Known affectionately as ‘Mr Phys. Ed.’, Gordon Young played a major role in establishing basketball as a truly recognised sport across New South Wales.
First as a Director of Physical Education – and then as Executive Officer of the National Fitness Council – Young led a charge in the late 1930s to introduce basketball to schools across the state. A man of abundant energy and enthusiasm, he spent decades promoting a more professional concept of physical education, emphasising fitness and health.
A life member of Basketball NSW, Young organised the first “mass referee” classes for teachers in 1939, further helping to spread the game’s reach.
His tireless commitment to improving the fitness and general health of Australian youth achieved astounding results. By 1969 he’d helped establish ten national fitness camps, giving 700 thousand children an experience over a 30 year span.
He worked with Rotary clubs, Apex Clubs, Legacy and philanthropic organisations, who in turn inspired their volunteers to build facilities, raise funds and imbue camps with a degree of social consciousness.
In 1960 after suffering a severe heart attack after the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he planned a rehabilitation centre for coronary victims.
In 1969 he was appointed M.B.E Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
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