Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Maurie Henshall, who passed away on Monday evening.
His basketball interests began in Christchurch with the Taxes Club when he worked for Inland Revenue in March 1958. He took on an administration role in the club team, he said it was because ‘they needed a treasurer, not because he was a player’. This lasted until about 1980.
Maurie was more suited, by his own admission, to roles as an administrator. He enjoyed volunteering in that role and excelled at it.
Although never really an active referee, he devoted time to the referee space. He became a member of the New Zealand Men’s Basketball Referees’ Association (NZMBRA), beginning with the NZ Indoor Basketball Referees’ Combined Committee from February 1970 to February 1971. Over the years he volunteered for many other roles on the committee including vice-president and then president for the majority of the late 1980’s.
He had roles as an Area Coordinator of local referees in Canterbury (1986-87), plus on the National Referees’ Grading Committee (1989), and as an NBL Evaluator (1998). He also served the NBL by serving the Judicial Committee in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Maurie was also active in the executive affairs of Basketball New Zealand (then known as the New Zealand Basketball Federation). He later became a Life Member of Basketball New Zealand and also the Canterbury Basketball Officials’ Association.
He was the second President of NZBF (following Lance Cross) from 1974 – 1980 and also patron.
He volunteered for events including as the Technical Director at XVI World Games for the Deaf in Christchurch, plus even travelled, at his own cost, to the Olympics in Moscow where he attended the FIBA Congress.
Maurie was an astute judge of the game. He had a big role in basketball, mostly as a humble volunteer making a big difference behind the scenes. He cheeky smile will be missed.
Maurie’s funeral will be held at Lamb & Hayward’s Westpark Chapel, 467 Wairakei Road, Christchurch on Tuesday 19 October 2021 at 2pm
Rest in peace Maurie, thanks for everything you did for our game and community.
