Fixtures

Results

The driving force behind the inauguration of basketball in the Island was Joe Wilson who came as a teacher to the Island in 1960. He had coached Loughborough Colleges (UK) in the late fifties, and his experience and enthusiasm led him in the early nineteen sixties to organise inter-school competitions and began adult classes to cater for the increase in interest.

To develop the sport Joe arranged competitive matches by hiring the tomato packing sheds at 50p ($0.70) per night. It was far from ideal as there were no markings on the concrete floor. They had to chalk in the lines each week., and the home-made portable rings were transported by lorry. To start with there were two leagues with three teams in each. Names like Caterpillars, Octopi, Strollers, Minstrels and Rebels were used.

The following season the badminton hall was built and for the privilege of improved facilities they had to pay the princely sum of £1.50 ($1.10) each week. The court was full size and Joe again built the back -boards. The sport had arrived with now 5 leagues, including 2 junior leagues. Games were scheduled to start at 4.30pm, and by the time the seniors finished the last game it was invariably past midnight. In 1969 the teams competing in the leagues were:

Seniors – Cats, Mystics, Forresters Juniors – Lions, Wombats, Pumas, Tigers

Joe left the Island to teach in North Wales in January 1969, and the Guernsey Basketball Association was formed. The leading figures were Robbie Burns, Ian Curle, Terry Le Huray and Carl Clay. There was a new venue for the 1969 season after the opening of the new St Peter Port School, and for eight years the sport had a base, with games being played two nights each week. The first game in the Guernsey Basketball Association League history was on 7th November 1969 when Zivermeeuw Kats beat Saints 25-13. The majority of scores in the early days of the league were quite low. In 1970 the league teams had the quaint and interesting names of Jargonauts(Junior Winners), Raccoons (Senior Winners), Ziv Cats, Zebras, Saints, Breakaways, Electrons, Orbiters and Harlequins.

A new chapter began after Robbie Burns became involved. He followed in the footsteps of Joe Wilson and was as equally dedicated to the sport. Being a sports teacher like Joe he spent all his spare time coaching, after going to the UK to qualify. The season after his return he set up a club called Fiat Lux which became the leading club in the Island, and at its height ran 7 teams, all named after the models of Fiat cars at the time – Fiat 124, Fiat 125, Fiat 128, Fiat 130, Fiat 850, etc.

In 1972 Robbie became the first graded referee in the Island and set up courses for would be officials. Kerry Mumford from the EBBA passed 7 new referees after the first course. The following year Terry Barnett, a top International referee, examined and passed a further 6 referees.

In 1970 the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey began basketball matches against each other. The rivalry was keen, just as it was and still is between the Islands in other sports. Nowadays the matches played are Men, Women, and Under 19 Men, and these matches are played in each Island on alternate years.

In September 1976 Guernsey opened the Beau Sejour Leisure Centre in St Peter Port and basketball moved once again. The progress of the sport has been rapid since that time. With the advent of ‘summer schools’ many of the young players have improved the skill level locally to the point where there are over 300 members covering Senior Men, Women and Juniors. There are now four divisions with 18 teams competing, playing on two evenings per week, the schools leagues continue with matches at four age groups and the new future star programme provides basketball opportunities for nearly 100 children aged 5-14 which really is a magnificent site on a Saturday afternoon! Trevor Pountain, a FIBA referee, was the first to visit us from the UK and take an active role in running officials courses. Since then we have been privileged to have some of Europe’s finest officials in Roger Harrison, John Wells and Steve Wheatcroft who have carried on Trevor’s groundwork.  The three regularly visit the Island to officiate the annual Inter Insulars.

In 1994 the Channel Islands Club Championship was started between the winners of the basketball league in each Island. The winners are currently Prime Property Panthers from Guernsey with the title wins standing at 11-5 to Guernsey. The women’s champions match started a little later, the holders are Cannon Tropics from Guernsey, and the standing so far is 13-2 to Guernsey.

The Island of Guernsey takes part in a biannual ‘Island Games’ event. The inaugural Games were in the Isle of Man in 1985. In 1989 Guernsey held them for the first time, and in 1997 they were in our sister island of Jersey. Basketball made its appearance as one of the 14 sports for the first time in Gotland in 1999. The Guernsey men’s team took part, there were 9 men’s and 4 women’s teams, Guernsey finishing 9th. In 2001 the Games were held in the Isle of Man where 8 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams took part. The men finished 8th and the women’s team were proud and deserved bronze medal winners. Guernsey were the hosts for the Games once more in 2003 and Guernsey women’s team won the gold medal. In 2005 in the Shetland Isles basketball was not, disappointingly included and in 2007 in Rhodes the Women finished agonisingly in fourth place whilst the men achieved their best finish of 7th. In 2009, in Aland, the Women secured a silver medal with the men not competing and in the Isle of Wight in 2011 the women upheld their strong tradition winning a bronze while the men secured their best every finish with 6th place.

In 2008, Guernsey Basketball experienced another first with the Women competing in the UK National League Division 2.  After a solid first season the Men joined them in the South West League Division 4 where both teams competed well and gained valuable experience playing against top quality opposition on a much more regular basis, thus preparing them for the Island Games.

The league over the recent (and not so recent!) years owes a debt of gratitude to a number of people.  In 2009 the GBA Hall of Fame inducted some of the greats of the local game: Dave Legg, Bryan Preston, Tony Masterton, John Mountford, Terry Le Huray, Brian Rumens, Andy Creed, Barry Robilliard, Julian Patch, Dave Le Gallez are considered the building block of what is now a modern and competitive basketball era. Some were great servants on the court with the likes of Masterton, Creed and Rumens terrifying defences with others such as Terry Le Huray and John Mountford providing countless hours of coaching and administration to ensure the leagues future for decades to come.  Barry Robilliard, a GBA stalwart both on the court and off will be etched in the association’s history for his services to refereeing on the Island and his matriculate detail providing the stats year after year.  Pete Henry, another Island star was the latest player to enter the HOF – a well deserved honour for this now retired sharp shooting forward.

And that brings us to the present day where basketball continues to provide both a competitive and social environment for players on the Island – its been a fantastic 5o years and we look forward to the next 50 with excitement and anticipation!