Basketball Victoria would like to offer our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Basketball Victoria Life Member John Sullivan, who passed away recently.
A BV Life member and legend of the South Gippsland basketball community, John Sullivan was a passionate and dedicated basketball ‘lifer’ since he first became involved in basketball in 1958. For over 50 years John dedicated many hours to the sport he loved. John began playing at the Korumburra Army Drill Hall, where basketball first began in Korumburra. John played with other local players in the limited domestic competition and in the few tournaments and other competitions that were available in those early days.
Upon moving to Dandenong for employment, John became involved with the Dandenong Association (which then was regarded as a Country Association) and played there from 1963 until 1974. Dandenong was then a one court stadium near the Dandenong market. During this period John became heavily involved in coaching including club teams, squad teams, junior and senior representative teams and this continued in Dandenong from 1965 through to 1985.
John then moved back to the Korumburra district where he continued his coaching briefly with the Leongatha Association and then the Korumburra Association. This was a particularly successful period for John having coached several Korumburra junior and senior teams to Country Victoria state titles.
The Senior Women’s team was invited to participate in the CVIBL competition (initiated by Frank and Isobel Smith and which eventually merged into the Big V Competition). The Korumburra Women’s team winning a title in this competition. John has been passionate about the development of Women’s basketball and was instrumental in the development of opportunities for local players to play at the highest standard possible.
On his return to the district John also became an active member of the Korumburra Basketball Association’s Committee holding positions of Secretary and then President. John was appointed Manager of the Korumburra Recreation Centre in 1988, a position which he held until his retirement in 2006.
The Korumburra Recreation Centre was instrumental in the development of a variety of sporting opportunities in the South Gippsland District and basketball especially flourished during John’s time as Manager. John also continued as the KBA Secretary for many years and he also maintained his love of coaching with a variety of coaching roles during his tenure as Manager of the Recreation Centre.
John was also elected to the Basketball Victoria Country Council in 1988 a role in which he served for 21 years. John also served as the BVC Zone Supervisor for 16 years carrying out a variety of administrative and program duties in the Gippsland area. John loved his time with the Country Council and was dedicated in his support for the continued development of country basketball. it was during this period that many new initiatives and programs were implemented or improved such as the Jamboree and the Regional Academy Program.
Despite his retirement, John was soon approached to manage the Poowong Recreation Centre and administrate their domestic competitions and help in the development of their coaches and their Association teams (and of course coach some teams). This he did until retiring again in October 2018.
John has always loved the game, loved playing, loved coaching, loved seeing the sport develop and made many, many friends across the basketball landscape. In recent times John faced health and mobility issues, however his love of all aspects of the sport continued but from a distance.
Basketball Victoria would like to pass on our condolences to Jenny and family on John’s passing and also our thoughts are with the South Gippsland basketball community.
Thank you John for your dedicated service to basketball.
Rest in Peace.
