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Michael Ah Matt
Australian basketball player (1942–1983) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Michael Henry George Ah Matt (30 November 1942 – 14 February 1983) was an Indigenous Australian professional basketball player. He played for the Australian national basketball team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.[1][2]
Ah Matt was born on 30 November 1942 in Townsville, Queensland,[2] and 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 the South Adelaide Panthers.[3] He played a then record 588 games over twenty seasons with the Panthers.[3]
In 1964, he was a member of the Australian team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In 1968, he was a member of the Australian team that participated in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Monterrey, though that 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]
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Achievements and recognition
- 1964: With Adrian Blair and Frank Roberts, the first Indigenous Australians to represent Australia at the Olympic Games in 1964[1]
- !994: Inductee, Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame[3]
- 2010: Inductee, Australian Basketball Hall of Fame[3]
References
External links
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