Basketball Australia regrets the sad passing of Sid Taylor, a dedicated patron of basketball for over 50 years and a Basketball Australia Hall of Fame member.
Taylor began his career as a player with Scarborough Park in 1946 and was also a coach of first division men and juniors at district and club level but his work as a technical official was where he left his mark.
Commencing refereeing in 1952 at club level, Taylor quickly ascended to become the State’s Referee’s Association Secretary in just three years.
As a state referee, he officiated the Australian Men’s Championships in 1955 before going on to qualify as an Australian referee in 1957.
Taylor was instrumental in forming the Australian Referees Association in the late 1950’s of which he would become President in 1980 as well as being editor of the official rules book in 1963.
Arguably, the highlight of his career came in 1964 when he refereed at the Tokyo Olympics before officiating at the 1974 World Championships in Puerto Rico.
At an Oceania level, Taylor was the Rules Interpreter and a member of the Technical Committee, attending South Pacific Games and Oceania Championships in a technical capacity.
Following a move to Queensland in the 1980’s, he participated in the World Masters Basketball Games which were held in Brisbane in 1991 before being awarded Brisbane’s Administrator of the Year in 1996 and 1997.
Finally, Taylor was also a foundation member of the National Basketball League (NBL), responsible for the rostering of referees, organising their travel and maintaining their standard.
Upon induction to the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame, Fred van Dongen from Brisbane Basketball stated, “In his 58 years of involvement in our sport, Sid has made many lifetime contributions and basketball’s standing in Australia is very much the result of the efforts of people like Sid.”
Basketball Australia and the extended basketball family pass on our sincere condolences to family and friends.
A list of Sid Taylor’s achievements can be found below:
Life Membership- Sydney Basketball Referee Association
Basketball NSW
NSW Basketball Referee Association
Basketball Australia
Australian Basketball Referee Association
Brisbane Basketball Referee Association
Oceania Basketball Federation
General- Medal of Honour- Oceania Basketball
Order of Australia Medal
Australia Sports Medal
Basketball NSW Hall of Fame
Basketball Australia Hall of Fame
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.