Kathleen Williamson

On 23October 1959, readers of the Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette were informed that the Queensland team that was participating in the Australian Women’s Basketball Championships in Toowoomba was captained by Kath Williamson from Brisbane. The Chronicle’s article also noted that the 1959Australian basketball championships were the fifth in which Kath had represented Queensland.

At the annual general meeting of the Amateur Basketball Union of Australia held in Brisbane in 1954, a principal agenda item had been about the adoption of uniform playing rules for women playing men’s rules. It was pointed out that only Queensland and Tasmania were conducting organised basketball competitions for women.

Having represented Brisbane at netball since 1950, Kath Williamson was one of several women attracted to International Rules Basketball by the speed and mobility required of players, and the more complex skills of the game. While continuing to represent Brisbane at netball, she was one of Queensland’s earliest women basketball pioneers and a strong advocate for the game.

With an eye to the future of the game, Kath had also participated in a basketball coaching program conducted by the University of Queensland and was a qualified referee.

In1954, as one of Brisbane’s leading players, Kath was one of the basketballers who travelled to the Townsville Easter Carnival to demonstrate the game, its rules and its refereeing to the North Queensland women’s basketball powerhouses, Townsville, Charters Towers and Ayr.

According to journalist Ruby Robinson in her February 1954 Women’s Sport Round-Up article in the Courier Mail, twenty northern teams were ready to affiliate with the fledgling Queensland Women’s Amateur Basketball Association.

Queensland’s newly formed state association was one of five which participated in the inaugural Australian women’s basketball championships in 1955, conducted at the Hall of Manufacturers at Melbourne Showgrounds. As the Melbourne Argus put it:

Over the years the States have gradually switched from Australian to International rules – with five players instead of seven. The Australian association hopes to hold a carnival each year and send a team to the 1960 Olympic Games.

The1955 Queensland team was captained and managed by Kath Williamson. She also captained the Queensland women’s team at the 1956 Australian championships in Newcastle and captained and coached the team at the 1957 Australian championships in Adelaide.

Kath retained the Queensland captaincy for the 1958 Australian championships in Devonport and for the 1959 championships in Toowoomba. In its 23 October 1959article, the Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette described her thus:

Kath is a member of the Souths team in Brisbane which have been “A” Grade premiers for several years. She has represented Brisbane in basketball for nine years. Kath plays mainly in the guard position and is a solid, steady player who is quite capable of holding the team.

From the early 1950s, Kath has been a pioneer of, and an advocate for, women’s basketball in Queensland and Australia. She is the inaugural and five times captain of the Queensland women’s basketball team at Australian championships.

Kath Williamson is an ornament to the game of basketball and is a very worthy member of the Queensland Basketball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2025.