Colin began playing in Wellington, but perhaps his devotion for the game started when he moved to New Plymouth in the1980s and became involved with the NBL team there. He loved basketball and his passion on court developed into a lifelong service beside the court, especially in stats. He was the Head Statistician for Basketball New Zealand and worked with FIBA Oceania on material for our statistics training. It was Colin who also introduced New Zealand basketball to ‘Cyber Sport’, the original computer programme for stats which evolved into the FIBA live stats.
The Manawatu native and Palmerston North Boys High old boy had been recording numbers courtside for over 40 years and was responsible for Stats personnel for some major events including the 2009 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup hosted in Auckland.
The Breakers were established in 2003, and Colin was a constant on the side line, heading the statistical team on behalf of the ANBL for 16 years.
He went on to support countless events including Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns internationals, the National Basketball League plus innumerable age-group tournaments.
Recently, it was Colin who organised our FIBA qualified statisticians to get their licenses renewed, managed the stats for our many BBNZ competitions, and he was also training new statisticians throughout many regions around New Zealand.
The legacy of Colin’s dedication and service to our sport will last for many years through his students.
His citation reads:
Colin gave a tremendous amount of time and energy to our game. The training he gave provided great opportunities for New Zealand statisticians to progress to international events.
It’s imperative that statistics produced at NBL and International level are of a high level of accuracy and consistency, something that Colin played a vital role in ensuring.
Those of us lucky enough to work with Colin will remember him as a thorough professional, super reliable, always keen to help with events and as a man who loved basketball and golf, and the people who were a part of it. And of course, for those who knew him well, his excellent and wry sense of humour.
Colin sadly passed away at home in September 2021 but we are delighted his wife Glenda Tilley is here to accept the Ian Goodwin Services to Officiating Award on his behalf.
I would like to invite Glenda Tilley to come forward to accept the award.
