Basketball in Cairns - Milestones 

1958

Cairns Amateur Basketball Association is formed         

First Fixture Conducted

1963

Permanent Home secured at Aumuller Street

1980                                                                       

First Indoor Court Opened at Aumuller Street

Cairns joins Queensland State League

 

1987                                                                                     1994

Cairns joins Queensland State League                       Stadium seating increased 

 

1996                                                                                     1997

Stadium air-conditioned                                            Marlins win National Title 

 

1999                                                                                     2004

Cairns Taipans join NBL                                          Indoor courts 3 &4 opened

                                                                            Marlins win National Title   

 

2007                                                                                     2008

Marlins win National Title                                        Cairns Basketball's 50th Birthday

                                                                            Cairns Taipan's 10th Birthday

                                                                            Nathan Jawai drafted into the NBA 

2009

Cairns Basketball successfully co-ordinated the "Save the Taipans" public campaign

2010                                                                      

Car Park upgraded to enable wheelchair access 

2011

Cairns Taipans reach NBL Grand Final

Solarhart installs 20KW Solar System

2012

Aron Baynes represents Australia at the Olympic Games

 

Cairns Basketball Hall of Fame Members

 

Jenny Evans

 

·         Scholarship holder for Basketball at the Australian Institute of Sport

 

·         Played many seasons in the Women's National Basketball League with the AIS, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane teams 

 

·         Represented Australia 16 times as a junior & 48 times as a senior

 

·         Was a member of the 1990 Australian team that completed at the Malaysian World Championships and the Seattle Goodwill Games

 

·         Jenny played for the Cairns ABA team and in 1994 was a member of the successful State Championship team and was selected in the All Australian ABA All-Star 5

 

Nick Sinopoli 

 

·         1987 - 2011 Cairns Basketball (State League) Scorebench Commissioner  

 

·         1999 - 2011 Cairns Taipans (NBL) Scorebench Commissioner  

 

·         Nick contributed as an active referee for more than 46 years, often refereeing four nights a week  

 

·         Nick has given many years of selfless service to Basketball in Cairns and Queensland, including time as President, Vice President and committee member of Cairns Basketball. 

 

Rayleen Lynch

• Rayleen Lynch was born in Cairns and became a multi-sport prodigy, gaining representative honours in basketball, tennis, softball, and athletics
• After being introduced to basketball at St. Monica’s College in Cairns, Rayleen started playing club basketball for Saints then joined CYM. Rayleen also played club basketball in Cairns for Dominos and at the age of 16-years was recruited to play in Brisbane for North-West Districts
• Rayleen captained the Far North Queensland women’s team from 1963 until 1968
• In 1963 Rayleen first represented Queensland in basketball when she was selected in the team to contest the Australian championship in Perth
• Rayleen continued to represent Queensland until 1973, taking time out to have her children, and being selected as captain in 1966 and 1967
• In 1967 Rayleen was selected to represent Australia on a tour of Europe which culminated in participation in the World Championships in 1967 in Prague. With this selection Rayleen became the first Queensland basketballer to represent Australia

 

Danny Morseu

 

• A Torres Strait Islander, Danny Morseu was born on 7 September 1958 on Thursday Island.
• He started playing basketball at school and, despite being cut from his primary school team, he developed into a tall, talented teenage athlete. After completing school he moved to Cairns where he played basketball and rugby league.
• In 1976, Danny played in the Queensland Under-20 team..
• In 1977, he was ‘discovered’ by St Kilda coach, Brian Kerle, and he moved to Melbourne to play with St Kilda.
• Such was Danny’s dramatic improvement from his move to Victoria and into its Under-20 team that he was selected in 1978 as a member of the Australian Men’s (Senior) team for the World Championship in the Philippines. That team contained also the young Larry Sengstock.
• In 1979, Danny was a member of the St Kilda team to win the very first (Australian) NBL title, and which went on to win again in 1980.
• He played 217 NBL games in total, winning another NBL championship with theBrisbane Bullets in 1987
• He was named in the NBL-All Star in 1980 and 1981 and, around that time, the then national men’s coach, Lindsay Gaze, described Danny as: “The closest player we have in Australia to being a (US) NBA player”.
• In all, Danny represented Australia 47 times including
  • One World Championship in 1978 (a knee injury prevented his selection in 1982);
  • Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984;
  • Commonwealth Championship in 1983.
• Danny recalls from his appearance at his first Olympics in Moscow in 1980: “I was a starter in our first game against Cuba and the hair on the back of my neck stood up; I had goose bumps all over. The referee blew the whistle and it was history….I was the first Torres Strait Islander born in the Torres Strait to compete in the Olympic Games.”
• Danny retired from international competition in 1984 and from the NBL in 1989, but continued to play locally in Brisbane. He was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and inducted into what is now the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.
• Danny went on to run a number of State and Federal programs involved with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sport. He continues this work today and now lives in Canberra.
• He is an uncle of Patty Mills and has mentored both him and Nathan Jawai in achieving their very successful international careers.
• Danny Morseu: an outstanding Australian; his prodigious talent on and off the basketball court has earned the admiration of all those who have been part of his life and the game he loves.