No 18 JOHN HEARD
6 feet 1inch (185cm) Guard
1960, 1964 Olympic Games
The seventeen year old had graduated to the top division of the Old Boys Institute (OBI) basketball competition in Adelaide. He was playing very well and fancied himself as a “pretty good player”. One night in a game refereed by soon to be 1956 Olympic referee Bill Annals the youngster was complaining about “not getting the calls” when he was fouled by the opposition. Bill politely and then not so politely said to the youngster “pull your big fat head in!” The youngster thought about this on the way home and that night and decided that Bill was right. He pondered on what had happened and from then on he says “his hat fitted okay.” For those who were fortunate enough to know that youngster John Heard in the years to come “having a big head” was just not something associated with one of the gentlemen of the game of basketball in Australia.
John Alastair Heard was born February 11th, 1939 in Adelaide, South Australia. He was influenced by Elmer Ripley coach of the first Harlem Globetrotters team to visit Australia. Ripley introduced John to the Globetrotters and their opponents the Whirlwinds. He got all their autographs as well. John explains, “Rip and I became pen-pals and he sent me heaps of basketball stuff, books, magazines and equipment.” This interest flamed John’s passion for the game.
John began his basketball in Adelaide, South Australia and he and his brother Malcolm played on outdoor courts in the Church competitions.
He represented South Australia in Under 18’s on three occasions, 1954, 1955and 1956 (Captain) when SA won the National Title. He was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament that year.His coach in 1954 and 1956 was 1956 Olympian Peter Sutton. John cites Peter as being a big influence on him with those State sides but also as his club coach Vern Thomas at OBI where John and his brother Mal played.
John represented SA on the senior level on seven occasions from 1957 to 1964 when they won six Australian Championships. He was Captain of SA in 1963 and 1964 and was voted the National Tournament’s MVP in 1963.
He also represented ACT in 1967 and 1968 (Captain) when ACT first played in the Australian Championships as a State.
At the conclusion of the 1959 Australian Championships John and his brother Mal were named in the Australian Basketball Team for the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. They were the first brothers to represent Australia in basketball at the Olympic Games. The team gathered in Adelaide prior to the Olympics when all the team “lived” in Adelaide trained together and played in the local District competition. The Heard brothers hosted Sydneysider Ross Graham who says that the brothers really helped him on and off the court a lot during those three months.
After a long and arduous trip to Italy via Darwin and the Philippines, John and the Olympic Team played in the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bologna, Italy. The Australians were disappointed in their performance when they failed to qualify for the Olympic Finals in Rome. John was one of the main players on the team. He and his brother Mal both commented on the difference in referee interpretations and the different ball that was used in the Games. However the team did get to stay in Rome, attend the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and were able to attend events such as Herb Elliot winning the 1500 metres and the USA basketball team winning the Gold Medal.
John and the team enjoyed a sea voyage home on the RMS “Strathaird” and being in the company of the West Indian Cricket team about to tour Australia in the epic tied test cricket series. The Australian Basketball Team played a game in Bombay against the Indian national team in over 40 degrees centigrade heat on the way home.
John played on the 1962 Australian Men’s Team at the Invitational World Championships in Manila in the Philippines. The world body FIBA refused to sanction the tournament and the tournament became “invitational’. John is to this day concerned that the players and the team were never recognised as representing Australia at a World Championship. He comments, “The players had done what they had to do, but politics got in the way.”
John does have one unusual memory of that trip to the Philippines with the Australian team. “It was in 1962 in Manila and we were participating in the Invitational World Championships Tournament. The venue was the Areneta Colosseum in Quezon City. The stadium was capable of seating 30,000 spectators for a basketball game. As is the custom when national teams compete, they exchange gifts – often a small flag or emblem of the Country. We had decided we would give Boomerangs! We had a bag full of these genuine throwing boomerangs. So one morning at our training session, we tried them out in the Stadium. There was certainly enough room and they went out and back just like they were supposed to do. We were having great fun, and the cleaners who were cleaning up from the previous night were fascinated. Fascinated, that is, until one boomerang was thrown a little lower, flew a few feet above the seats and if the cleaner hadn’t taken evasive action he would have been decapitated. That’s when we decided we should start our basketball practice session!”
After the basketball “disappointments” in the Olympic Games in1956 and 1960, Australia went about better preparing their 1964 Olympic Basketball Team. John was selected to the Olympic Team after the Australian Championships in Adelaide and was named as Captain.The team undertook a rigorous training camp at Narrabeen near Sydney where they also received coaching by US High School Coach Don Hogan. John credits Hogan with giving the Australian team a defensive edge they did not previously have.
In the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Yokohama the Australians played exceptionally well to qualify for the Olympic Finals in Tokyo where they finished in a ground-breaking 9th place.John recalls, “The 1964 team performed above their “weight division” due mainly to the defensive effectiveness brought about through the drills we were introduced to by Don Hogan, per favour of Bud Pressley. We played a variety of defences which were very effective because of the individual preparedness and we took pride in our defence.” The 1964 team and John received a lot of publicity back in Australia during their arduous Qualification Tournament in Yokohama and the Finals in Tokyo. The team played sixteen games in all and had performed way above previous efforts in 1956 and 1960 an above the expectations of the basketball world.The team finished in ninth place. A tremendous effort!
Back in Australia John continued to play basketball except it was now for the ACT and not SA.
He retired from playing representative basketball after the Australian Championships held in Sydney in 1968 and entered coaching where he coached and assistant coached NSW and ACT senior and junior representative teams. He also served as Assistant Coach to the Noarlunga (SA)Women’s team in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL).
John began a highly successful career as a referee coach and mentored young referees. He qualified as a level three referee evaluator/coach.He played on a team that won a Gold Medal in their age group at the Australian Masters Games in Canberra.
He was a Torchbearer and volunteer at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He passed the Olympic Flame to his brother Malcolm during the Olympic Flame Relay.
John is a Life Member of the SA Church Basketball Association and the SA Church Basketball Referees Association, and has served as President of the SA Olympian Club. He was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.
John Heard was one of ’s best male basketball players. A point and shooting guard he possessed wonderful fundamentals, quickness, silky skills, and was a tenacious defender. John was a brilliant leader and highly respected player and person. As captain of the 1964 Olympic team he was instrumental in moving Australia into the upper reaches of world basketball
John is retired and lives in Adelaide, South Australia with his wife Cynthia.
John Heard was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame in 2013.
John Heard blocks a shot against Taiwan prior to the 1964 Games
(Courtesy of J. Heard)
John Heard shooting against NSW in Davenport in 1963 (J. Heard)
John being interviewed for television after Olympic team selection in 1964
(Courtesy of J. Heard/Barry Hannaford)