RAY TOMLINSON

6 feet 6 inches (198cm) Forward

1968, 1972, 1976 Olympic Games

Like so many young Australian boys Ray Tomlinson played Aussie Rules, cricket, tennis and golf. As a ten year old he saw a movie on television called “The Harlem Globetrotters” starring a very young Sidney Poitier. He was hooked and thought “I want to play this game.” Raymond “Ray” John Tomlinson was born February 19th 1948 in Melbourne, Victoria. His introduction to basketball was at Spotswood YMCA in Kingsville (which is now the Spotswood Golf Course clubhouse rooms). It wasn’t until he began attending Footscray High School that basketball started to “happen for him”. Ian Whitten, who was two years ahead of Ray and was a State basketball player, introduced Ray to the basketball competitions on Saturday morning at Melbourne Showgrounds. While at Footscray High School Ray met twins Eric and Andrew Ozziels who helped Ray join the Melbourne Latvian basketball club where they played. Their team played in the Victorian Under 18 competition and finished second in the Championships that year to Melbourne Tigers. Ray performed so well that he was selected on the Victorian State Under 18 team that under the coaching of Lindsay Gaze went on to win the National Championships. After the National Championships Ray joined the Melbourne Demons YMCA basketball and his team went on to win the Summer-Finals. In the Final Ray had, “One of those games where I could have thrown baskets over my head and they would have gone in”. After the game Ray was approached by Art Kim who was the owner of the Ice-Capades, and he asked Ray whether he would like to come to the USA and play against the Harlem Globetrotters on a tour of the United States for eight months. Ray accepted the offer. The tour went to 46 states in the eight months in what was a truly a great experience for a young basketball player. Upon his return to Australia Ray joined the Melbourne Tigers Basketball Club. The Melbourne Tigers were to be Ray’s home for the next ten years. At the Tigers Ray was able to play with basketball greats Lindsay Gaze and Bill Wyatt and come under the coaching of 1956 Australian Olympic Coach Ken Watson. It was now a matter of learning the shuffle offense, finding his role in the team and developing the skills to take his game to another level. The Melbourne Tigers at this time were the premier men’s basketball team in Australia, winning the Victorian Club Championships and the South Eastern Conference (SEC) with great regularity for many years. The SEC was a League played between Clubs in Victoria, NSW and South Australia on a home and away basis. Ray was selected to Victorian State teams that competed in the Australian Championships over the coming years. These teams were primarily made up of players from the Tigers club.

His skill development, finesse, teamwork and work ethic saw Ray become one of Australia’s premier players and resulted in his selection on the Australian Olympic Basketball Team for the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games. Ray and the team had first to qualify for the Olympic Finals and this meant competing in the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. With sickness, poor officiating, injuries, a divided team, and bad luck the Australians did not win a game and unfortunately did not make the Olympic Finals in Mexico City. The team was however able to attend all Olympic functions and events in Mexico City. Ray continued his career with the Tigers in the Victorian VBA where they were a dominant force. He played for the Victorian State side in the National Championships and toured overseas with the Australian Team and the Tigers. The next major Australian selection for Ray was the 1970 World Championships which were held in Yugoslavia. Again, sickness, lack of preparation and international match play did not help the Australian Team and they had a tough time in Yugoslavia. The team won one game and lost seven to take 12th place. One big difference now was that the Oceania Qualification Region had been established and this meant that Australia if they could win the Oceania Championships would gain Olympic and World Championship entry without playing in Olympic Qualification tournaments such as were held in Monterrey, Mexico in 1968. In 1971 Australia played in the very first Oceania Olympic Qualification Championships and defeated New Zealand for the right to compete in the 1972 Olympic Games. The lack of success in the past two world events by the Australian Men’s Team was to change for Ray when he was selected as a member of the Australian Team to compete at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. This time the Australians had a good Olympic Tournament under the coaching of Lindsay Gaze and finished a very creditable ninth. For Ray and the team one of the more painful and clear memories from Munich however was the massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. The massacre took place some 400 metres from the Australian accommodation in the Olympic Village. Despite the horrific events of that massacre the Olympics went on and the Boomers stayed on task. Basketball lessons were being learnt as were lessons about the cruelty of politics and religion. In 1973 Ray was a member of the Australian Team that played in the World Championships in Puerto Rico where the team won two games and lost five to take 12th position. After winning the 1975 Oceania Championships Australia (with Ray as a team member) qualified to compete at the 1976 Montreal Olympics Games. Ray was then selected on the Olympic Team for Montreal. The team played very well and but for a couple of close losses could have been placed much higher by tournament end. The team led by the scoring of Eddie Palubinskas secured a very creditable 8th position.

After the 1976 Olympics, Ray played one more season with the Melbourne Tigers. Ray Tomlinson had a distinguished playing career in basketball. He had played at three Olympic Games and two World Championships, and had been a member of the Tigers Basketball Club one of the most successful domestic Clubs in Australian history. It is hard to imagine Ray surpassing or equalling his playing career, yet after his retirement from playing he then compiled one of the most successful coaching careers in Australian basketball history. Ray achieved many outstanding results in his coaching career. Some of the highlights being Head Coach of the Australian Women’s team that won Australia’s first ever Gold Medal for any Australian team (1993 Junior Women’s World Championship). In this role as Head Coach he also won Silver and Bronze Medals at other World Championships for Junior Women. He has acted as Assistant Coach for the Australian Women’s Team at a World Championships (1986) and an Olympic Games (1988). He has also coached Australian men and women’s Club teams to Australian and Victorian titles. Ray Tomlinson’s playing and coaching record for Australia and within basketball in Australia is indeed an outstanding one and places him in the upper echelon of players and coaches in Australian basketball history. In 2006 Ray Tomlinson was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame as a Coach.