Ken Madsen

Ken’s basketball involvement commenced as a player in Ingham in 1958 but when a medical procedure prevented his playing he commenced refereeing. In the early 1960s after his transfer to Papua New Guinea he became involved in administration as well becoming secretary and then president of the Referees’ Association.

He was also instrumental in PNG forming a national team to compete in the inaugural South Pacific Games in 1963. Upon return to Brisbane Ken continued as a referee and represented Queensland at a number of National Championships.

He was instrumental in the formation of both the Brisbane and Queensland Referees’ Associations and was president of both for some years. In 1971 Ken became President of the Queensland Amateur Basketball Association and remained in this position for 9-years. During this time he was largely responsible for the construction of the Basketball State Centre at Auchenflower. He appointed the first State Director of Coaching and oversaw Queensland winning its first national titles.

As Queensland President Ken was a delegate to Basketball Australia and in 1974 became treasurer of Basketball Australia. He stepped down as Treasurer of BA at the end of 1989 amid a total re-organisation and was subsequently re-appointed to the Board in 1998, becoming the Deputy Chairman and an independent director in 2002.

Ken had been involved in the establishment of the NBL in 1979 and in 1989 was invited to become the Chairman (and sole member) of the NBL tribunal, a role he fulfilled for 22 years. In 1976 Ken was appointed to the FIBA Legal Commission and served on that Commission for 38 years including 4 years as deputy Chairman and 4 years as Chairman

His involvement at both State and National level led to a very active involvement in the Olympic movement at national level for some 25 years. He was President of the Queensland Olympic Council at the time of the Sydney Olympics and headed up a number of State Committees designed to enhance the delivery of the Olympics. When Ken concluded his service with Basketball Australia, at Scott Derwin’s invitation he joined the Board of Basketball Queensland in November 2010 and was appointed as Chairman of BQ’s Honours and Awards Committee.

Ken’s financial expertise were utilised in his development of Financial Management standards for BQ and his initiative in moving Basketball Queensland to a Company Limited by Guarantee and introduced BQ’s Financial Management Policy. Again. Ken was an instrument of change which resulted in an independent Board being established in 2009 and as part of the process Ken stood down from the Board having served at an executive Board level for BA for over 25 years. He also retired as Chairman of the Honours and Awards Committee in 2016.

In recognition of his outstanding service to Sport and to basketball in particular Ken has received a number of Awards including: