and j guidance over a great many I years, basketball in this j province might not be in the healthy position it is i today. To Ray Thomson, the j future looks exceptionally i bright. And there is noj doubt at all that he is going | to be an important part of it. I