Toli Koltun (Koltuniewicz)

HTML <h2><strong>No 42 TOLI </strong><strong>KOLTUN (</strong><strong>KOLTUNIEWICZ</strong><strong>)</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>6 feet 5 inch (195cm) Forward</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>1972 Olympic Games</strong></h2>

HTML <p>In October 1966 the seventeen year old High School student was sitting in the stands overlooking Court One at the Albert Park Basketball Stadium. He looked up and saw that he was being approached by in his words, “the formidable Olympians Ken Watson and Lindsay Gaze”. Watson and Gaze spoke to him and as he recalls, “I received a totally unexpected invitation from them to tour the USA with their Melbourne Tigers Club in the upcoming summer season.”He was extremely excited by the invitation and as he travelled home by train he began to contemplate how on earth he was going to convince his parents to allow him to play basketball in the USA for six weeks and how he was going to raise the $300 which was the required contribution towards airfares and accommodation. This was a huge dilemma for a student without any funds or income. But he knew, “It was a chance of a lifetime and one that would change my whole basketball career.”</p>

HTML <p>Anatoli “Toli” Koltun (Koltuniewicz) was born November 16th, 1948 in Brauwieller, Germany. Brauwieller is a small village just outside Cologne. His father was from Belarus and his mother was from the Ukraine and during World War Two they were taken to Germany as forced labour. After the War the family migrated to Australia as Displaced Persons (refugees) when Toli was twelve months old and arrived in Melbourne by ship in December, 1949.</p>

HTML <p>Toli grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne and was introduced to basketball at the age of fourteen via the KingsvilleYMCA. Toli and his friends were coached by former Victorian State player Keith Smith who was instrumental in Toli’s selection to the Under 16 Victorian State team which was coached by the legendary Ken Watson. </p>

HTML <p>As a Victorian State Junior representative Toli was a member of the Australian National Championships winning Victorian teams in 1964 (Under 16) and in 1965 and 1966 (Under 18).</p>

HTML <p>He was selected to the Senior Victorian State team in 1966 at the age of seventeen whilehe was still at secondary school. This team won the Australian Men’s Championships held in Melbourne. Toli was a member of the Victorian Team that won the National Championships in 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1975.</p>

HTML <p> In 1966 he was invited to tour the USA and Europe with the Melbourne Tigers. The tour was a ground breaking event in that it was the first tour ever undertaken by an Australian Club to the USA. Toli recalls, “The tour was an experience of a lifetime for me as I was able to experience the demands of playing at higher levels within the American College system.” The team was led by seasoned Australian players Lindsay Gaze and Bill Wyatt who guided the relatively young team through a series of intense games. Toli again toured the USA with the Tigers in 1967 whenhe gained further experience playing select top Universities in the USA.</p>

HTML <p>Toli played on Melbourne Tigers teams that won five consecutive South Eastern Conference (SEC) Championshipsfrom 1967 to 1971. He was a member of the Tigers teams that won the Victorian State Club Championships in 1967 and 1971 and were runners-up in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972 and 1973.</p>

HTML <p>In1968 he was selected as an emergency for the Australian Team for the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.</p>

HTML <p>Toli also won the Australian Club Championships with the Tigers in 1970, 1971 and 1973.</p>

HTML <p>His advancement in skills, experience and play with the Tigers resulted in Tolibeing selected to the Australian Men’s Basketball Team for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. He did this while working and undertaking post graduate studies in Commerce.</p>

HTML <p>Toli married national basketball representative player Rhonda Hynes and she travelled to Munich with her friend Marlene Simon, the wife of 1976 Olympian Russell Simon, to watch the games. </p>

HTML <p>He recalls, “Munich was a very exciting Olympics with the USSR defeating the USA for the coveted Gold Medal in very controversial circumstances. The dramatic terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic Team crushed the spirit of the Games and with the introduction of armed soldiers and helicopters the Olympic Village started to resemble a war zone.”</p>

HTML <p>The Australian Team and Toli played very well to finish the Olympic Tournament ina very creditable ninth position. Toli had two standout games. One was against Cuba when he scored ten points and took five rebounds and the other against Brazil when he scored nine points. He returned from Munich a much improved and vastly more experienced player.</p>

HTML <p>Toli Koltun was an agile, upright player who rebounded exceedingly well, had a good jump-shot, was a strong defender and was very mobile up and down the court.</p>

HTML <p>Toli went on to represent Australia at the 1974 World Championships in Puerto</p>

HTML <p>Rico. The Australian Team finished in12th position in the Championships.</p>

HTML <p>Seeking new challenges Toli left the Tigers and transferred to the young South Melbourne Panthers (CYMS) and played with them for three years until 1977. He returned to the Melbourne Tigers in 1978 and played with Bruce Palmer and Brian Goorjian who both went on to make significant contributions to the Australian basketball scene. Toli found a new enthusiasm playing with both these entertaining and exciting players.</p>

HTML <p>In 1980 in the twilight of his career he played with the Auburn Cubs which was an associated Melbourne Tigers team coached by 1956 Olympian Ken Watson and later by triple Olympian Bill Wyatt. This team was used to blood promising players of the likes of Andrew Gaze. Toli continued his role as elder statesman on this team until he retired at the conclusion of the 1984 season at age 36. After nineteen years of competitive basketball he felt satisfied he had achieved all he could in basketball.</p>

HTML <p>Toli retired from competitive basketball in 1984. In 1987 he returned to play in the first Australian Masters Games in Tasmania and played in both the 1989 Denmark World Masters Games, and the 2002 World Masters Games in Melbourne. He permanently retired at the end of 2002 with as he says “a lot of mileage on my legs.”</p>

HTML <p>Toli was continually employed throughout his basketball career as fulltime professional basketball in Australia was still to come. He is married with two daughters and is employed as Managing Director of a Victorian import and distribution company involved in the retail sector. </p>

HTML <p>Toli Koltun is yet another player in Australian basketball history whose roots were in a war torn Europe, yet were able to come to Australia and become an Olympian and a strong contributor to basketball in Australia.</p>

HTML <p>Toli Koltun (15) drives off a screen by Tigers team-mate Ian Watson in a VBA game (T. Koltun)</p>

HTML <p>Toli Koltun in 2013 (T. Koltun)</p>