Zitina Aokuso, Inspiring the Young
Neil Hamilton-Smith has made an outstanding contribution to the Basketball Queensland organisation over many years which is what makes him a very worthy recipient for Life Membership of Basketball Queensland. Read on to see Neil Hamilton-Smith long list of contributions.
- Neil Hamilton-Smith commenced his association with basketball in the early 1970’s he met, and later married State player, Pam Schiller. Neil went on to coach Pam’s club side, and the the Brisbane Women’s team that competed in the Australian Women’s Club Championships, the forerunner to the WNBL.
- Neil became involved in the administration of basketball, being Secretary of Brisbane Basketball when its stadium was under water during the Brisbane 1974 floods and he spearheaded the efforts to restore the stadium.
- In the 1970’s, Neil managed a number of Brisbane and Queensland teams, in State and National competitors.
- In 1978 he was convinced to be the Brisbane Basketball court announcer, during “big” games – and thus began his career as “The Voice of Brisbane”.
- When the NBL commenced in 1979, Neil was by the Vice-President of Brisbane Basketball, as well as a founding member on the Brisbane Bullets sub-committee, a position he held until 50% of the ownership of the Bullets was sold to Brisbane Professional Sports; Neil became a board member of the combined entity.
- Neil continued a very active role with the Bullets, both as an administrator and as the Court Announcer, arguably the best court announcer in the country. For this work, Neil was honoured in 2013 as a Contributor in the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.
- In 1994 Neil was awarded life membership of Brisbane Basketball and, in 1999, he was inducted in the Brisbane Bullets Hall of Fame, the first of three inductees.
- In the last 45 years, Neil has involved himself in many areas of Basketball at all levels, where his wider political acumen combined with his knowledge of the sport, government, and business has been most beneficial to the sport.
- In the 1980’s Neil was elected to the board of Basketball Queensland, where he specialised in the administration and overseeing of referee.
- In 2007 Neil once again became a Board member of Basketball Queensland, and his knowledge, experience, his continuing involvement in the wider basketball scene, and his contacts in the wider political arena were of great help to BQ.
- Neil became Chairman of the BQ board in October 2011 and continued to serve in that capacity until May 2015.
- During Neil’s chairmanship and leadership of the Board, in conjunction with his fellow Board members and the professional management staff, much was achieved, including –
- Improvement in governance:
- Adoption of a demanding financial management policy;
- Development of a standardised meeting format and agenda, including associated conflicts of interest policy;
- Major revision of the constitution and registration of the State Major Association under the much more demanding Corporations Act;
- Preparation of a BQ Governance Policy;
- Disaster relief funding within basketball;
- Business continuity planning policy;
- Programme for improving the governance standards of local associations;
- Development of a Future Leaders’ programme for local associations.
- Game development:
- Research into improvements required for the Basketball Queensland Competition and Development Pathways;
- Development of a pathway model for players to aspire to State and National representation;
- The introducing of Emerging Teams to enhance the development of players and coaches in the bottom aged players;
- Greater discipline in the selection of players and team staff for State and Emerging Teams through more robust selection policies;
- Greater focus and investment in referee development; and
- Implementation of the Coach Acceleration Program to improve the development of identified coaches
- Improvement in governance:
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