If there’s a problem, who are you going to call? For the Northside Wizards his name is Paul. Paul Stanton, AKA Mr Fix it.

From changing tap washers to rebuilding Zillmere’s performance centre, Stanton is always there to lend a hand.

“I have a unique skill set and I don’t like something to get the better of me, if something needs fixing, we get it done,” said Stanton.

This passion for getting in and getting it done stems from his own journey within the sport, he says it’s his way of paying it forward.

“People looked after me so now it’s my turn to look after other people or help out where I can."

Paul Stanton’s love for basketball began at a small school gym in Stanthorpe, in the mid 80s. It was the rise of the Brisbane Bullets and basketball was taking off around the country.

“I played a lot of other sports growing up and never really played basketball. I eventually thought I’d give it a go and that’s how I got started."

After graduating high school, Stanton made his way to Toowoomba where he competed in the local A grade competition against some of the Garden Cities top talents.

“Basketball was sort of my family away from home as it were, and there were a couple of people that really looked after me,” said Stanton.

In 1995, Stanton moved to Brisbane and hung up his boots for a number of years to focus on family, but it wasn’t long before he was back in the stadium.

“My son decided he wanted to play basketball instead of soccer, so we found the local club, put him in an Aussie Hoops program and away we went.”

“Luckily, or unluckily, I owned up to having basketball experience, and they’re always looking for volunteers so I got roped into one thing, which turned into another thing and another thing and here we are 12 years later, still involved,” said Stanton.

Stanton was awarded life membership with Northside Wizards Basketball. A fitting reward for his time and effort as the club manager of the Chermside Redbacks as well as Referee Coordinator, tribunal panellist and more.

“We built that club from the ground up, we started with 5 teams and when I left they had 35 teams.”

“When you’ve got a great group of people at the top it all falls into place if you’re there for the right reasons, they have the same interest and goal and just want kids involved in the sport,” said Stanton.

Basketball has become much more than just a game for Paul and his family,

“It brings everyone together, the kids play, do the score bench and my wife does the canteen.”

“It gives us something in common that we can chat about and make comments on and that’s really important to me,” said Stanton.

Paul Stanton says he has no intention of stepping away anytime in the near future.

(Photos by Judd Green and Basketball Queensland)

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