Marian Stewart

MARIAN STEWART

1996 and 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES

The Australian Women’s Basketball Team (Opals) was in a difficult spot in the Oz 1994 Women’s World Basketball Championships. In the preliminaries held in Adelaide they were up against the strong Italian team for a spot in the Quarter Finals. Opals coach Tom Maher and the Italian Coach happened to cross paths in the foyer of the Adelaide Hilton as the teams waited for the buses to take them to the Powerhouse for their vital game. Coach Maher extended his hand to wish the Italian “all the best”. The Italian coach refused to shake hands and said some very unkind words about Maher and the Opals. Everything he said was in earshot of the Opals Manager and the team. His words fired up the Opals (as well as their Manager) and they went on to defeat the world powerhouse Italians by 22 points and book a birth in Sydney for the Quarter-Finals. The Opals Manager was seeing how tough women’s world basketball was as a sport.

Marian Stewart was born on the 7th of September 1944 in Glasgow, Scotland.Her father was an engineer and after time in India, then back to Scotland, the family migrated to Australia as “10 pound migrants” to live at Jenolan Caves where her dad worked. The family stayed on the move until arriving in Melbourne where Marian went to school at Williamstown High School. From there she completed a Diploma in Secretarial Studies and Administration at RMIT. She moved to Canberra in 1970, worked at Parliament House, in the Public Service and became involved in basketball in 1982.

Her early involvement in basketball was as she describes it as “the chief cook, bottle washer and cheer leader” when her daughter Natalie played for the Act Under 16 team while her husband Geoff was the main bus driver on the team’s road trips.

From “bottle-washer” her next step was in 1986 when she was appointed as Manager of the Canberra Capitals in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). These were exciting times in the NBL and WNBL and Marian thoroughly enjoyed her role as Manager and her professionalism and empathy with the players and staff soon impressed everyone around the Capitals. In 1990 she extended her responsibilities with the Capitals by becoming Chair of the Capitals Club (1990-93) while continuing her role as Team Manager (1986-1992).

Jerry Lee, a long-time NBL player and coach in the ACT, and BA Referee’s Commissioner asked Marian in late 1992 if she was interested in applying for position of Manager of the Australian Women’s Basketball team. Marian applied for the position and was successful.

From these beginnings began a career as Manager of the Women’s team (soon to become known as the Opals) that is equal to any in the history of the Opals or Boomers.

The 1994 OZ World Women’s Championships were Marian’s first taste of world competition. The Opals battled back from early adversity (beat the Italians) and went on to gain 4th position in the World. This equaled the Australian Women’s Team’s best result to that time at a World Championship and Marian was “hooked” on her role with the team and coaches.

Greater success was around the corner when the Opals won a Bronze Medal (Australia’s first Olympic Medal) at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Another Bronze Medal was won at the 1998 World Championships in Germany and Marian was now an integral part of the team and its successes. Of course the biggest challenge was next…..the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In light of the Government and OAC increased financial commitments to basketball Marian was appointed Basketball Australia’s full-time Operations Manager to the Opals (she was to hold this position until 2009).

“Maz”, as she was very affectionately known by now by all the players and those connected to the Opals was driven to do everything possible to win the Gold in Sydney. This was not to be however, but in front of their hometown fans the Opals made the next step by winning the Silver Medal.

After Sydney 2000, Mariane continued as Section Manager for the Opals for the 2002 World Championships (China).

She was appointed the AOC’s Section Manager at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.She was the Manager for the Opals at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games (Gold Medal) and the 2006 World Championships (Brazil) where the Opals won the Gold Medal.

Maz retired in 2009 (for three months) before accepting the position as Manager of the Australian Women’s Wheelchair team (Gliders). She managed this team at many international tournaments including the World Championships in Manchester in 2010 where the team finished in 4th place. She then managed the team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games where the Gliders won the Silver Medal.

In all Marian had represented Australia in 476 games by the conclusion of 2012. She had been an important part of Opals teams that had won two Bronze and one Gold Medal at World Championships, and one Bronze and three Silver Medals at Olympic competition.She had managed the Gliders to a Commonwealth Gold Medal and a Paralympic Games Silver Medal.

Marian Stewart in a career as Manager of the Opals and Gliders covering a period of twenty years formed a very close relationship with players who were towards the end of their careers such as Michele Timms and Robyn Maher and with players such as Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor who were starting their careers. No longer the “bottle-washer” she was Manager and surrogate mother to many of the girls. Over such a long career her memories are many. She does single out the Bronze Medal game at the World Championships in 1994 when Opals veteran Robyn Maher was knocked cold by an errant US player elbow and was carried off. “The Opals called time-out as Robyn was stretchered off the floor…the incident fired them up and they roared back to bridge the gap in the scores and the US was flustered but hung on to win by five points,” she recalls. Of course her most special moment was to come in 2006 when the Opals won the Gold Medal at the World Women’s Basketball Championships.

Marian Stewart has been Manager of the Australian Women’s Basketball Team for more games and for a longer period than any Manager of a senior Australian national basketball team. Her organizational skills, loyalty to the staff and players, communication skills and calm personality has endeared her to the players under her management. The players clearly knew that “Maz” cared about them and was doing everything in her power to allow them to play at their best. In return the players cared about “Maz”.

Marian Stewart has retired from managing basketball teams but deep down the passion for the Australian national women’s basketball teams will always be there.

(Basketball Australia)