Michael Ah Matt
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
30 November 1942 Townsville, Queensland |
| Died | 1984 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Listed height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) |
Michael Ah Matt (30 November 1942 – 1984) was an Indigenous Australian basketball player who played for Australia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.[1][2]
Ah Matt was born on 30 November 1942 in Townsville, Queensland.[2] He grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory.[3] He represented the Northern Territory at the 1959 Australian Championships.[3] After the Championships he moved to Adelaide, South Australia to play with South Adelaide Panthers.[3] He played a then record 588 games over twenty seasons the Panthers.[3]
In 1964, he was a member of the Australian team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and a member of the Australian team that participated in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Monterrey prior to the Mexico Olympic Games. The team failed to qualify for the 1968 Summer Olympics.[3]
Former Australian Olympian Darryl Pearce said of Ah Matt, "He had an amazing sense of where he was on the court and he could see players where no-one could understand how he could actually pass the ball the way he did."[4]
Ah Matt died of a heart attack in 1984.[3]
Achievements
- Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame [3]
- With Adrian Blair and Frank Roberts the first Indigenous Australians to represent Australia at the Olympic Games in 1964.[1]
- In 2010, inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.[3]
References
- 1 2 "Australian Indigenous Olympians" (PDF). Australian Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- 1 2 "Michael Ah Matt". Sports Reference - Olympics. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Basketball Australia Hall of Fame". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ↑ Coady, David. "Hall of Fame for Indigenous basketballer Ahmat". ABC News, 19 August 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2015.