Norths History Archive
Norths Basketball Club traces its origins to a Canberra High School basketball team known as the Rebels in 1964. From those beginnings, the Club developed through the Bouncers era, the establishment of Norths and decades of contribution to basketball in the ACT.
This archive provides a more detailed record of the people, teams and events that shaped Norths. The Club continues to collect and verify information, particularly about the development of its women's program and other parts of its history that have not yet been fully documented.
Historical information is published from available Club records and may be updated as further verified material becomes available.
1964 — The Canberra High Rebels
Norths traces its origins to a Canberra High School basketball team known as the Rebels. The team was coached by Ron Harvey.
The Rebels won the NSW Schools Basketball Cup in 1964. Following that success, the players decided to nominate a team for the ACT Men's First Division competition, which was then played at the YMCA in Civic.
The new team adopted the name Bouncers.
The Original Bouncers
The original Bouncers team comprised Brian Harry, Neil Richardson, Robert Hobson, Richard Ryan, Glen Spooner, Zdencko Horachec, Ian Ellis and John McPherson.
There was debate about whether a team of 16- and 17-year-olds was sufficiently experienced to compete at First Division level, but the team was ultimately accepted into the competition.
The Bouncers exceeded expectations, reaching the Grand Final in their first season where they were defeated by Sabres. They returned to the Grand Final in the second season and were successful.
Early Success and New Players
Brian Harry and Zdencko Horachec were subsequently called up for National Service, and John McPherson also left the team during this period.
The team was strengthened by new arrivals. Richard Sliwka joined from Queanbeyan and Robert Kershaw joined from Lyneham. John Heard later joined after transferring to Canberra from Adelaide. Heard had captained the Australian Olympic basketball team at the Tokyo Olympics.
Henry Kolac, from Telopea Park High School, joined in 1967.
Bouncers Gold, Blue, North and South
Bouncers continued to be successful during the following years. The Club record states that Bouncers were premiers in each First Division season until 1968.
In 1968, the program split into Bouncers Gold and Bouncers Blue. Both teams remained strong and regularly placed among the leading teams.
In 1969, ACT Basketball introduced the foundations of the current district-based club structure. The Bouncers teams became Bouncers North and Bouncers South.
Becoming Norths
For a period, the Club used the name North's Spirits following sponsorship from a local liquor outlet. The name changed to Norths in the late 1970s.
The senior men trained at St Edmund's College. Junior teams trained at various venues across Canberra's inner north.
Norths and the Canberra Cannons
Norths has a long historical connection with the Canberra Cannons, the ACT's representative team in the National Basketball League. Several Norths players were part of the Cannons program.
Neil Richardson, Les Hurst, Jim Cotta, Nick Gascoine and Ian Ellis played in the inaugural NBL season in 1979. The Canberra Cannons lost that season's Grand Final to St Kilda by one point.
Adam Kendrick also represented the Cannons. Jamie Pearlman began playing with Norths as an Under 12 player in 1982, progressing through the Club to Senior First Division. The Club record states that he played more than 180 games for the Cannons between 1995 and 2000, and notes his repeated recognition as a leading defensive player.
Norths and the Canberra Gunners
A number of Norths players have represented the Canberra Gunners in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). Among those identified in the Club record are Dan Richardson, Russ Livermore, Adam Kendrick, Dan Godwin, John Holden and Jamie Pearlman.
Dan Richardson was a longstanding Gunners captain. Jamie Pearlman played with the Gunners from 1990 to 1994. The Club record states that Jamie won the team's MVP award in his final two seasons and received the SEABL Youth Player of the Year award in 1994.
The Jamie Pearlman Cup, a Basketball ACT competition for Canberra primary schools, was named in recognition of his basketball career.
Player Pathways and Representative Basketball
Over the years, Norths players have progressed to a range of representative pathways. These have included Australian junior representation, United States college scholarships, Canberra Gunners programs, the Gunners Academy, Canberra Nationals women's programs and Nationals Academy programs.
This record reflects historical pathways based on available Club information.
The Development of Norths Women
In 1969, ACT Basketball introduced the foundations of the current club structure. One requirement for newly nominated clubs was to have both men's and women's programs.
This led to the coming together of the North's men's organisation and the Griffins women's club.
The Club continues to research the development, people, teams and achievements of the Norths women's program.
This part of the Norths historical record is still being developed. The Club welcomes verified information, photographs, team lists and records relating to the Norths women's program.
Help Preserve Norths History
Norths welcomes verified information, photographs, team lists, programs, newspaper articles and other records that may help preserve the Club's history.
If you can contribute historical material or identify people, teams, dates or events shown in the archive, please contact the Club using "Other Enquiry."
Contribute to the History Archive