John was informed of the award at the recent 19th World Congress, which coincided with the recent FIBA World Championships of Basketball in Turkey, and as he explained to he didn’t even know he was in the running.
“I was gobsmacked when notified that I had won the award and had to go to the World Conference in Turkey to accept the award,” he told the South Coast Register recently.
“I have no idea who even nominated me,” he said. “It could be through (FIBA) Oceania or Basketball Australia or someone on FIBA’s technical committee itself.”
A former general manager of Basketball NSW, Martin currently works as a senior advisor and consultant for Basketball NSW. He is also the chairman of the Basketball Australia technical commission for championships and is a referee commissioner for the NBL and WNBL.
Martin has been involved with the sport since 1961, where he started a competition in Moree. In 1966 he moved to Shoalhaven where he was Association Secretary for 19 years. In 1985, he took up full-time work in the sport as a country and referee development officer for Basketball NSW.
