LORRAINE LANDON
1984 and 1988 OLYMPIC GAMES
Lorraine Landon was born on the 29th of January, 1947. In 1968 she was at a team meeting with the NSW Women’s Basketball Team and remarked to Pam Willmette a leading administrator in Australian Women’s basketball, “We should do a better job of promoting women’s basketball,” and Pam replied, “Well why don’t you get involved in the administration as it is not as easy as it may look!” So Lorraine did and went on to become a leader in basketball administrator in Australia and internationally.
Lorraine Landon first played basketball at the CYO competition in Leichardt Sydney. She then played with the outstanding NSW Club team Barbarians which became Arncliffe Scots. She played with Scots when they won the NSW Championships in 1969 and 1970. In 1968 she was selected to her first NSW Women’s Team. She would go on to play for NSW in 1970, 1972, 1973 (Captain) and 1975 (Captain). By 1973 she was playing with the fledgling Bankstown Bruins team in Sydney. She was a member of the Bankstown Women’s teams that won the NSW Championships in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1980 to 1984 and 1986 to 1988. She coached Bankstown junior teams from 1970 to 1982 and coached senior women’s teams during that period.
During her successful playing and coaching career Lorraine also did some basketball administration. In1970 and 1971 she worked part-time in administration at the NSW Basketball stadium at Alexandria. In 1975 she was appointed General Manager of the Bankstown Basketball Association and also Manager of the Bankstown Basketball Stadium. She relinquished this role in 1988 and the following year became Manager of both the Sydney Kings (National Basketball League)and the Sydney Flames (Women’s National Basketball League). This was first time a woman had held the position of Manager of Clubs in both the male and female national competitions. In 1991 she convinced Michael Wrublewski to take over the Flames. She held the dual position at the Kings and Flames till 1997 during which time the Flames won two National Titles and the Kings reached the NBL finals five times.
In 1984 Lorraine was named as the Manager of the Australian Women’s Basketball Team. Her counter-part with the Men’s Team was Bob Elphinston also from the Bankstown Association. She managed the Australian Team in the Pre-Olympic Tournament in Cuba. The Tournament was the Qualification Tournament for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The Australian Team played very well in Cuba but just missed qualifying for the Games. After returning to Australia the team was told that they would be playing in the Los Angeles Olympics as teams that had qualified from the Soviet Bloc had decided to boycott the Games and Australia would be taking one of their places in the Games. In the 1984 Games the Australian Team went on to secure fifth position out of the six teams that competed in the Olympic Tournament.
Lorraine managed the Australian Women’s Team in the 1985 Australia Games when the team won the Gold Medal. She then managed the Australian Women’s Team when it won the 1985 Oceania Championships and on a twelve game tour to Europe. In 1986 Lorraine managed the Australian Women’s Team at the World Championships in the Soviet Union when the team took 9th place. In 1987 she managed the Australian Team on its eleven match tour to Europe, and on a seventeen match tour of Canada and the USA.
1988 loomed as a big year for the Australian Women’s Team and Lorraine was Manager of the team in a match against Japan and on a tour by Canada to Australia
The Australian Women’s Team played in the 1988 Pre-Olympic Qualification Tournament in Malaysia and qualified for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. By way of preparation for the Games the Australian Team with Lorraine as Manager played in a tournament in Riga, Latvia.
The 1988 Olympic Games were a pivotal point in Australian Women’s basketball as the Australian Team managed by Lorraine reached the Semi-Finals of the Olympic Tournament and eventually secured 4th place. The team’s performance was to open the door for all future Australian Women’s Teams who were to go on and be a dominant force in world basketball for the 1994 until the present. Lorraine recalls, “To be part of the 1988 Women’s Team was something I will always treasure.”
After the 1988 Olympic Games Lorraine continued to work hard as an administrator in domestic basketball in Australia. Her primary focus was on the Sydney Kings, the Sydney Flames and the WNBL. She served as President of the Australian Women’s Basketball Committee from 1982 to 1996.She was Chair of the International Basketball Federation Women’s Commission 1984 to 1986 and was appointed Chair of the Women’s Commission in 2003. Lorraine was Director of the Women’s National Basketball League from 1996 to 2001. She received a Basketball Australia Merit Award in 1992. Her administrative skills saw her act as a Director of Basketball NSW from 1998 to 2003 and a Director of the NSW State Sports Centre Trust 1994 to 2009.
Lorraine’s career was highlighted when she was named as the General Manager Basketball for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Competition Manager for Wheelchair Basketball, Intellectual Disability Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby for the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. This was a huge responsibility and task and Lorraine excelled in her role. The Basketball Tournaments for the 2000 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games were a huge success and much credit must go to Lorraine for that success.
Basketball’s global governing body FIBA presented her with a Merit Award in 2001 in recognition of the polished organisation of Basketball at the Sydney 2000 Games. Lorraine recalls, “To be standing on court at 9.30am on the morning of the 16th of September, 2000 for the opening game of the Olympic basketball competition at Sydney Olympic Park was amazing. I remember thinking to myself...here we are on the world stage and here am I a female from Condell Park running the Olympic basketball competition.” Her feelings were similar when Australia payed the USA in the Olympic Final. “The feeling that I had been involved in both the development of the game in my country as well as in the preparation of these Olympic Games was just outstanding.”After the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Lorraine moved to Basketball Australia as an administrator. She was to stay with Basketball Australia until 2013. Her administrative positions included Executive Director of the NBL, Chair of the FIBA Women’s Commission, and member of the NSW Sports Advisory Committee. She served on national and international basketball bodies for thirty years, including Vice President of the FIBA Women’s Commission and as General Manager, Teams and Competition for Basketball Australia.
Lorraine is a Life-Member of Bankstown Basketball Association, Basketball NSW, the WNBL and Basketball Australia. Her contributions to international basketball have been recognised with IOC Golden Rings 2000, the FIBA Merit Award in 2000 and the IOC Women in Sport Award 2004. She is a Member of the Australian Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the Basketball NSW Hall of Fame in 2011.
Lorraine Landon has been one of the leading sports administrators in Australia. She is nationally and internationally recognised by her peers as one of the outstanding sports administrators of her era. Her passion, skill and zeal have been amazing.
Lorraine Landon was awarded an OAM for services to basketball in 2011.
Lorraine Landon and Mike Wrublewski (Basketball Australia)